Today is Tuesday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2025. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 30, 1938, addressing the public after cosigning the Munich Agreement, which allowed Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain proclaimed, “I believe it is peace for our time.”

Also on this date:

In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania, after briefly meeting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

In 1791, Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1947, the World Series was broadcast on television for the first time, as the New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-3 in Game 1; the Yankees would go on to win the Series four games to three.

In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end after delivering more than 2.3 million tons of cargo to blockaded residents of West Berlin over the prior 15 months.

In 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

In 1955, actor James Dean was killed at age 24 in a two-car collision near Cholame, California.

In 1972, Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente connected for his 3,000th and final hit, a double against Jon Matlack of the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium.

In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties to illegally annex more occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his seven-month invasion.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Angie Dickinson is 94.
• Singer Johnny Mathis is 90.
• Actor Len Cariou is 86.
• Singer Marilyn McCoo is 82.
• Actor Barry Williams is 71.
• Singer Patrice Rushen is 71.
• Actor Fran Drescher is 68.
• Country musician Marty Stuart is 67.
• Actor Crystal Bernard is 64.
• Actor Eric Stoltz is 64.
• Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 63.
• Country musician Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery Gentry) is 62.
• Rock singer Trey Anastasio (Phish) is 61.
• Actor Monica Bellucci is 61.
• Actor Tony Hale is 55.
• Actor Jenna Elfman is 54.
• Actor Marion Cotillard is 50.
• Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates is 50.
• Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Hingis is 45.
• Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu is 44.
• Actor Lacey Chabert is 43.
• Actor Kieran Culkin is 43.
• Singer-rapper T-Pain is 41.
• Racing driver Max Verstappen is 28.
• Actor-dancer Maddie Ziegler is 23.

WHITE LAKE – Some teams are just built for knockout soccer.

Walled Lake Northern edged its way past the White Lake Lakeland Eagles 1-0 in the Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Final on Monday night.

It marks the third time that the Knights have won the tourney this decade despite not being the league’s regular season champion.

“It’s been two or three years since we won it, and it feels great. We played a really hard brand of soccer today, and we’re really happy with the win,” Northern tri-captain Nate Bruss said.

The game was a defensive battle from the start. It took over 20 minutes for either team to get a shot off – let alone one that was on frame.

Eventually, the game opened up a little bit and the teams started to create some chances in the later part of the first half. That was when the game’s only goal was scored. Lucas Wilson slipped a diagonal ball behind the defense and Ryan Donato ran onto it, quickly one-timing the ball past the goalkeeper with 15:03 remaining in the first half.

The teams traded a few more good chances with both keepers coming up with a couple of good saves each before halftime. Lakeland goalie Elijah Bohanon and Northern keeper Chase Colasanti did some of their best work of the game as it neared the interval.

When the teams came out after the half, it was back to a defensive battle. The teams once again were shutting down anything that resembled an efficient offensive chance. The Eagles put on a late push, trying to force the issue and find a late-tying goal, but the Knights were able to do enough to see off Lakeland and capture their first LVC Tournament title since 2022 — they also won it the year before that — after going out early in the LVC Tournament the last two years.

“I think we’re all connected as a team,” Knights senior tri-captain Brandon Honkala said. Everyone is friends with each other. We all have laughs with everything. Everyone is included in everything. I think our chemistry is at another level besides the other two or three years I’ve been a part of this program.”

Photo gallery of Lakeland vs. Walled Lake Northern in the 2025 LVC Boys Soccer Tournament Championship

“Being a part of this team for four years now, I think that what makes this team so different from the other teams playing in this tournament is just our grit, solely our grit. No matter how many times we get kicked down, no matter how many times we get scored on, we always keep our goals set high, and we always come out with a win,” added Tim Udovichnko, another Northern tri-captain.

Now 10-3 on the year, Lakeland's only losses in LVC play this season have come to the Knights. Northern beat the Eagles 5-0 in Walled Lake back on Aug. 28. Lakeland's only other defeat was at the hands of Holly, 3-1, in the team's season opener.

Both teams will now prepare for the state tournament, which starts next week. Walled Lake Northern (9-3-2) opens the playoffs at home against West Bloomfield next Wednesday. The Eagles host North Farmington on the same evening. If both teams win, they would play each other for a third time this season in the district semifinal.

It took 20 minutes to record the first shot on goal, and Lakeland appeared to dominate the play in the second half, but in the end Walled Lake Northern came away with a 1-0 victory and the LVC Tournament trophy Monday, Sept. 29, 2025 in Lakeland.

By SEUNG MIN KIM

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has had one refrain in recent days when asked about the looming government shutdown.

Will there be a shutdown? Yes, Trump says, “because the Democrats are crazed.” Why is the White House pursuing mass firings, not just furloughs, of federal workers? Trump responds, “Well, this is all caused by the Democrats.”

Is he concerned about the impact of a shutdown? “The radical left Democrats want to shut it down,” he retorts.

“If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” Trump said Friday. “But they’re the ones that are shutting down government.”

In his public rhetoric, the Republican president has been singularly focused on laying pressure on Democrats in hopes they will yield before Wednesday, when the shutdown could begin, or shoulder the political blame if they don’t. That has aligned Trump with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who have refused to accede to Democrats’ calls to include health care provisions on a bill that will keep the government operating for seven more weeks.

Those dynamics could change Monday, when the president has agreed to host Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Johnson and Thune. Democrats believe the high-stakes meeting means the GOP is feeling pressure to compromise with them.

Still, Republicans say they are confident Democrats would be faulted if the closure comes. For Trump, the impact would go far beyond politics. His administration is sketching plans to implement mass layoffs of federal workers rather than simply furloughing them, furthering their goal of building a far smaller government that lines up with Trump’s vision and policy priorities.

This time, it’s the Democrats making policy demands

The GOP’s stance — a short-term extension of funding, with no strings attached — is unusual for a political party that has often tried to extract policy demands using the threat of a government shutdown as leverage.

In 2013, Republicans refused to keep the government running unless the Affordable Care Act was defunded, a stand that led to a 16-day shutdown for which the GOP was widely blamed. During his first term, Trump insisted on adding funding for a border wall that Congress would not approve, prompting a shutdown that the president, in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting that played out before cameras, said he would “take the mantle” for.

“I will be the one to shut it down,” Trump declared at the time.

This time, it’s the Democrats making the policy demands.

They want an extension of subsidies that help low- and middle-income earners who buy insurance coverage through the Obama-era health care law. They also want to reverse cuts to Medicaid enacted in the GOP’s tax and border spending bill this year. Republican leaders say what Democrats are pushing for is too costly and too complicated to negotiate with the threat of a government shutdown hanging over lawmakers.

Watching all this is Trump. He has not ruled out a potential deal on continuing the expiring subsidies, which some Republicans also want to extend.

“My assumption is, he’s going to be willing to sit down and talk about at least one of these issues that they’re interested in and pursuing a solution for after the government stays open,” Thune said in an Associated Press interview last week. “Frankly, I just don’t know what you negotiate at this point.”

Back and forth on a White House sit-down

At this point, Trump has shown no public indication he plans to compromise with Democrats on a shutdown, even as he acknowledges he needs help from at least a handful of them to keep the government open and is willing to meet with them at the White House.

Last week, Trump appeared to agree to sit down with Schumer and Jeffries and a meeting went on the books for Thursday. Once word got out about that, Johnson and Thune intervened, privately making the case to Trump that it was not the time during the funding fight to negotiate with Democrats over health care, according to a person familiar with the conversation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Not long after hearing from the GOP leaders, Trump took to social media and said he would no longer meet with the two Democrats “after reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats.” Republicans privately acknowledge Trump’s decision to agree to a meeting was a misstep because it gave Democrats fodder to paint Trump as the one refusing to negotiate.

“Trump is literally boycotting meeting with Democrats to find a solution,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on the social media site X before Trump reversed course again and agreed to meet with the leadership. “There is no one to blame but him. He wants a shut down.”

It was not immediately clear what led Trump over the weekend to take a meeting he had once refused. Schumer spoke privately with Thune on Friday, pushing the majority leader to get a meeting with the president scheduled because of the approaching funding deadline, according to a Schumer aide. A Thune spokesman said in response that Schumer was “clearly getting nervous.”

Another reason why Democrats suspect Trump would be fine with a shutdown is how his budget office would approach a closure should one happen.

The administration’s strategy was laid out in an Office of Management and Budget memo last week that said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse, are not otherwise funded and are “not consistent” with the president’s priorities. A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but also eliminate their positions, triggering yet another massive upheaval in the federal workforce.

Jeffries argued that Trump and his top aides were using the “smoke screen of a government shutdown caused by them to do more damage.”

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

By JEFFREY COLLINS

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former Republican South Carolina Rep. RJ May admitted in court Monday that he sent hundreds of videos of children being sexually abused to people across the country on social media.

May pleaded guilty to what prosecutors in court papers called a “five-day child pornography spree” in the spring of 2024.

May, who resigned earlier this year, is accused of using the screen name “joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network, according to court documents that graphically detailed the videos.

“Bear with me. This is very hard to read,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said as he haltingly read a brief description of each video for television reporters outside of court since cameras aren’t allowed in federal courtrooms.

May, 38, pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing the videos and faces five to 20 years in prison on each charge. He will have to register as a sex offender and could be fined up to $250,000, according to his plea agreement.

The five counts represented the worst videos May shared, Stirling said.

Felony convictions bar May from voting or having a weapon

The felony convictions means the political consultant and National Rifle Association member cannot vote, hold public office, carry a gun or serve on a jury the rest of his life.

May’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14 — the second day of the South Carolina legislature’s 2026 session.

The evidence against May included logs of his laptop and cellphone use, showing he was uploading and downloading the child sexual abuse videos at the same time he was emailing work files, making phone calls, doing web searches and messaging someone on Kik asking for “Bad moms. Bad dads. Bad pre teens.”

May mostly spent Monday’s hourlong hearing answering the judge’s questions. At the end, when Judge Cameron McGowan Currie asked May if he had anything else he wanted to say, May answered, “not at this time, your honor.”

May changed his mind about pleading guilty after hearing

May changed his mind and decided to plead guilty just hours after a Wednesday pretrial hearing in which he acted as his own attorney.

During Wednesday’s hearing, May made arguments to the judge to throw out the warrant used to search his home, laptop and mobile devices. She denied May’s request just hours after prosecutors filed documents detailing May’s plea on Friday.

Prosecutors showed May used his phone to upload and download videos through his cell network and home wireless network and also showed him charts explaining in stark, factual ways what was on each video May is charged with distributing.

May also tried to keep out any evidence about whether he used a fake name to travel to Colombia three times. Prosecutors said they found videos on his laptop of him allegedly having sex on the trips. A Homeland Security agent testified the women appeared to be underage and were paid. U.S. agents have not been able to locate the women.

May admitted to using the fake name Monday in court but was not asked about the videos.

May was a rising Republican political force in South Carolina

May was in his third term in the South Carolina House and was attacking fellow Republicans to go in a more conservative direction before he resigned.

“We as legislators have an obligation to insure that our children have no harm done to them,” May said in January 2024 on the House floor during a debate on transgender care for minors.

After his election in 2020, he helped create the Freedom Caucus. He also helped the campaigns of Republicans running against GOP House incumbents.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writers

Google’s YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit President Donald Trump brought after the video site suspended his account following the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol following the election that resulted in him leaving the White House for four years.

The settlement of the more than four-year-old case earmarks $22 million for Trump to contribute to the Trust for the National Mall and a construction of a White House ballroom, according to court documents filed Monday. The remaining $2.5 million will be paid to other parties involved in the case, including the writer Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union.

Alphabet, the parent of Google, is the third major technology company to settle a volley of lawsuits that Trump brought for what he alleged had unfairly muzzled him after his first term as president ended in January 2021. He filed similar cases Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Twitter before it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X.

Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle Trumps’ lawsuit over his 2021 suspension from Facebook and X agreed to settle the lawsuit that Trump brought against Twitter for $10 million. When the lawsuits against Meta. Twitter and YouTube were filed, legal experts predicted Trump had little chance of prevailing.

After buying Twitter for $44.5 billion, Musk later became major contributor to Trump’s successful 2024 campaign that resulted in his re-election and then spent several months leading a cost-cutting effort that purged thousands of workers from the federal government payroll before the two had a bitter falling out. Both Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among the tech leaders who lined up behind Trump during his second inauguration in January in a show of solidarity that was widely interpreted as a sign of the industry’s intention to work more closely with the president than during his first administration.

ABC News, meanwhile, agreed to pay $15 million in December toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. And in July, Paramount decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS’ storied “60 Minutes” news program.

The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, the filing says. Google confirmed the settlement but declined to comment beyond it.

Google declined to comment on the reasons for the settlement., but Trump’s YouTube account has been restored since 2023. The settlement is will barely dent Alphabet, which has a market value of nearly $3 trillion — an increase of about $600 billion, or 25%, since Trump’s return to the White House.

The disclosure of the settlement came a week before a scheduled Oct. 6 court hearing to discuss the case with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California.

Over-consumption during peak hours has led to boil water advisories in western Oakland County communities where they had been lifted or had never been in place.

Several communities were affected after a 42-inch water main broke early Thursday, Sept. 25, on 14 Mile Road in Novi.

As of Monday afternoon, boil advisories were in place in Wixom, Commerce Township, Walled Lake, most of Novi and a small part of Wolverine Lake.

Novi – except the southeast corner of the city – has been under an advisory since the break. Wolverine Lake issued an advisory for just a few streets shortly after the break.

An advisory had been in effect in Walled Lake since shortly after the main broke but was lifted over the weekend. Commerce Township had not issued one until Monday.

Wixom issued only a recommendation to boil water after the break, which was later lifted. The city issued the advisory after water pressure dropped early Monday due to demands on the system, City Manager Steve Brown said.

He said an emergency alternative, using a much smaller main, allowed the city to keep water pressure at a safe level until it dropped on Monday.

After the break, all of the affected communities asked residents and businesses to refrain from watering lawns or washing cars and to not use water unnecessarily.

“Low pressure on the system due to over consumption during peak hours, while emergency connections are in use, has been identified as the reason for the boil water notice,”  Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash said in a release.

“Whenever a water system loses pressure for any significant length of time, precautionary measures are recommended because a loss of pressure can lead to bacterial contamination in the water system,” the release said.

“Bacteria generally are not harmful and are common throughout our environment. Although no contamination has been detected, as a precaution, all water customers in the affected area are advised to boil water used for drinking and cooking.”

Boiling the water for one minute will kill bacteria and other organisms. Allow it to cool before consumption. Boiled, bottled or disinfected water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and preparing food.

You can use tap water to bathe, but do not swallow it or allow it to get in your eyes or nose. Supervise children or disabled adults while bathing.

If you have a private well, you do not need to boil your water.

The advisory will be lifted after two samples, taken 24 hours apart, test negative.

The Great Lakes Water Authority, which owns the broken main, has been working on it around the clock and expects full repairs to take about two weeks.

Novi said in a release late Monday that the first sample, taken Sunday, tested negative.

“Best-case scenario (for the advisory to be lifted) is Tuesday, but it could stretch into Wednesday depending on testing,” the city said in a release Monday morning.

“We need to chat about irrigation. Sprinklers running in the morning are really hurting the system. If you see a neighbor’s sprinklers going, don’t get annoyed (they could be on a well) —be kind and give them a friendly nudge. We’ve done pretty good so far, but we really need to do better.

“Thanks for hanging in there, Novi—your patience (and humor) helps.”

For updates, call the county’s water hotline, 248-858-1555, or check websites or social media for the affected communities.

Farmington Hills man accused of killing woman in hit-and-run while drunk, speeding in Detroit

Michigan Court of Appeals won’t hear Oxford shooter’s parents’ appeals separately

By MELISSA GOLDIN

President Donald Trump bolstered a years-old conspiracy theory over the weekend, claiming that 50 pages of alleged FBI documents recently made public prove that 274 FBI agents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were there to incite the attack.

The documents first appeared in an article published Thursday by the conservative site Just The News, which did not blame the Jan. 6 insurrection on federal agents as Trump did. It focused instead on complaints made in an “after-action report” by FBI personnel, who were critical about the bureau’s response that day.

The information — which The Associated Press was not able to verify as authentic — does not support Trump’s claim. It says that FBI agents responded to the U.S. Capitol attack, not that those agents had any role in making it happen.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

TRUMP: “As it now turns out, FBI Agents were at, and in, the January 6th Protest, probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists, but certainly not as ‘Law Enforcement Officials.’”

THE FACTS: This is false. The alleged FBI documents to which Trump is referring state on page 46 that 274 agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office “responded to” to the U.S. Capitol and other nearby locations on Jan. 6. They do not contain any credible evidence to suggest that federal agents were acting as agitators or insurrectionists.

“This number includes agents that responded to the Capitol grounds as well as inside the Capitol, the pipe bombs, and the red truck that was believed to contain explosive devices as well as CDC/ADCs,” the documents read.

The mention of “pipe bombs” refers to the devices planted outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on the eve of the attack, while “the red truck” refers to a pickup truck filled with weapons and Molotov cocktail components that was parked near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In addition to information about the agents and other FBI staff who were deployed in response to the Jan. 6 attack, the documents include extensive feedback from alleged bureau personnel about how the FBI responded to the day’s events. There are also suggestions from different operational divisions for future best practices, as well as notes on what went well.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s allegation. The FBI declined to comment.

Rioters determined to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent clash with police. Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that federal agents played a role in instigating the attack became popular soon after and were advanced even by some Republicans in Congress. Many iterations have since been debunked.

A watchdog report published in December 2024 by the Justice Department inspector general’s office found that no undercover FBI employees were at the riot on Jan. 6 and that none of the bureau’s informants were authorized to participate. Informants, also known as confidential human sources, work with the FBI to provide information, but are not on the bureau’s payroll. Undercover agents are employed by the FBI.

It does state that “after the Capitol had been breached on Jan. 6 by the rioters, and in response to a request from the USCP, the FBI deployed several hundred Special Agents and employees to the U.S. Capitol and the surrounding area.” USCP refers to the U.S. Capitol Police.

According to the report, 26 informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 in connection with the day’s events. Of the total 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 13 entered a restricted area around the Capitol. But none were authorized to do so by the FBI, nor were they given permission to break other laws or encourage others to do the same. The remaining nine informants did not engage in any illegal activities.

It wasn’t clear prior to the report’s release how many FBI informants were in the crowd that day. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who resigned in January at the end of the Biden administration, refused to say during a congressional hearing in 2023 how many of the people who entered the Capitol and surrounding area on Jan. 6 were either FBI employees or people with whom the FBI had made contact. But Wray said the “notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

By SARA CLINE and GEOFF MULVIHILL

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana is pursuing a criminal case against another out-of-state doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to a patient in the state, court documents filed this month revealed.

A warrant for the arrest of a California doctor is a rare charge of violating one of the state abortion bans that has taken effect since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and allowed enforcement.

It represents an additional front in a growing legal battle between liberal and conservative states over prescribing abortion medications via telehealth and mailing them to patients.

Pills are the most common way abortions are accessed in the U.S., and are a major reason that, despite the bans, abortion numbers rose last year, according to a report.

A Louisiana woman says she was forced to take abortion drugs

Louisiana said in a court case filed Sept. 19 that it had issued a warrant for a California-based doctor who it says provided pills to a Louisiana woman in 2023.

Both the woman, Rosalie Markezich, and the state attorney’s general, are seeking to be part of a lawsuit that seeks to order drug regulators to bar telehealth prescriptions to mifepristone, one of the two drugs usually used in combination for medication abortions.

In court filings, Markezich says her boyfriend at the time used her email address to order drugs from Dr. Remy Coeytaux, a California physician, and sent her $150, which she forwarded to Coeytaux. She said she had no other contact with the doctor.

She said she did not want to take the pills but felt forced to and said in the filing that “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me” and that it would not have happened if telehealth prescriptions to the drug were off limits.

The accusation builds on a position taken by anti-abortion groups: That allowing abortion pills to be prescribed by phone or video call and filled by mail opens the door to women being coerced to take them.

“Rosalie is bravely representing many woman who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.

The doctor also faces a lawsuit in Texas

Murrill’s office did not immediately answer questions about what charges Coeytaux faces, or when the warrant was issued. But under the state’s ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, physicians convicted of providing abortion face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.

Coeytaux is also the target of a lawsuit filed in July in federal court by a Texas man who says the doctor illegally provided his girlfriend with abortion pills.

Coeytaux did not immediately respond to emails or a phone message.

The combination of a Louisiana criminal case and a Texas civil case over abortion pills is also playing out surrounding a New York doctor, Margaret Carpenter. New York authorities are refusing to extradite Dr. Carpenter to Louisiana or to enforce for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the $100,000 civil judgment against her.

In the Louisiana case, officials said a pregnant minor’s mother requested the abortion medication online and directed her daughter to take them. The mother was arrested, pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.

New York officials cite a law there that seeks to protect medical providers who prescribe abortion medications to patients in states with abortion bans — or where such prescriptions by telehealth violate the law.

New York and California are among the eight states that have shield laws with such provisions, according to a tally by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

The legal and political fight over abortion pills is expanding

The legal filings that revealed the Louisiana charge against Coeytaux are part of an effort for Louisiana, along with Florida and Texas, to join a lawsuit filed last year by the Republican attorneys general for Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back federal approvals for mifepristone.

This year, both Louisiana and Texas have adopted laws to target out-of-state providers of abortion pills.

The Louisiana law lets patients who receive abortions sue providers and others. The Texas law goes further and allows anyone to sue those who prescribe such pills in the state.

Both Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary have said they are conducting a full review of mifepristone’s safety and effectiveness.

Medication abortion has been available in the U.S. since 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone.

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

By Erik Wasson, Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump and top congressional leaders have strong political incentives to stoke the ongoing stalemate during a White House meeting Monday even as they drive the U.S. to its first government shutdown in nearly seven years.

Democrats are keen to use the shutdown battle to frame the next election around rising costs, particularly for health care. Republicans are equally eager to blame the Democrats and show them to be poor stewards of the government and the U.S. economy ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Progressive Democrats are putting party leaders under enormous pressure to show they are willing to fight the Trump administration. Those leaders are confident they can unite their caucus behind the health care issue and prevent a defection by the eight Democrats needed to pass the Republican bill, which would keep the government funded until Nov. 21.

GOP leaders say they can negotiate after the short-term bill is passed, but Democrats have said they don’t trust Trump or the Republican leaders to keep that promise. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Monday that Trump has leverage in the fight because the public dislikes government shutdowns.

“There is zero good reason for Democrats to vote against this clean continuing resolution,” Leavitt said. “The president is giving Democrats one last chance to be reasonable today. Look, there is nothing to negotiate when you have a clean CR look.”

Democrats want to spend $350 billion to permanently extend Obamacare tax credits to middle-class families, to avoid a premium spike on Jan. 1. They also want the bill to repeal Medicaid cuts in the giant Trump tax bill, including new work requirements and a crackdown on an accounting gimmick that has allowed states to increase their Medicaid reimbursement rates. They also want to reverse cuts to medical research and block the White House from rescinding previously enacted appropriations.

“Our position has been very clear: cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save health care so we can address the issues that really matter to the American people in an environment where the cost of living is too high,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.

Trump has tied Democrats’ demands to the hot-button issue of migration, accusing them of seeking to funnel $1 trillion in taxpayer funds for undocumented immigrants.

That claim is wildly exaggerated, but based lon an aspect of the Democratic proposal, which would effectively increase federal Medicaid reimbursements to states that pay for emergency care for undocumented migrants.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the current restriction saves $28 billion over 10 years. They also want to repeal a separate provision that clarifies parolees and asylum seekers with temporary permission to remain the U.S. can’t receive Obamacare subsidies would save $119 billion over 10 years.

Trump gave no indication Sunday that the meeting would offer an easy resolution.

“I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue,” Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News. He continued his criticism of Democrats’ negotiation posture, saying “they’re not interested in fraud, waste and abuse,” which is the only thing Republicans claim they are cutting from the budget.

The Trump administration has also threatened Democrats with mass firings of federal workers in the wake of any shutdown, supercharging a downsizing overseen by White House budget Director Russ Vought.

Instead of merely furloughing non-essential workers, as is usual during a shutdown, the administration is preparing to permanently end a number of jobs likely in the areas of the environment, agriculture and labor regulation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday dismissed the threat as something Trump was going to do anyway. October layoffs were already in the works and the shutdown could allow the White House to blame Democrats for any economic fallout from the layoffs, while satisfying small-government conservatives in the party base.

Leavitt on Monday said that there won’t be any layoffs if the government remains open.

Democrats such as Senator Amy Klobuchar told reporters last week that the party is not demanding its entire proposal in exchange for voting for a GOP bill to keep the lights on through Nov. 21. The talks Monday signal the pressure on the White House to at least meet with Democrats worked.

“We never said that we need to have every single thing and that every single thing’s a red line. We want to negotiate with them to make this health care crisis less bad,” Klobuchar, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, said Friday.

She and other senators said this weekend that a mere promise from the GOP to talk later won’t suffice.

But that is precisely what Senate Majority Leader John Thune is suggesting.

“We can have that conversation. But before we do, release the hostage. Set the American people free. Keep the government open, and then let’s have a conversation about those premium tax credits,” Thune said on NBC’s Meet the Press. He said any possible deal on Obamacare subsidies isn’t ready.

Republicans are divided on the Obamacare issue. Twelve swing-district House Republicans have signed onto a bill to extend them by a year, while Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is spearheading an effort to extend them by two years. Other moderates say they want to phase in an income limit to prevent high earners from claiming the benefit and introduce greater fraud controls.

Conservatives are standing firm, arguing that the COVID pandemic-era subsidies were meant to be temporary. Some argue that any deal on the premiums would have to include new restrictions preventing Obamacare plans from covering abortion and transgender-related procedures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that the meeting on Monday will be an opportunity for Trump to tell Democrats to drop their demands.

“Think of it, troops won’t be paid because Chuck Schumer needs political cover. I mean, it’s really that simple and I think everybody is going to see that clearly,” Johnson said. “The president wants to talk with him about that and say, ‘Don’t do that.’”

Schumer said he expects a substantive meeting.

“We’ll see on Monday — are they serious about negotiating with us,” he said.

With assistance from Lauren Dezenski and Josh Wingrove.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even for an agency accustomed to criticism, this summer’s debate over Republicans’ big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts was a harsh one for the Congressional Budget Office.

“Notorious for getting it wrong,” was the judgment of Speaker Mike Johnson. “Making the same mistakes,” was the refrain from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. President Donald Trump dismissed the CBO as “very hostile.”

For the CBO’s director, Phillip Swagel, the “incoming fire,” as he calls it, is simply part of the job.

“We’re just trying to get it right and inform the Congress and the country,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There’s no agenda here.”

Tasked with producing nonpartisan analysis for Congress, it’s up to Swagel and expert staffers at the CBO to assess the impact of legislation on economic growth and the nation’s finances — producing “scores,” in the parlance of Washington, that often reverberate across the dominant political debates of the day. Both major political parties often dispute the agency’s findings, particularly when their top priorities are at stake.

“Sometimes it’s noise, sometimes it’s not. But we just tune it out. Here we do our work,” Swagel said. “The thing that I do care about a lot is to make sure our work is accurate.”

It’s a low-key approach Swagel has maintained at the CBO since 2019, when congressional leaders appointed him the director after stints in both Republican and Democratic administrations. An economist by trade, Swagel brings an inquisitive and genial approach to the job, his knowledge of government forged by work at the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund.

“The challenge of doing analysis now,” Swagel said, “is the changes we’re seeing in our economy are really large.”

From the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, to the unprecedented implementation of sweeping tariffs on countries around the world, to massive tax and spending cuts passed into law this summer, assessing the trajectory of the U.S. economy has grown more difficult.

Swagel recently sat down with the AP to talk at length about analyses from his agency, the future of the nation’s entitlement programs and the pressure to remain unbiased when data itself is at risk of being politicized.

How Trump’s tariffs are upending economic models

Trump’s sweeping tariffs plan has posed challenges to the CBO’s standard models for assessing trade.

The baseline tariffs on all countries and higher rates on Trump’s “worst offenders” list are different from what “we’ve seen in more than 100 years,” Swagel said. It’s a dramatic shift away from the low-tariff era that has existed since World War II. “We’re going to be looking carefully to see if those models still apply, or if tariffs that are this large, do those have effects that we just haven’t counted on?” he said.

So far, the CBO estimates the tariffs could reduce the national deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade, helping to offset the deficit increases it projects will result from the Republicans’ big bill passed this year. “It’s a huge impact,” Swagel said.

The CBO also anticipates Trump’s tariffs will cause roughly two years of elevated inflation, Swagel said, causing price increases for businesses and customers. But he says those effects will be temporary.

“As the tariffs go up and the prices go up with the tariffs, inflation will be higher, but then prices will get to a higher level and be stable,” he said. “And then the inflationary impact will subside.”

Immigration cuts different ways

Swagel said there are “pros and cons” when assessing how immigration affects the economy.

“Immigrants have added to our labor force, and that has meant higher GDP. It’s meant more revenue and a lower deficit,” Swagel said. “But, of course, there’s lots of issues related to immigration,” notably that “more immigrants put more fiscal pressure on state and local governments — on schools, on police, on health care systems and other things.”

“So, for the federal government, immigration is a fiscal positive,” he said, “but for state and local governments, it’s the opposite.”

Trump’s tax and spending law signed in July will result in roughly 320,000 people being removed from the United States over the next 10 years, the CBO said in a recent report. It also projected the U.S. population will grow more slowly than previously expected.

That law includes roughly $150 billion to ramp up deportations over the next four years.

Swagel says it’s not his place to say how immigration laws should be crafted.

“Our role is just to say what the budget impact is,” he said. “It’s for the political system to figure out, ‘Well, what’s the right choices to make for the country?’”

The strain on Social Security and Medicare

Swagel said U.S. entitlement programs “are all part of a challenging fiscal trajectory” for the country. But the greatest obstacle to doing something about it, he said, is that “the decisions don’t need to be made right away.”

The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security are now 2033 and 2034, respectively. On those dates, Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and Social Security’s trust funds. which cover old age and disability recipients, will no longer be able to pay out full benefits, according to the latest report from the programs’ trustees.

While fast approaching, the insolvency dates are a lifetime away for lawmakers always inclined to kick the can down the road on big fiscal decisions.

“We have a stable economy, an economy that’s growing,” Swagel said. “We’ve seen a slowing economy in the second half of 2025, but the economy is still growing and still creating jobs. And so there’s not a crisis.”

“Difficult decisions need to be made,” he said.

Criticism of the CBO’s data

The CBO has faced more aggressive attacks on its analyses during Trump’s second term, often amplified by his fellow Republicans in Congress. Earlier this year, Trump called the CBO a “very hostile” organization.

Swagel downplayed the tension, saying that “our working relationship with the executive branch is smooth and routine, that when we evaluate legislation, every piece of legislation results in a phone call to some executive branch agency.”

“There is this incoming fire on the CBO,” which Swagel says is part of the political process. “I understand that sometimes that kind of criticism might be helpful in the eyes of the people making it in their political endeavors.”

Unlike many other roles in government, the CBO director cannot be fired by the president — the person can be removed only by Congress.

Swagel said the work out of his office is as crucial as ever.

“It’s important for the country to have a group of analysts who don’t have an opinion — who are just saying, ‘Here’s the facts,’” he said.

“We’re not telling Congress what to do,” Swagel said. “We’re not saying if something is good or bad. We’re just saying, ‘Here’s what it costs, here’s what it does.’ And that’s our role.”

A 23-year-old Detroit man was ordered to serve 4-½ to 20 years in prison for his role in a stolen-vehicle ring in the region.

Jordan T. Gray received the sentence Wednesday from Macomb County Circuit Judge Anthony Servitto in Mount Clemens after admitting to participating in a criminal enterprise, aka racketeering, from April 2024 to April 2025 in Warren, according to court records.

The sentence was six months under the cap to which Servitto agreed in a deal reached with Gray through his attorney, Randy Rodnick.

Macomb prosecutors indicated they also will seek restitution from Gray, records say.

Gray was one of 11 people arrested as part of the ring that was responsible for the theft of over 400 vehicles worth approximately $8 million in Southeast Michigan by targeting storage lots, car dealerships, parking lots and residences, law enforcement officials said.

The ring was investigated by Troy Police Department Special Investigations Unit, in partnership with Macomb County Auto Theft Squad and the state Focused Organized Retail Crime Enforcement team. In addition, local police departments in individual communities pitched in, officials said.

Investigators said they utilized social media evidence, phone tracking and mapping, and surveillance of Gray to establish his involvement.

A search warrant executed at Gray’s residence produced evidence tying him to the operation, including numerous key fobs, a “significant amount” of cash, and a stolen Glock switch, officials said.

The cases of Gray’s 10 co-defendants have been prosecuted in courts in other counties.

Much of Novi and parts of Walled Lake have lost water pressure due to a large water main break, and will be under a boil advisory once service is restored.

Parts of Commerce Township and Wixom may also be affected.

The city of Novi said in a release that Great Lakes Water Authority crews are working on the break, which occurred at about 7:20 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in a main on 14 Mile Road west of M-5.

A drop in pressure can allow bacterial contaminants to enter the water supply. After service is restored, testing will begin at multiple locations. The boil advisory will be lifted after two negative tests, 24 hours apart.

Once service is restored, officials advise the following:

– Do not drink the water without boiling it first. Let it boil for one minute and let it cool before using.

– Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation.

– Filtered water is not safe for use as the organisms are microscopic. Boil all water used for consumption.

– Untreated water can be used for showering, baths and shaving, but do not swallow water or allow it to get in your eyes, nose, or mouth. Supervise children and disabled individuals during their bathing to make sure water is not swallowed. Minimize bathing time.

If you are on a well, you are not impacted.

The Road Commission for Oakland County reports that 14 Mile is closed west of M-5 to east of Welch Road.

Visit the websites and social media pages for Novi, Walled Lake, Wixom and Commerce Township for updates and to view maps of affected areas..

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Push to start work on Novi public safety facilities underway after millage approved in August

Fall colors could be less vibrant because of earlier drought, experts say

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The threat of a government shutdown has become a recurring event in Washington, though most of the time lawmakers and the president are able to head it off. This time, however, prospects for a last-minute compromise look rather bleak.

Republicans have crafted a short-term measure to fund the government through Nov. 21, but Democrats have insisted that the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer as well as extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say that’s all a non-starter.

Neither side is showing any signs of budging, with the House not even expected to be in session before a shutdown has begun.

Here’s a look at how a shutdown would occur.

What happens in a shutdown?

When a lapse in funding occurs, the law requires agencies to cease activity and furlough their “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees include those who perform work to protect life and property. They stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown has ended.

During the 35-day partial shutdown in Trump’s first term, roughly 340,000 of the 800,000 federal workers at affected agencies were furloughed. The remainder were “excepted” and required to work.

What government work continues during a shutdown?

A great deal, actually.

FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers and agents manning airport checkpoints continue to work. So do members of the Armed Forces.

Those programs that rely on mandatory spending also generally continue during a shutdown. Social Security checks continue to go out. Seniors who rely on Medicare coverage can still go see their doctor and health care providers can still submit claims for payment and be reimbursed.

Veteran health care also continues during a shutdown. VA medical centers and outpatient clinics will be open and VA benefits will continue to be processed and delivered. Burials will continue at VA national cemeteries.

Will furloughed federal workers get paid?

Yes, but not until the shutdown is over.

Congress has historically acted after shutdowns to pay federal workers for the days they were furloughed, though there were no guarantees it would do so. In 2019, however, Congress passed a bill enshrining into law the requirement that furloughed employees get retroactive pay once operations resume.

While they will eventually get paid, the furloughed workers as well as those who remain on the job may have to go without one or more of their regular paychecks, depending upon how long the shutdown lasts, which will create financial stress for many families.

Service members would receive back pay for any missed paychecks once federal funding resumes.

Will I still get mail?

Yes, the U.S. Postal Service is not affected by a government shutdown. The U.S. Postal Service is an independent entity that is funded through the sale of its products and services, and not by tax dollars.

What closes during a shutdown?

All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze and which to maintain in a shutdown.

The first Trump administration worked to blunt the impact of what became the country’s longest partial shutdown in 2018 and 2019. But in the selective reopening of offices, experts say they saw a willingness to cut corners, scrap prior plans and wade into legally dubious territory to mitigate the pain.

Each federal agency develops its own shutdown plan that in the past was accessible on the Office of Management and Budget’s public website. So far, those plans have not been posted. The plans outline which agency workers would stay on the job during a government shutdown and which would be furloughed.

In a provocative move, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers in the event of a shutdown. An OMB memo released Wednesday said those programs that did not get funding through Trump’s mega-bill this summer would bear the brunt of a shutdown.

Agencies should consider issuing reduction-in-force notices for those programs whose funding expires Oct. 1, that don’t have alternative funding sources and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities,” the memo said.

That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns when furloughed federal workers returned to their jobs once Congress approved government spending. A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger yet another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that has already faced major rounds of cuts this year due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in the Trump administration.

Shutdown practices in the past

Many shutdown plans submitted during the Biden administration are publicly available and some plans can be found on individual agency websites, providing an indication of past precedent that could guide the Trump administration.

Here are some excerpts from those plans:

— Education Department: “A protracted delay in Department obligations and payments beyond one week would severely curtail the cash flow to school districts, colleges and universities, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and other entities that depend on the Department’s discretionary funds to support their services.”

— National Park Service: As a general rule if a facility or area is inaccessible during non-business hours, it will be locked for the duration of the lapse in funding. At parks where it is impractical or impossible to restrict public access, staffing will vary by park. “Generally, where parks have accessible park areas, including park roads, lookouts, trails, campgrounds, and open-air memorials, these areas will remain physically accessible to the public.”

— Transportation: Air traffic controller hiring and field training would cease, as would routine personnel security background checks and air traffic performance analysis, according to a March 25 update.

— Smithsonian Institution: “The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, like all Smithsonian museums, receives federal funding. Thus, during a government shutdown, the Zoo — and the rest of the Smithsonian museums — must close to the public.”

— Food and Drug Administration: “Work to protect animal health would be limited, only addressing imminent threats to human life. Similarly, food safety efforts … would be reduced to emergency responses, as most of its funding comes from appropriations. Longer-term food safety initiatives, including the prevention of foodborne illnesses and diet-related diseases, would be halted.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s top public schools official who lauded President Donald Trump, pledged to put a Turning Point USA chapter in every high school to honor Charlie Kirk and end what he called “wokeness” in public schools, is resigning to lead a conservative educators’ group.

Walters, 40, said Wednesday night on Fox News that he is stepping down as state superintendent of public instruction to become the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that says it assists educators “in their mission to develop free, moral, and upright American citizens.”

“We’re going to destroy the teachers unions,” Walters said on Fox. “We have seen the teachers unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools.”

Walters has leaned into culture-war politics and sought to infuse religion into classroom instruction, including a mandate that public schoolteachers incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in grades 5 though 12.

He has also tried to require social studies teachers to promote conspiracies about the 2020 election, track the immigration status of children in schools and require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam designed to safeguard what he described as “radical leftist ideology.” Many of his efforts have led to lawsuits against him and the agency, even as Oklahoma’s national ranking in several education metrics has continued to decline.

Just Tuesday, Walters announced that Oklahoma high schools will have Turning Point USA chapters. He said parents, teachers and students “want their young people to be engaged in a process that understands free speech, open engagement, dialogue about American greatness, a dialogue around American values.”

Kirk founded the organization to mobilize young, Christian conservatives. It has seen a massive surge in interest and support since the activist’s assassination on Sept. 10.

Walters, a former teacher, was elected to the superintendent’s job. He had served as Oklahoma Secretary of Education from September 2020 to April 2023. He was appointed to that position by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Ever since then, “we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama,” Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond said in a statement.

“It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools,” Drummond, a Republican and candidate for governor in 2026, said.

Trial is scheduled in Oakland County Circuit Court for a former Wayne County official and her husband accused of pulling guns on a customer following a physical fight at a Farmington Hills gas station.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Feb. 23, 2026 for the cases against Alicia Bradford and her husband, Larry Bradford of Farmington Hills. Both face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault and using a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with a New Year’s Day 2025 incident.

According to police reports and security video obtained under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, the charges stem from an incident that happened just before 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 at a gas station on Orchard Lake Road.

A fight broke out between Larry Bradford and another customer who got involved after Bradford began arguing with the gas station clerk, accusing him of charging tax on a bottle of Mountain Dew, police said. Larry Bradford left the store and returned with a 9mm handgun and pointed it at the customer, demanding he get on his knees and apologize, and struck him. Alicia Bradford then entered the store armed with a firearm and pointed it at the customer, according to police.

At the time of her arrest, Alicia Bradford was Wayne County’s parks and recreation director. She was suspended without pay after the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against her, and then resigned from her job in February.

Alicia Bradford and Larry Bradford are out of custody on $50,000 personal bonds, which require no cash or surety to be posted.

Assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. Using a firearm in the commission of a felony is punishable by up to two years in prison.

The cases are assigned to Judge Yasmine Poles.

The Detroit News contributed to this story.

White Lake man struck by car and killed while crossing Highland Road

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week.

In a memo released Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, is not otherwise funded and is “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when federal workers not deemed essential were furloughed but returned to their jobs once Congress approved government spending.

A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger yet another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that has already faced major rounds of cuts this year due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in the Trump administration.

Once any potential government shutdown ends, agencies are asked to revise their reduction in force plans “as needed to retain the minimal number of employees necessary to carry out statutory functions,” according to the memo, which was first reported by Politico.

This move from OMB significantly increases the consequences of a potential government shutdown next week and escalates pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The two leaders have kept nearly all of their Democratic lawmakers united against a clean funding bill pushed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans that would keep the federal government operating for seven more weeks, demanding immediate improvements to health care in exchange for their votes.

In statements issued shortly after the memo was released, the two Democrats showed no signs of budging.

“We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings,” Jeffries wrote in a post on X. “Get lost.”

Jeffries called Russ Vought, the head of OMB, a “malignant political hack.”

Schumer said in a statement that the OMB memo is an “attempt at intimidation” and predicted the “unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back.”

OMB noted that it held its first planning call with other federal agencies earlier this week to plan for a shutdown. The budget office plays point in managing federal government shutdowns, particularly planning for them ahead of time. Past budget offices have also posted shutdown contingency plans — which would outline which agency workers would stay on the job during a government shutdown and which would be furloughed — on its website, but this one has not.

The memo noted that congressional Democrats are refusing to support a clean government funding bill “due to their partisan demands,” which include an extension of enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus a reversal of Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans’ big tax and spending cuts law.

“As such, it has never been more important for the Administration to be prepared for a shutdown if the Democrats choose to pursue one,” the memo reads, which also notes that the GOP’s signature law, a major tax and border spending package, gives “ample resources to ensure that many core Trump Administration priorities will continue uninterrupted.”

OMB noted that it had asked all agencies to submit their plans in case of a government shutdown by Aug. 1.

“OMB has received many, but not all, of your submissions,” it added. “Please send us your updated lapse plans ASAP.”

A 69-year-old White Lake Township man was killed late Wednesday on Highland Road after being struck by a car driven by an 81-year-old man from Holly, officials said.

According to the White Lake Police Department, preliminary results of an ongoing investigation indicate the man was attempting to cross Highland Road near Legrand Boulevard when he was struck by the vehicle headed east on Highland Road. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident, police said.

Officers called to the scene at around 11:18 p.m. found the victim unresponsive and lying in the roadway, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police haven’t yet released the victim’s name.

Anyone with further information related to the crash is asked to contact White Lake Police Sgt. Brad Connell by phone at  248-698-4400 or by email at bconnelll@whitelakepolice.com.

This is the fourth fatality reported on Oakland County roadways in the past two days. On Wednesday morning, a Detroiter was killed after crashing his car in Bloomfield Township. Police suspect a medical emergency prior to or during the crash. And on Tuesday morning, a fiery crash on I-96 in Novi claimed the lives of two drivers — one from Westland and the other from California.

Detroiter dead after Telegraph Road crash

Update: 2 drivers killed in fiery crash early Tuesday on I-96 in Novi; victims’ names, other details released

Fall colors could be less vibrant because of earlier drought, experts say

Walled Lake Northern secures LVC tourney final place with 2OT win against Central

Downriver official slammed at council session after social media post

Our Golden State harbors many treasures, a few of which can be found on a trip north to the San Francisco Bay area where visitors can explore nature and history as they restore, refresh and reset perspectives.

Where is this possible? Three locations stand out as perfect sites for restorative journeys: Angel Island State Park, which lies a short ferry ride from Tiburon; China Camp State Park, a wild and historic space near San Rafael; and Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historic Park, situated in Richmond. Travel between the three, all located north of San Francisco, is just under 30 miles, making them an easy adventure that bypasses the urban congestion of the big city.

Angel Island: Solitude and history

A walk around Angel Island today combines an embrace of natural beauty with the physical remnants of our nation’s fraught history.

Great views and most points of interest are found along the island’s five-mile perimeter road, reached most quickly via the Northridge Trail, which climbs 140 steps, some of which require an extra push to bypass a missing tread. It’s slow work for a backpacker carrying 30-plus pounds, and though handrails are present, the way is narrow enough to preclude easy passage of slower hikers.

Once emerging on the paved road surface, views of the bay, of Oakland, the Bay Bridge and San Francisco begin to unfold as does the history of the land.

Dating from the Civil War, Angel Island has served as a defensive position, way station, detention center, and launch point for thousands. During the Civil War, fortifications at Camp Reynolds on the island’s southwest side were constructed to protect San Francisco against Confederate attack. The island also was used as a quarantine center and discharge station for troops returning from war; it housed a U.S. Immigration Station for some 30 years, and served as a launch point for troops headed to war in the Pacific.

Perhaps less known, but likely no less significant, some 700 Japanese Americans were briefly interned here during World War II. The government chose this location to hold a hearing in an attempt to deport union labor leader Harry Bridges, and, during the Cold War, Nike anti-aircraft missiles were here. The former missile site, along with U.S. Coast Guard stations now on the island, are closed to visitors.

But there’s still plenty to see and do, and numerous ways to get around. In addition to hiking, island visitors can rent mountain and electric bikes as well as arrange tram tours of the island sites.

Ferries from Tiburon and San Francisco deliver visitors to a terrace at Ayala Cove, where State Parks employees help direct traffic. A small cafe, bike rentals and tram service are nearby as well as a small gift shop and a kiosk where campers check in to confirm their reservations and campsites.

Upon arriving, to the right lies the trail up to the perimeter road, and the walk eastward to the U.S. Immigration Station, Fort McDowell and East Bay, Sunrise and the North Garrison Group campsites.

To the right is a picnic area, the visitors center, and a route to the Civil War installations, the western Kayak Group and Ridge campsites on the southwest side of the island.

Wind can be an issue for campers. The Ridge campsites are reported to have the best views of San Francisco, but also high winds. A recent visit found even the more protected East Bay sites windy, but the nighttime view of the lights from Oakland, the Bay Bridge and San Francisco is still stunning.

Campsites are a step above primitive, with nearby water, pit toilets, picnic tables and food lock-up boxes provided. Visitors in search of flush toilets and wash basins can find them at the visitors center and the immigration station; they’re also reported at other building installations on the island.

For school groups and first-time visitors, perhaps most attractive for exploration are the former U.S. Immigration Station and Fort McDowell, said to have the eerie feel of a ghost town.

Slipping in between groups of youngsters on school trips to the Detention Barracks Museum at the immigration station, it’s easy to get a feel for how challenging and sad life could be there.

Dormitories served as a stopping point on a journey to America for between 500,000 and 1 million would-be immigrants. As many as one in five were denied U.S. entry, and it’s estimated that more than 100,000 each of Japanese and Chinese immigrants were held here. Families were split between men’s and women’s dorms. Some were held for as little as two weeks; others were detained for months.

Wandering through the all-but-empty dormitories today, visitors see the spaces marked by the vertical support poles, which once housed nests of bunks. Carved into the wood walls, faint Chinese characters emerge with personal messages of grief, longing and anguish at their separation from loved ones.

On the second floor are spaces where the immigrant experience is recreated, with furnishings and personal belongings on display as if they were left by recently departed owners.

Below the detention center barracks, Angel Island’s original fog warning bell sits at the end of a landing pier where the immigrants made their first steps onto U.S. soil.

A little more than a half-mile farther down the perimeter road, visitors can explore the empty shells of Fort McDowell, the buildings of which served as detention camp, quarantine and recruit center before an World War II expansion as it became a major embarkation point for some 300,000 servicemen heading to war in the Pacific Theater.

Today, the buildings stand as mute witnesses to the mobilization of past war efforts. You can walk around and through some shells of structures that were used as hospitals and look over giant barracks, and a massive barrel roof building where cooks could serve more than 1,400 men in one sitting and 12,000 meals a day.

The building also housed a movie theater, a basketball court and had space for dances and entertainment on stage. Today, it’s a crumbling behemoth, closed off but still impressive.

Nearby are barracks, a guard house, the old Post Exchange building, officers’ quarters and a church.

The wall of a World War II hospital building on the right as one enters the site also still bears the imprint of the U.S. artillery symbol of crossed cannons indicating earlier uses of the building. A walk around the building gives ample opportunity for visitors to peek in and see external walkways and staircases that form an intricate connection for rooms and floors. Warning signs advise visitors not to venture inside.

Camping? The turn up to the East Bay campsites follows a road uphill between two service buildings between the immigration station and Fort McDowell. The walk takes campers past a side turn to a group site uphill past a roadside water spigot, after which a fork in the dirt road gives campers an option to head right to the East Bay sites or farther forward to the Sunrise sites.

Early and mid-week sites may be easier to secure, and don’t be surprised by wildlife. On a recent trip, a scat deposit near the picnic table gave evidence of a nocturnal visitor.

Also, when pitching a tent, take care to select the most level ground available or else your sleeping bag slides and awkward positions within the tent are likely. Igloo water coolers were provided at East Bay sites, and park workers were onsite checking conditions. A small camp stove and hiker’s rations were sufficient for the day.

San Francisco weather conditions can be variable, so it’s best to check temperature forecasts when packing to camp.

Getting there: Visit via ferry service out of Tiburon or Golden Gate; parks.ca.gov, 415-435-5390

China Camp State Park: Strange beauty

About 14 miles north of Tiburon, via State Route 131 and U.S. 101 north, is San Rafael; beyond are the wilds of the China Camp State Park. This strange and beautiful location is open from 8 a.m. to sunset for daytime visitors, with a hosted campsite for overnight stays. Note: Recent fires have affected travel in this area, so check travel advisories.

Where campsites on Angel Island offered extensive panoramic views of the East Bay, China Camp visitors sleep among tall trees that see evening mists pervade the night as turkeys and deer wander through the area.

In the 1880s, China Camp was home to a fishing village of some 500 who caught and dried shrimp for export to China, but the enterprise was all but shut down after a ban on shrimp exports, restrictive fishing laws and the Chinese Exclusion Act made the micro-economy unsustainable. In the years since, only one family held on, the Quons, who operated a general store, cafe at the pier and continued to shrimp using new, legal methods.

The resident shrimper of the Quon family died in 2016, but the pier, shrimp processing equipment, cafe and an old, idled boat on the beach are there to explore and enjoy.

Nearby, visitors heading northeast on the winding park road will find a turnoff to the campgrounds just south of the park’s eastern gate. With 30 closely configured campsites, full bathrooms, firepits, foodboxes and picnic tables, overnighters at China Camp will find a peaceful, comfortable landing to shake out their gear and enjoy the surroundings.

Campsites are a short distance from the parking lot, where live-in hosts will pop out of what looks to be a permanently parked Airstream to offer advice or assistance as needed. Visitors have to pack or carry in their gear some 50 to 300 yards, but wheeled bins are available for those with big loads.

Once settled, campers can follow the Shoreline Trail from camp to make a loop around Turtle Back Hill, a promontory that juts out into a brackish, intertidal salt marshlands. On a recent visit, native flowers were prominent along the shaded pathway, as were numerous growths of poison oak.

Getting there: 730 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael; parks.ca.gov, 415-456-0766

Rosie the Riveter: Honoring home front heroes

For those headed toward Angel Island and China Camp coming from the Sacramento area, it’s easy to take in the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historic Park in the morning and finish the day at China Camp. And if the goal is to explore national and California history, this site fits right in.

Pre-World War II Richmond is described as a small, working-class community with a combination of industrial and rural landscapes. A Pullman refurbishing factory was there, and railroads and Standard Oil, too. It provided access to shipping via a deep-water channel completed in the 1920s, and Richmond had shipping terminals and a Ford motor assembly plant.

In 1940, Richmond’s population was 23,600. With its already built infrastructure, the city was primed to become a powerhouse of the U.S. wartime production effort; it quickly exploded to a population of 93,700 with a complex of four Kaiser shipyards that produced 747 vessels, mostly Liberty and Victory ships, needed for the U.S. armed forces.

The park’s visitor center is located in the old Oil House, which supplied power to the adjacent historic Ford Motor Assembly Building that was used for Jeep and armored vehicle production during World War II.

Inside, visitors can learn about how pre-fab techniques helped modernize and speed shipbuilding techniques, and how vital women and minority workers were to the U.S. and Allied victories of World War II. Women weren’t just riveters, as the museum’s name might imply; they were welders, draftspersons, machinists, painters — and did any job a man could do.

Workers came from across the country. They were single women, mothers and wives, from across many racial and ethnic backgrounds. This is in part due to Executive Order 8802 that required fair hiring practices in the defense industry. Bolstering that order was the Double V campaign, a national effort promoting victory on two fronts: abroad against fascism and the Axis powers, and at home against systemic racism and discrimination.

Exhibits in the museum explore this history with dynamic displays and films recounting the efforts of those working on the home front.

Getting there: 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 3000, Richmond; nps.gov/rori, 510-232-5050

Know before you go

ANGEL ISLAND STATE PARK

For more about the history of Angel Island and to plan a trip, visit the following websites — especially before booking a campsite and to confirm that ferry schedules are suitable for your travel plans.

California State Parks

Camp site reservations:

– Individual sites are $30 per night, with an $8.25 reservation fee.

Tiburon ferry service:

– Summer service runs daily; travel time roughly 15 minutes; adult ticket, $18. For campers, reasonable multiday parking is available at the lot near City Hall, about a half-mile from the ferry terminal.

Golden Gate ferry service to Angel Island:

– Daily service; travel time roughly 30 minutes; adult ticket, $15.50.

Angel Island Conservancy

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Messages from Angel Island”