Associated Press

Detroit Pistons (7-9, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. Charlotte Hornets (5-9, 11th in the Eastern Conference)

Charlotte, North Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Charlotte hosts Detroit looking to continue its three-game home winning streak.

The Hornets are 4-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. Charlotte has a 2-5 record against opponents over .500.

The Pistons have gone 6-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 16.3 fast break points per game led by Jaden Ivey averaging 3.1.

The Hornets score 109.1 points per game, 1.8 fewer points than the 110.9 the Pistons give up. The Pistons average 12.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than the Hornets give up.

TOP PERFORMERS: LaMelo Ball is averaging 28.4 points and 6.6 assists for the Hornets.

Cade Cunningham is averaging 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists for the Pistons.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hornets: 3-7, averaging 105.4 points, 45.2 rebounds, 23.6 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.0 points per game.

Pistons: 6-4, averaging 112.7 points, 49.5 rebounds, 26.8 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points.

INJURIES: Hornets: Nick Richards: out (ribs), Mark Williams: day to day (foot), DaQuan Jeffries: out (hand).

Pistons: Bobi Klintman: out (calf), Ausar Thompson: day to day (illness).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

MILWAUKEE – A new U.S. Navy warship from a once-troubled fleet is set to be commissioned this week in Milwaukee.

The USS Beloit is the newest warship of the U.S. Navy, and it’s sitting in Milwaukee, at 378-feet long in Veterans Park.

“It’s great, it’s beautiful, it’s history,” said Linda Gilbert of Beloit.

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Retired U.S. Navy Reserve Vice Admiral Dirk Debbink is leading the committee for the USS Beloit. The littoral combat warship made in Wisconsin is one of the most advanced ships in the world with an expensive past. 

“This is the last time we will likely ever see this ship in the Great Lakes after she’s commissioned,” Debbink said.

He believes it’ll have a different fate than the $750 million USS Milwaukee. The ship was decommissioned in 2023 after only eight years. It was the ninth littoral warship to be pulled from active service.

“I think this ship is a fully capable ship and I don’t think it will have the problems the Milwaukee had,” Debbink said. “A lot of those were engineering plant issues, and they definitely resolved those.”

Debbink said there have been significant upgrades to weapons and combat systems. 

“Marinette Marine and the Navy learned from these earlier ships and included a lot of ship alterations and improvements in these later ships,” Debbink said.

While littoral combat ships have a history of failure, people touring on Tuesday said they have hope that this ship will have a more lasting impact.

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“With what their mission is and what they described to us, I believe it serves a vital purpose, so, I hope that we would get our money’s worth out of it,” said Navy veteran David Morrow.

“I would think that the ship will serve its time,” said Navy veteran Greg Stamatelakys. “And if it is going to mothballs it will be ready and able to go back out.”

The USS Beloit will be commissioned on Saturday, Nov. 23.

Thousands are expected to attend the ceremony as the ship leaves Veterans Park, heading to its home port at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla.

MINNEAPOLIS — Hi Flora!, one of the early innovators in Minnesota’s budding cannabis industry, is closing up shop in early December. They opened in Minneapolis about a year and a half ago. 

“It has really good energy in here. We’re welcoming and people love to come here, so it’s sad,” owner Heather Klein said. 

Hi Flora! serves plant-based food and offered low-dose THC tinctures people could add to their food or drinks or take home. They also sell THC beverages in their store. 

Klein, who has been sober since 2017, said she wanted to create a fun non-alcoholic bar. She said the financial struggles started in August 2023, when the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) said a customer experienced a “serious adverse health event” after consuming a product. 

“The paramedics said it was a little anxiety. By the time the paramedics got here, she was fine,” she said.

Klein said they try to inform and educate customers about their products before they are consumed, and that the incident in August was rare. The OCM inspected the business following the incident, which led to alleged violations including selling products exceeding the legal amount of THC and allowing on-site consumption without an alcohol license.

Klein said the product they found to be over the legal limit was a concentrated ingredient used to create the lower-dose products.

“It wasn’t being sold, and there was no label on it because it wasn’t being sold,” she said. 

Due to a 2017 alcohol charge, Klein said she can’t obtain a permanent liquor license for on-site consumption of low-dose hemp, even though her business is alcohol-free.

“That was my whole concept, so there’s not much we can do,” she said. 

Klein said she was fined $7,500 for the violations. After she stopped selling the tinctures, she said sales dropped 50%. 

“I had meetings with the head of the health department in here, and they approved everything I was doing,” she said. 

But once the OCM took over in August, she said things were too difficult. 

“There’s no clear guidelines. They seem to changing weekly, daily sometimes,” she said.

While this chapter is ending, Klein said she’s hoping to reopen in some capacity, in another smaller space.