Michigan
Hundreds of cars pack Michigan Avenue for Mexican Independence Day
Hundreds of people and vehicles packed the northbound lanes and sidewalks of Michigan Avenue Friday night to kick off a weekend of Mexican Independence Day celebrations.
The line of cars, trucks and other vehicles — some with the Mexican flag draped over their hoods and others with people hanging out the windows — stretched from just south of East Jackson Boulevard up to East Wacker Drive, many beeping their horns in celebration.
People danced on the curb of Michigan Avenue and some in the street when the light was red, all waving variations of the Mexican flag with a few Palestinian and American flags mixed in.
About 11:30 p.m., after some large fireworks were set off near East Monroe Street, police began blocking off the northbound lanes of Michigan Avenue and diverting traffic into the southbound lanes toward I-90 while officers on foot cleared out some rowdier corners of the street.
Last year 86 people were arrested during the celebrations downtown, creating calls from some City Council members for a dedicated celebration for the holiday weekend.
Chicago police and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) didn’t immediately respond to requests for information and comment.
This weekend’s festivities for Mexican Independence Day, which is Monday, will be the first time in more than a decade a sanctioned celebration will take place in the Loop. City officials hoped the event would help curb car caravans and deter unsanctioned demonstrations.
El Grito Chicago will run from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Grant Park’s Butler Field, with organizers promising musical performances from local and touring groups such as Banda Los Sebastianes and Selena the Show, food and beverages and an artisan market. Tickets range from $10 to $175 per person.
There’s also a Pilsen Mexican Independence Day Parade and an El Grito event in Pilsen, among other smaller events.
Contributing: Araceli Gomez-Aldana
Michigan added a commitment from 6-foot-10, 245-pound LSU big man Jalen Reed today.
Reed suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back seasons at LSU, playing 6 games in 2025-26 before an Achilles injury in November and eight games in 2024-25 before an ACL injury.
He is a former top-100 prospect as a recruit and started for LSU in 2023-24, averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance to find a missing Oakland County teen who is considered endangered.
Adrianna Smith, 15, was last seen in the 3500 block of South Fenton Road, just south of the city of Holly in northwest Oakland County, according to Michigan State Police.
She is believed to have left her home in a 2002 Jeep Liberty with an adult male, possibly a man named Derek Girtman, MSP said.
Smith is described as having blonde hair and green eyes. She is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 160 pounds. She has one tattoo above her right knee and another on her left ankle.
Anyone with information about Adrianna’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the MSP Metro North Post at either (800) 495-4677 or (989) 370-8926.
The supreme court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an ageing pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited too long to try to move the case to federal court.
The case is part of a messy legal dispute about a pipeline that has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953.
Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4km) section of pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel, a Democrat, won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham county judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.
Enbridge moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects US and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the sixth US circuit court of appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that the company missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.
The pipeline at issue is called Line 5. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.
The Michigan department of natural resources under Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.
Enbridge won a ruling from a federal judge blocking the move, but Whitmer, a Democrat, has appealed to the sixth US circuit court of appeals. In March, the supreme court rejected Whitmer’s appeal claiming that she couldn’t be sued in federal court.
It was unclear how the federal ruling blocking Whitmer’s revocation attempt would affect Nessel’s case in state court. The company said in a statement that the judge in the Whitmer case had already decided federal regulators, not the state, are responsible for Line 5 safety and they had found no issues that would warrant shutting it down.
Enbridge also is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan public service commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but a coalition of environmental groups and Michigan tribes has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state permits for the tunnel. The state supreme court is weighing that case.
Enbridge also needs approval from the US army corps of engineers and the Michigan department of environment, Great Lakes and energy.
The pipeline is at the center of a separate legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has appealed against the shutdown order to the seventh US circuit court of appeals, but it started work in February to reroute the line around the reservation.
The Bad River Band and environmental groups have filed a state lawsuit seeking to halt the work, arguing regulators have underestimated the damage the reroute construction will cause. That case also is pending.
-
Colorado2 minutes ago
Federal judge orders release of family of man charged in Colorado firebomb attack
-
Connecticut8 minutes agoNew Haven’s Chapel Street shift from one-way to two-way traffic brings confusion, concerns
-
Delaware14 minutes agoDelaware State football player sues DeSean Jackson, school after alleged locker room assault
-
Florida20 minutes agoFlorida Lottery Powerball, Lotto, Fantasy 5 results for April 22, 2026
-
Georgia26 minutes agoWildfires rage across Georgia and northern Florida amid severe drought
-
Hawaii32 minutes agoBench in Honokaʻa to Hilo storefront: Knickknackery Hawaii brings old-time island charm to Hilo
-
Idaho38 minutes agoIdaho ranks last in per pupil spending, again – Local News 8
-
Illinois44 minutes agoArlington Heights Bears fans cheer as ‘Megaprojects’ bill passes Illinois House