U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar tried to appeal to female voters ahead of Mother’s Day this past week with a glossy mail advertisement that arrived in mailboxes in the 13th Congressional District — 13 weeks before the Aug. 6 Democratic primary.

The advertisement’s message talked about Thanedar’s mother and wife, Shashi, with a photo of his family and the moms in this life.

“In Congress, I have tried following the lessons these strong women have taught me,” Thanedar wrote. “I’ve worked to empower women — by defending abortion rights, fighting for equal pay and fighting against discrimination in any form.”

Curiously, the ad also featured another mom — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a fellow Democrat who gave Thanedar’s chief primary opponent, state Sen. Adam Hollier, a job as director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.

Thanedar’s mailer didn’t identify Whitmer in writing, it just has a photo of him and the governor. But the image suggests Thanedar has the support of the state’s chief executive in his reelection bid against Hollier and Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters in a primary where the victory will almost assuredly prevail in the November general election.

Whitmer did not authorize Thanedar to use her image in the advertisement, said Helen Hare, spokeswoman for Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell political action committee.

“The use of this photo for campaign purposes is not authorized, and the Governor has not made an endorsement in this race,” Hare said in a statement.

More: Hollier congressional bid for ballot at risk over possible forged signatures

Uncommitted Dems pan ‘sanitized’ convention

The Uncommitted National Movement is demanding a meeting with top Democratic National Committee officials after a report that White House and Democratic leaders are discussing making the party’s August nominating convention partially virtual in an effort to minimize the threat of disruptions at the high-profile gathering.

Leaders of the Uncommitted movement, which began in Michigan, said the party is trying avoid debate over President Joe Biden’s support for Israel and his position on Palestinian rights. They aren’t having it.

“The DNC’s attempt to sideline genuine discourse and sanitize the convention undermines the spirit of democracy that our party’s voting base expects them to champion,” said Abbas Alawieh, a spokesman for Uncommitted.

“Open the party doors to genuine debate, let delegates speak freely, and show that the party still stands for the basic tenets of freedom and democracy.“

Abbas said the group wants a meeting with senior planners of the convention and DNC Chair Jaime Harrison to ensure delegates may attend in person and “speak freely.”

Politico reported that some party officials are pushing to make the August convention in Chicago hybrid similar to their COVID-era convention four years ago, with a mix of in-person speeches from Biden and others and also pre-recorded content and fewer opportunities for demonstrators or hecklers to interrupt.

The conversation comes amid campus protests around the country over the war and demonstrators often showing up at venues or in audiences where Biden speaks. Anger over Biden’s support for Israel in the Gaza war spread across communities in Michigan, spurring more than 100,000 residents to cast “uncommitted” ballots in protest during the Democratic presidential primary in February.

The Uncommitted movement won delegates in Michigan’s 6th and 12th congressional districts. Abbas on Saturday won his bid to represent the Uncommitted movement at the convention as a delegate for the 12th Congressional District. Rima Mohammad, former president of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education, won to represent the 6th.

More: Biden’s threat to halt U.S. weapons to Israel draws immediate GOP blowback

Raimondo to Mackinac

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is the latest speaker announced for the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference, hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber at month’s end, organizers said last week.

“We’re looking forward to hearing a one-on-one discussion with her about her extraordinary career, from her leadership of the Department of Commerce and her leading role in the development of many of the policies and administration that we think have been critical to our biz including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” said businesswoman Suzanne Shank, chair of this year’s conference. “That was a big get in our view.”

The conference will also feature a bipartisan debate among the top-polling U.S. Senate candidates at 5:30 p.m. May 30 based on a survey by the Lansing-based polling firm Glengariff Group.

Three Republicans and three Democrats have been invited to participate: Democrats Elissa Slotkin of Holly, Hill Harper of Detroit and Nasser Beydoun of Dearborn and Republicans Mike Rogers of Brighton, Sandy Pensler of Grosse Pointe Park and Justin Amash of Cascade Township. Television journalists Devin Scillian of WDIV (Channel 4) and Rick Albin of WOOD-TV will moderate the debate.

“We are working with all of their offices to confirm them for this opportunity,” Detroit Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah said.

“The format will allow both parties obviously to be on the stage at the same time. We think this is a unique format that really pushes candidates to speak to a broad audience, as opposed to speaking to their base voters. It creates a different dynamic.”

Others speakers on the agenda include Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, state House Speaker Joe Tate, University of Michigan President Santa Ono, Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz, NBC News’ Chuck Todd and Suzanne P. Clark, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

State GOP plans for convention

The Michigan Republican Party has begun making plans for the Republican national convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee from July 15-18.

Michigan’s delegates for the convention will be staying at a hotel in Madison, Wisc., according to a party email, reviewed by The Detroit News.

“The hotel is just over an hour from the Fiserv Forum,” wrote Tyson Shepard, executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, in a recent message to delegates.

Delegates also selected Anne DeLisle of Genesee County, chairwoman of the 8th Congressional District Republican committee, to be the delegation chairman. And they chose Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, and Bronwyn Haltom of Kalamazoo County to represent the state on the convention’s platform committee.

More: Insider: Trump to headline conservative group’s convention in Detroit

More: Man acquitted of aiding Whitmer kidnap plot now running for sheriff

Tweet of the week

The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week goes to journalist Rachel Louise Just.

Just, who previously covered Michigan politics but now works in Arizona, responded to news that a TV show is in the works that’s planned to be a new version of “The Office” but based around a newspaper in a Midwestern town.

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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan didn’t drive to his first or second stop of the day Saturday morning — instead, he took the bus.

Duggan greeted smiling residents, shook their hands and listened to Detroiters as the 4-Woodward bus made its way to the opening day of the Jason Hargrove Transit Center, a 52,000-square-foot sheltered transportation hub redeveloped from the former Dairy Cattle Barn on the abandoned Michigan State Fairgrounds. The center connects five DDOT routes — 4 Woodward, 12 Conant, 17 Eight Mile, 30 Livernois and 54 Wyoming — and eight SMART bus routes to service an estimated 25,000 riders a week, as well as ride-share customers and people using MoGo bikes and scooters.

“We’ve moved out of that temporary hub into a state-of-the-art transfer facility that’s got plenty of amenities, and we’ll continue to build upon that,” said Michael Staley, interim director of DDOT. “It’s the beginning of service enhancements here at DDOT.”

The facility, which is part of a $31 million redevelopment of the fairgrounds, is named after Jason Hargrove, a Detroit Department of Transportation bus driver who died of COVID-19 in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic, leaving behind his wife and six children.

Before his untimely passing, Hargrove spoke out for bus drivers like himself, stressing their roles as essential workers during the pandemic because of the community’s need for public transportation to take people who were still working to their jobs every day. He advocated for better conditions for bus drivers, like real restrooms to use instead of port-a-potties.

As a result, the Jason Hargrove Transit Center features a dedicated lounge and restroom for the comfort and convenience for bus operators to rest and relax in between their shifts.

“In this specific space, there was a whole lot of talk about making a designated restroom for the drivers … and a place for them to warm up a lunch they brought in a lunch tote so they could save some money and not have to stop. Little things like that that you don’t think is a big deal, but it is,” said Corey McIsaac, deputy director of media relations for the city of Detroit. “(These changes) show the bus drivers that the city really cares about them.”

Bus riders were the other main consideration in building the new transit center, as passengers had complained to the Mayor’s Office for years about having to wait for bus transfers in the rain, snow, cold or heat of a scorching summer day.

“I used to live across the street, and I would watch people sitting out in the wintertime, and cabs would sit at the site, waiting until someone was desperate enough to pay 25 bucks to get home,” said Duggan. “That got me thinking when I first ran, ‘I got to build a transit center here.’ “

“It was (a two-year design process) because DDOT wanted ridership input. … We had three town hall meetings where we basically just sat with our mics off and let the public talk about what they wanted in this space,” said Jason Dyer, the senior project manager for Ideal Contracting.

The new facility boasts a covered bus tarmac to protect passengers from the elements as well as an indoor lobby furnished with benches and plush couches, a ticket office, bus pass kiosks and public restrooms with retail and restaurant options to come, dotted with remnants of the State Fairgrounds Coliseum, like the orange stadium chairs, the signage and a lit scoreboard.

“That also came from the public. We had our engagement meetings with the public about saving as much as we could from the coliseum, so we tried to incorporate what we could into our new facility,” said Tyrone Clifton, the director of the Detroit Building Authority. Additionally, by the end of the year, the city will have turned the coliseum’s standing portico into a green space and amphitheater.

The Jason Hargrove Transit Center, located at 1120 W. State Fair Ave., is open 24 hours a day and patrolled by the Detroit Police Department. Nonemergency issues can be reported via DDOT Customer Service at 313-933-1300.

If clouds cooperate, there’s a chance the northern lights could be visible again Saturday and Sunday nights in metro Detroit. The geomagnetic storm’s colors dazzled Michigan skies, including in the southern part of the state, Friday night.

While Michiganders are used to the northern lights, which are also called the aurora borealis, occasionally appearing in northern Michigan, the metro Detroit sighting was a treat. The National Weather Service called Friday’s storm severe.

And there could be a repeat this weekend. NWS maps predicting the intensity and location of the northern lights Saturday and Sunday show the aurora will be visible in mid to northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

The green oval on the map indicates where the lights will be visible and the oval turns red where they are forecasted to be more intense. Most of the included Michigan areas are in the green oval, but some parts of the Upper Peninsula are in the red.

More: Michigan dark sky parks, sanctuaries are best spots to see northern lights, stars

The NWS also said the aurora doesn’t have to be directly above an area for it to be visible and can be observed more than 600 miles away when the aurora is bright and weather conditions are right. So, even though the aurora won’t be directly over metro Detroit either night, it’s definitely possible it will be visible in the region.

However, both Saturday and Sunday are predicted to be mostly cloudy with showers and isolated thunderstorms. From 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, the NWS is predicting sky cover ranging from 48-58% in metro Detroit. It drops to 34% at 5 a.m. The west side of both peninsulas will have a lower percentage of cover during the same time periods.

The sky cover percentage in metro Detroit looks better for Sunday night with a range of 31-44% coverage between 8 p.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. Monday.