Detroit, MI
Today in History: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick convicted of racketeering conspiracy
Today is Monday, March 11, the 71st day of 2024. There are 295 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On March 11, 2013, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) was convicted of a raft of crimes, including racketeering conspiracy (he was later sentenced to 28 years in prison).
On this date:
In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln removed Gen. George B. McClellan as general-in-chief of the Union armies, leaving him in command of the Army of the Potomac, a post McClellan also ended up losing.
In 1918, what were believed to be the first confirmed U.S. cases of a deadly global flu pandemic were reported among U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; 46 soldiers would die. (The worldwide outbreak of influenza claimed an estimated 20 to 40 million lives.)
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis.
In 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, where he vowed on March 20, “I shall return” — a promise he kept more than 2 1/2 years later.
In 1954, the U.S. Army charged that Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., and his subcommittee’s chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had exerted pressure to obtain favored treatment for Pvt. G. David Schine, a former consultant to the subcommittee. (The confrontation culminated in the famous Senate Army-McCarthy hearings.)
In 1985, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Konstantin U. Chernenko as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
In 1997, Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2002, two columns of light soared skyward from Ground Zero in New York as a temporary memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks six months earlier.
In 2004, ten bombs exploded in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.
In 2006, former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic was found dead of a heart attack in his prison cell in the Netherlands, abruptly ending his four-year U.N. war crimes trial; he was 64.
In 2010, a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency.
In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan’s northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and severely damaging the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station.
In 2012, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales shot and killed 16 Afghan villagers — mostly women and children — as they slept; Bales later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In 2018, lawmakers in China abolished presidential term limits that had been in place for more than 35 years, opening up the possibility of Xi Jinping holding power for life.
In 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced in New York to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that he said would help defeat the virus and nurse the economy back to health; Americans would receive up to $1,400 in direct payments, along with extended unemployment benefits.
In 2022, Russia widened its offensive in Ukraine, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, while the huge armored column that had been stalled for over a week outside Kyiv went on the move again.
Today’s birthdays: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 93. Former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 90. Musician Flaco Jimenez (FLAH’-koh hee-MEH’-nez) is 85. Actor Tricia O’Neil is 79. Actor Mark Metcalf is 78. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 77. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 74. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 74. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 73. Actor Susan Richardson is 72. Recording executive Jimmy Iovine (eye-VEEN’) is 71. Singer Nina Hagen is 69. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 69. Actor Elias Koteas is 63. Actor-director Peter Berg is 62. Singer Mary Gauthier (GOH’-shay) is 62. Actor Jeffrey Nordling is 62. Actor Alex Kingston is 61. Actor Wallace Langham is 59. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is 59. Actor John Barrowman is 57. Singer Lisa Loeb is 56. Neo-soul musician Al Gamble (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 55. Singer Pete Droge is 55. Actor Terrence Howard is 55. Rock musician Rami Jaffee is 55. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 53. Rock singer-musicians Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte; The Madden Brothers) are 45. Actor David Anders is 43. Singer LeToya Luckett is 43. Actor Thora Birch is 42. TV personality Melissa Rycroft is 41. Actor Rob Brown is 40. Actor Jodie Comer is 31.
Jalen Duren reacts to Daniss Jenkins’ career game for Pistons vs Lakers
Jalen Duren on Daniss Jenkins, who scored 30 points to lift Pistons over Lakers, March 23, 2026. “Every time his number’s been called he’s performed.”
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Detroit Pistons nearly took down the defending champs in their own arena without four starters. An MVP-caliber performance by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to escape.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 47 points, and knocked down 21 of his 25 free throws, to put away the Pistons in overtime, 114-110, on Monday, March 30. Three free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander with 48.3 seconds left in overtime extended the Thunder’s lead to five, 111-106. He then split a trip with 13.3 seconds left, with Ron Holland fouling out, to extend the lead back to four to secure the win for Oklahoma City (after Paul Reed cut it to two with a pair of free throws).
After a hot second half, the Pistons went cold in OT, shooting 3-for-11 in the final five minutes. They were without Ausar Thompson (eight points, seven rebounds and five assists) in the extra period, after he fouled out late in the fourth quarter.
With less than 24 seconds left and a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, Daniss Jenkins turned the ball over with a bad pass. Gilgeous-Alexander nearly made the Pistons pay, sinking a 3-pointer with four seconds left and the game tied at 101. However, the bucket didn’t count because he pushed off. Jenkins’ 3-pointer at the buzzer missed, leading to overtime.
With the loss, the Pistons (54-21) missed out on a chance to clinch the Central Division, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, eight games back with eight games to play entering Monday, also winning. Still, the Pistons are seven games up with seven to play, with a tiebreaker (division record) yet to be decided. Even with the loss, the Pistons – who’ve locked up a playoff spot and homecourt in the first round – edged closer to clinching the top spot in the East, as the Boston Celtics, who entered four games back of the Pistons, lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. That dropped the Pistons’ “magic number” (any combo of Pistons wins and Celtics losses) to lock up the East down to three.
Next up for the Pistons
It’s a super-short turnaround for the Pistons, who jet back to Detroit to host the Toronto Raptors (42-32) on Tuesday (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra/MMYD-TV 20). Toronto is tied with Atlanta in the fifth and sixth spots in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit Pistons walking wounded
The Pistons were severely shorthanded, with Jalen Duren (right ankle injury management), Tobias Harris (left hip) and Duncan Robinson (right hip) all missing the game, along with the previously ruled-out Cade Cunningham (left lung pneumothorax) and Isaiah Stewart (left calf strain). They leaned on their depth, with two-way big Tolu Smith and 2025 second-round pick Chaz Lanier rounding out coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation.
Several players stepped up, with Reed (21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks) leading the way. Javonte Green finished with 19 points and knocked down a season-high five 3-pointers. Kevin Huerter (17 points, six assists, six rebounds), Jenkins (15 points, six assists), Marcus Sasser (12 points, four assists) and Caris LeVert (10 points) also scored in double figures.
Gilgeous-Alexander led all players with 47 points.
Second-half rally for the Pistons
With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, two big offensive rebounds by Smith allowed the Pistons to take their biggest lead of the night.
The possession ended with a 3-pointer by Jenkins, giving the Pistons a 97-90 lead. But the defending champions battled back, with Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way. He went on a personal 6-0 run, and a corner 3-pointer by Thunder center Jaylin Williams later tied the game at 99 with 1:35 to play.
The Pistons trailed by as many as 15 in the first half but outscored the Thunder in the second half, 58-48. The Pistons made nine of their 17 3-point attempts through the final two quarters and shot 60% overall, while holding the Thunder to 44%. Through the first four periods, they scored 22 points off of 17 Thunder turnovers. The Pistons also owned the offensive glass, grabbing 15 to the Thunder’s six. It allowed them a 16-4 lead in second chance points.
Javonte Green delivers season-best performance
The veteran guard has been an unsung contributor all season. His perimeter defense and 3-point shooting, particularly from the corners, has made him a key glue guy with the second unit. As a starter on Monday, he stepped up and gave one of his best performances in a Pistons uniform.
His five 3-pointers marked a season-high, and all five were timely. His fifth came midway through the fourth period and gave the Pistons the lead during their fourth-quarter push, 90-89. He led an all-around hot night from beyond the arc, and did so while also picking up Gilgeous-Alexander defensively throughout the night.
Defense, outside shooting clicks after first quarter
Trailing by 15 points with under nine minutes left in the second quarter, the Pistons nearly let the game get away. But they responded by locking down defensively and heating up from the arc, which sparked a run and enabled them to take control of the game in the second half.
They held the Thunder to 36.4% shooting (8-for-22) in the second quarter after allowing them to shoot 61.1% (11-for-18) in the first. The Pistons caught fire from the arc in the second half after shooting 30% (6-for-20) in the first half, making four of six attempts in the third period and five of 10 in the fourth.
Watch our podcast, “The Pistons Pulse,” discuss the Cade Cunningham injury fallout, the playoff chase and more:
The Detroit Lions may indeed have a position switch in the cards for one of their top offensive linemen.
While no final decision has officially been made, the Lions appear to be bracing for three-time All-Pro selection Penei Sewell to move from right tackle to left tackle for the 2026 season.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell addressed the possibility during his media appearance Monday at the annual league meetings.
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Campbell told reporters that Sewell is ready to make the switch from the right side to the left and that the coach would like to make the move. The move would come after the departure of Taylor Decker, who requested his release from the team after 10 seasons playing the blindside spot.
Sewell has quickly become one of the top offensive tackles in the league. He was the first draft pick made in general manager Brad Holmes’ tenure, as the team picked him seventh overall in the 2021 draft.
In his five NFL seasons, the Oregon product has earned Pro Bowl honors four times and has been a First Team All-Pro three consecutive seasons.
Lions coach Dan Campbell says he’d like to move Penei Sewell to left tackle, and while no final call has been made yet, “He’s ready to do that.”
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 30, 2026
Sewell has made 83 appearances for the Lions, all starts, and has performed at an exceptional level. He earned a four-year, $112 million contract extension prior to the 2024 season for his efforts.
The Lions have had somewhat of a topsy turvy offseason, as they’ve parted ways with key contributors in years past such as Decker, running back David Montgomery and linebacker Alex Anzalone.
Decker’s departure came after he initially announced his intention to return after mulling retirement, but talks with the front office broke down after they wanted him to take a pay cut.
As a result, the Lions now need a left tackle. They signed veteran Larry Borom to a one-year deal in free agency, but Borom’s starting experience has mostly come on the right side. As a result, there’s belief that Sewell could transition to the left side full time.
Sewell made the first eight starts of his career at left tackle in 2021, filling in while Decker was on injured reserve. Since then, he’s played exclusively on the right side with Dan Skipper predominantly filling in for Decker when the veteran was unable to go.
Skipper retired this offseason and has joined the Lions’ coaching staff as an offensive assistant.
The Lions also have 2024 fourth-round pick Gio Manu returning for his third NFL season. Manu was drafted as a developmental prospect, and has made just one start in his first two campaigns and spent the majority of last season on injured reserve.
Last season, Sewell earned a 95.2 overall offensive grade via Pro Football Focus and an elite 96.8 run-blocking grade. He’s proven to be one of the most durable players on the roster, missing just two possible starts in five seasons.
The Michigan Wolverines are the last Michigan team standing in college hockey as both Western Michigan and Michigan State lost in the round of eight.
Michigan will face Denver, while Wisconsin and North Dakota face off in the other semi-final game this week.
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