Detroit, MI

Nessel vows at Detroit town hall to keep challenging Trump

Published

9 months ago

April 7, 2025

Nessel vows at Detroit town hall to keep challenging Trump

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined nearly a dozen lawsuits challenging actions by the Trump administration, and she’s letting residents know she’ll keep going when she believes it’s necessary.

Nessel and state Rep. Stephanie Young spoke to several dozen constituents at a town hall Sunday afternoon at the IBEW Local 58 in Detroit to discuss the lawsuits Nessel’s office has joined, starting the day after Trump’s inauguration.

Many of the lawsuits allege executive orders issued by Trump overstep presidential authority by usurping the authority of Congress or an administrative agency.

“A lot of these things could happen legally. They just choose not to because they think there are no other branches of government,” Nessel said.

Nessel said the use of lawsuits by state attorneys general to challenge policies of Trump’s first presidential administration from 2017-21 inspired her to run for the office herself. She said two criteria spur her office to file a case against the federal government: An action by the administration must violate a law or regulation, such as the Constitution or the Administrative Procedure Act, and it needs to have harmed Michigan residents in a specific way.

Leonard and Margaret Weber of Detroit, who live in Young’s district, said they came to the town hall interested to hear about Nessel’s long-term strategy for legal actions. They said proposals for cuts that could affect Medicaid and Social Security programs, along with targeting of universities, have stood out to them as concerning.

The Detroit News and other media have reported on colleges under investigation for programs that considered diversity, equity and inclusion or those not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

The U.S. Education Department gave an ultimatum to universities to stop using “racial preferences” as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools were told to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race or lose their eligibility for federal money.

Trump has and senior officials have framed the downsizing of federal agencies as federal government as cost-saving measures designed to make government more efficient.

“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public,” said the memo from Russell Vought, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Associated Press reported in February.

The White House did not immediately respond for comment on the lawsuits Nessel’s office has joined.

Leonard Weber said he believes many of the administration’s actions have been “done in total irregard for the law.”

He said he hopes officials such as Nessel are considering “what can we do in advance, instead of always trying to catch up and stop him after the fact?”

Nessel said Michigan has participated as a party in nine lawsuits and filed briefs in support of 12 others as of Sunday. The lawsuits range from challenging Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, filed the day after his Jan. 20 inauguration, to attempting to stop the administration from cutting medical research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Most recently, Michigan and other states have sued to stop the administration from eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Nessel said dismantling the agency could mean Michigan would lose more than $4.75 million in federal library funding.

Tomena Rawls, chair of the Redford Township Democratic Club, asked for advice about how Black people can use the democratic process to fight back against what Rawls said are attacks on them, also mentioning the administration’s targeting of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“He’s trying to gaslight the African American community, so we can come out and protest and be victims, since most of the recourses have been pushed back,” she said. “Now, what is your advice, so I can take it back to my community and give them some sense of hope and stability, so we can press on in this democratic process?”

“You can’t stop us from educating ourselves,” Young said. “And that’s one of the main things, forums like this, making certain that people are educated about what’s happening.”

Nessel’s advice circled back to her office’s pursuit of legal action, which she said echoes advice she gives to schools and universities: Abide by state and federal laws, which gives her office the option of filing a lawsuit if the administration threatens adverse actions.

“Until … we have a situation of a significant constitutional crisis where the words of the courts don’t matter at all anymore, we’re going to continue to make sure everybody’s following the law, and we’re going continue filing lawsuits when the federal government doesn’t.”

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Detroit, MI

Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

Published

6 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.

Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.

McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.

On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.

Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.

You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”

You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:

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Detroit, MI

Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens

Published

18 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens

The Detroit Tigers and left-hander Tarik Skubal did not agree to terms on a one-year contract for the 2026 season before the 8 p.m. deadline Thursday, Jan. 8, to exchange salary figures in the arbitration process.

Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.

It’s a difference of $13 million.

An arbitration panel will review the case during a hearing scheduled for late January or early to mid-February. The arbitrators must determine whether Skubal is worth more or less than the $25.5 million midpoint. If he’s worth more, they will select his $32 million proposal; if less, they will select the Tigers’ $19 million proposal. The panel isn’t allowed to choose a salary in between $19 million and $32 million.

The Tigers operate as a file-and-trial club in salary arbitration under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, meaning there won’t be further negotiations with Skubal regarding a one-year contract. A multi-year contract could still be negotiated, but it’s highly unlikely.

Skubal – represented by agent Scott Boras – reaches free agency after the 2026 season. The 29-year-old is positioned to become the first pitcher in MLB history to receive a $400 million contract.

If the two sides were to reach an agreement before a hearing, it would likely be a one-year contract with a player option, thus maintaining Skubal’s path to free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

The reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to receive $17.8 million in his third and final year of salary arbitration. He previously earned $2.65 million in 2024, then $10.15 million in 2025.

Why couldn’t the Tigers and Skubal agree on a salary for 2026?

The arbitration case for Skubal is unusually complex, thanks to a rarely used provision highlighted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Because Skubal has more than five years of MLB service time, he isn’t limited to comparing himself only to past arbitration-eligible players. Instead, he can compare himself to any player in baseball.

Those unique rights allow Skubal – who has five years, 114 days of service time – to point to MLB’s highest-paid pitchers (such as Max Scherzer’s $43.3 million per year from 2022-24 or Zack Wheeler’s $42 million per year from 2025-27), arguing that his elite performance warrants a salary in that range – not in the $17.8 million range, as projected by MLB Trade Rumors.

That’s what pushed the Tigers and Skubal to an arbitration hearing.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

The current record for the largest one-year arbitration contract belongs to outfielder Juan Soto, who agreed to $31 million with the New York Yankees for the 2024 season.

If Skubal wins the arbitration hearing, he will surpass Soto and claim the new record with his proposed $32 million salary. If Skubal loses, then he will earn the $19 million salary proposed by the Tigers.

There are two other arbitration records on the line.

The highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015 – his fourth year in the arbitration process as a Super Two qualifier. The largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander Jacob deGrom, who surged from $7.4 million to $17 million – an increase of $9.6 million – with the New York Mets in 2019.

Those records for pitchers will belong to Skubal – but only if his proposed $32 million salary is selected by the arbitration panel. He will fall just short of the records if the panel selects the Tigers’ proposed $19 million.

Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball.

More notably, he is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

In 2025, Skubal registered a 2.21 ERA with 33 walks (4.4% walk rate) and 241 strikeouts (32.2% strikeout rate) across 195⅓ innings in 31 starts. He made the All-Star Game for the second time in his six-year MLB career.

Skubal became the first back-to-back AL Cy Young winner since right-hander Pedro Martínez in 1999-2000, leading the AL with a 2.39 ERA in 2024 and a 2.21 ERA in 2025.

The Tigers haven’t been to an arbitration hearing since right-hander Michael Fulmer in 2019.

Fulmer lost the case, receiving the Tigers’ proposed $2.8 million salary rather than his requested $3.4 million. Before that hearing, the Tigers hadn’t participated in an arbitration hearing since 2001 – and the Tigers haven’t lost a case since 2000.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Detroit, MI

Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher is Rockies’ first signing of winter

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher is Rockies’ first signing of winter

DETROIT — Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen has signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.

It’s the first signing of the offseason for the Rockies under new president Paul DePodesta. The deal includes a $9 million club option for 2027.

It’s the fifth straight winter that Lorenzen has signed a one-year deal following a seven-season tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

Lorenzen, who turned 34 this week, signed a free-agent deal with the Tigers before the 2023 season. He made 18 starts and was selected for his first appearance in the All-Star Game before being dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline for infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee.

After a strong start with his new team that included a no-hitter, Lorenzen was moved to the bullpen and pitched sparingly in the postseason.

He found a quiet reception on the free-agent market, agreeing to a discounted one-year deal with the Texas Rangers before the 2024 season. He was traded to the Royals at the deadline and pitched well down the stretch, going 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with his new team.

He re-signed with the Royals in 2025 and put together another solid season, posting a 4.64 ERA in 141 innings with 127 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Colorado is known as an unforgiving home for pitchers, and the Rockies lost a league-worst 119 games in 2025.