Michigan

2 Smoothie King employees fired for refusing to serve customer in Trump hoodie

Published

1 week ago

March 3, 2026

2 Smoothie King employees fired for refusing to serve customer in Trump hoodie

Two employees who refused to serve a man and his wife because he was wearing a hoodie with President Trump’s name on it were fired after a video of the heated encounter went viral.

Erika Lindemyer and her husband, Jake, were forced out of a Smoothie King franchise location in Ann Arbor, Michigan, following a fiery clash with two young female workers on Sunday.

The employees claimed they didn’t “feel comfortable” serving the couple because of Jake’s pro-Trump hoodie, as captured by Erika in a viral video.

Jake and Erika fired back at the pair and insisted that they were being “discriminated” against based on their “political views.”

“We were just wanting a smoothie and you literally looked at us and I asked you if everything was OK and you said ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination,” Erika spat.

“Okay, well, have a great day,” the first employee said.

“That is illegal,” Erika tried to insist again.

“I said Trump discriminates [against] us,” another employee chimed in.

“Okay, well that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie!” Erika guffawed.

“OK, well that’s who you support though, that’s who you love,” the first employee chided.

“What’s embarrassing is that we’re American citizens and I wanted to get a smoothie,” Erika huffed.

The second employee noted that they “have a right to refuse service” and directed the couple to the exit.

“You asked a question and [the other employee] gave you an answer. Have a great day. Have a great day. The door’s right there,” the second worker said.

Erika threatened to call the police while storming out, but it’s unclear if she did.

In a separate video shared Monday, one of the workers joked that she might’ve “accidentally started a race war” and called on the public to help remove Erika’s video.

“I am a minor and she recorded me without my permission. The people in the comments are all white and they’re all being hella racist, guys, please help me get this video taken down,” she implored.

Smoothie King confirmed that the girls involved in the viral confrontation “are no longer with the business” as of Monday.

“As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect,” the company wrote on X.

The owner of the Ann Arbor franchise location will also enforce “mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.”

In early December, a woman who worked at a Target in California was berated by a customer for wearing a Charlie Kirk “Freedom” T-shirt.

When the employee insisted she was allowed to wear the red shirt, the irate customer accused her of supporting “a racist.”

The medical center where the agitated customer worked was bombarded with upwards of 6,000 “profanity-laced” phone calls after online sleuths doxxed her personal information.

Source link

Click to comment

Michigan

With gas prices rising in Michigan and U.S., what other items could rise amid war with Iran?

Published

12 hours ago

March 12, 2026

Press Room

With gas prices rising in Michigan and U.S., what other items could rise amid war with Iran?

Drivers across Metro Detroit continue to see higher prices at the pump. And the escalating war in Iran is worrying some that higher prices across the board will soon follow.

“It’s very frustrating because I don’t like these gas prices, and I want them to go down. I hate the war, and I want the war to end,” said Aywon Williams from Detroit.

It now costs an average of over $3.60 for Michigan’s motorists for a gallon of gas, which is around 20% higher than it was just 12 days ago when the war in Iran began.

But experts like Kevin Ketels, an associate professor in Global Supply Chain Management at Wayne State, say that the costs of food, housing, clothing, and more should soon be, if not already, on the rise as well.

“So there is a very large ripple effect, you simply can’t avoid it when 20 percent of the World’s crude oil comes out of this part of the world,” said Ketels.

Ketels says if crude oil’s price continues to climb because of the Strait of Hormuz being under attack, so will the prices of most widely used products, because of the need for crude oil, which keeps equipment, delivery trucks, airplanes, and more running.

“And that cost is almost immediately being felt by us, by everyone globally and it will be reflected in higher prices in anything that requires transportation,” Ketels said.

Theo Pinson from Southfield told CBS Detroit he’s seen increasing costs all over the place.

“Food and everything, I just came over here from Meijer, and everything is sky high,” Pinson said.

It’s uncertain when the war against Iran will end, but experts say it will take time to smooth out supply chain disruptions, even when it does, so price increases could persist for weeks or even months.

“What’s had to happen in the Middle East is that they’ve had to shut down production because there’s nowhere to put all the oil, so when you shut down production, it takes time to get everything restarted,” said Ketels.

President Trump has said that rising gas prices are a very small price to pay for the U.S., the world and peace.

In:

Source link

Michigan

Michigan-based Stryker hit with cyberattack

Published

24 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Michigan-based Stryker hit with cyberattack – CBS Detroit

Watch CBS News

Michigan-based medical equipment company Stryker said on Wednesday that a cyberattack is causing a “global network disruption.”

Source link

Michigan

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame time, channel in Big Ten Tournament

Published

1 day ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame time, channel in Big Ten Tournament

Michigan hockey may be the No. 1 team in the nation in the USCHO and NPI rankings, but they fell short of a regular-season title and don’t have the clearest path to a Big Ten Tournament win.

But three wins can help the Wolverines solidify their status as the best in the nation, even if they’re No. 2 in the Big Ten as of now.

The Wolverines (26-7-1) face Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Big Ten Hockey Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. ET and will not be televised on a traditional channel, but streamed exclusively on BIG+.

Michigan finished with the most overall wins (26) and most conference wins (17) in the Big Ten, but finished second to Michigan State in points, relegating them to the No. 2 seed. As a result, the two-time defending-champion Spartans got a bye and head right into the semifinals, while the Wolverines play last-place Notre Dame to kick off the tournament.

Since the tournament reseeds winners for the semifinal round, it is not clear who Michigan will play if it wins. However, with the Spartans holding the No. 1 seed, a rematch between the top two teams in the conference can only happen in the final game, which will take place on Saturday, March 21.

Here’s what you need to know as Michigan hockey begins its quest for a Big Ten tournament title.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament time

Date: Wednesday, March 11.
Time: 7 p.m. ET.
Location: Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament channel

Time: 7 p.m. ET.
Channel: N/A.
Streaming: BIG+.

Wednesday’s game against Notre Dame will not be on a traditional television channel, but can be streamed on the BIG+ app.

Big Ten hockey conference tournament bracket

The Big Ten hockey conference tournament uses a three-round, single-elimination bracket that involves all seven conference teams, with the top seed earning a first-round bye. The remaining six teams then play a knockout round with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Big Ten hockey 2026 standings

Michigan State (51 points).
Michigan (49 points).
Penn State (41 points).
Wisconsin (39 points).
Ohio State (29 points).
Minnesota (27 points).
Notre Dame (16 points).

Big Ten Tournament hockey 2026 quarterfinals schedule: March 11

No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 2 Michigan, 7 p.m. ET (BIG+).
No. 6 Minnesota at No. 3 Penn State, 7 p.m. ET (BIG+).
No. 5 Ohio State at No. 4 Wisconsin, 8 p.m. ET (BIG+).

Big Ten Tournament hockey 2026 semifinals schedule: March 14

Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Michigan State, time TBD (Big Ten Network).
Second-lowest remaining seed at second-highest remaining seed, time TBD (Big Ten Network).