Michigan
Pat Fitzgerald’s task restoring Michigan State football starts with jolting fans to life
EAST LANSING – After being formally introduced as Michigan State’s new coach and meeting with donors, Pat Fitzgerald made a brief stop at Spartan Stadium.
As part of a video filmed by the program’s social team, he stepped through the tunnel while holding hands with his wife, Stacy, but it was far from a first impression.
Fitzgerald played and coached for Northwestern at the century-old stadium and recalled a mistake made his first time as head coach in East Lansing.
“We made some poor decision to warm up in front of the student section,” Fitzgerald said during Tuesday’s introductory press conference. “I don’t know why we decided to do that, that was a first and last time that we were going to ever do that.”
In Fitzgerald’s debut season as head coach in 2006, Michigan State rallied from a 35-point deficit in the third quarter in an NCAA-record breaking comeback to win 41-38. A year later, the Wildcats survived student section antics to pull out a 48-41 overtime victory in East Lansing.
“Spartan Stadium has always been an incredibly challenging place to play, I know first-hand,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t want to talk about a lot of those games, we’ll leave those alone, but what jumps out so much is the pride, the people, the commitment and the resources to compete at the highest level. I’m here because I believe deeply in what we can build together.”
Fitzgerald replaces Jonathan Smith, who was fired after posting a 9-15 record in two seasons that lacked a program identity and public support. There are similarities between the two – both former standout players with their lone head coaching experience at their alma mater – but plenty of differences.
Smith, a West Coast native, doesn’t have a fiery personality and never connected with the Michigan State fan base. Fitzgerald is a walking, talking energy drink commercial with deep roots in the Midwest and Big Ten who immediately tapped into what the Spartans want – passion and a belief better days are ahead.
“Michigan State has historically competed for Big Ten championships and my family and I are grateful for the opportunity to make sure we get back to that place,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re going to build this for long-term success and we need everyone to buy in.”
The same Spartan Stadium Fitzgerald remembers for its ferocity hasn’t been as daunting for opponents in recent years. There are a lot of reasons but it basically comes down to winning. Michigan State hasn’t done enough of it and college kids will find different ways to spend their time.
A Michigan State student reporter pointed out continued program failures and asked what the new coach will do to flip it.
“That’s the environment we need, the homefield, hostile, passionate environment and we have to provide a team on the field that has the students say, you know what, we’re having a fun time on Saturday, let’s go have a great party in Spartan Stadium,” Fitzgerald said. “That 12th person is going to be the student body, and obviously all the other fans, but especially the student body. You’re the core of the fanbase, you’re the heartbeat and we’re going to need you.”
Michigan
Police say Oakland County teen missing, endangered
Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance to find a missing Oakland County teen who is considered endangered.
Adrianna Smith, 15, was last seen in the 3500 block of South Fenton Road, just south of the city of Holly in northwest Oakland County, according to Michigan State Police.
She is believed to have left her home in a 2002 Jeep Liberty with an adult male, possibly a man named Derek Girtman, MSP said.
Smith is described as having blonde hair and green eyes. She is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 160 pounds. She has one tattoo above her right knee and another on her left ankle.
Anyone with information about Adrianna’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the MSP Metro North Post at either (800) 495-4677 or (989) 370-8926.
Michigan
US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline
The supreme court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an ageing pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited too long to try to move the case to federal court.
The case is part of a messy legal dispute about a pipeline that has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953.
Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4km) section of pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel, a Democrat, won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham county judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.
Enbridge moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects US and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the sixth US circuit court of appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that the company missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.
The pipeline at issue is called Line 5. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.
The Michigan department of natural resources under Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.
Enbridge won a ruling from a federal judge blocking the move, but Whitmer, a Democrat, has appealed to the sixth US circuit court of appeals. In March, the supreme court rejected Whitmer’s appeal claiming that she couldn’t be sued in federal court.
It was unclear how the federal ruling blocking Whitmer’s revocation attempt would affect Nessel’s case in state court. The company said in a statement that the judge in the Whitmer case had already decided federal regulators, not the state, are responsible for Line 5 safety and they had found no issues that would warrant shutting it down.
Enbridge also is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan public service commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but a coalition of environmental groups and Michigan tribes has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state permits for the tunnel. The state supreme court is weighing that case.
Enbridge also needs approval from the US army corps of engineers and the Michigan department of environment, Great Lakes and energy.
The pipeline is at the center of a separate legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has appealed against the shutdown order to the seventh US circuit court of appeals, but it started work in February to reroute the line around the reservation.
The Bad River Band and environmental groups have filed a state lawsuit seeking to halt the work, arguing regulators have underestimated the damage the reroute construction will cause. That case also is pending.
Michigan
Hockey roundup: Three Michigan State recruits at U18 worlds; Bruins top Sabres
Porter Martone becomes first teenager to score game-winning goals in his first two NHL playoff games.
Porter Martone becomes first teenager to score game-winning goals in his first two NHL playoff games.
Three Michigan State recruits will represent Team USA at the world U18 hockey championships in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia.
The U.S. opens against Czechia on Wednesday (10 a.m., The Hockey Network).
The future Spartans are: defenseman Nick Bogas (Royal Oak), defenseman Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Township) and forward Brooks Rogowski (Brighton).
Other local commits include: defenseman Abe Barnett (University of Michigan) and goalie Luke Carrithers (Western Michigan).
Team USA’s head coach is Nick Fohr (Dexter) with Kevin Porter (Northville) and Dan Darrow (Livonia) among the assistant coaches.
The tournament features 10 countries with the final scheduled for May 2.
Bruins tie series with Sabres
The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.
Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.
Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.
Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.
Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.
Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.
The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.
Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.
Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.
A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.
The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one- handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.
Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.
The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.
Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.
Detroit Red Wings received six A’s in The Detroit News’ final grades for the 2025-2026 season.
Grades and key takeaways for Finnie, Gibson, Seider, Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat after the Wings’ late collapse.
-
Indianapolis, IN6 minutes agoSouth Bend prepares for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
-
Pittsburg, PA12 minutes ago50 Leaders Give Their Rx for Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, Pt. VII – Pittsburgh Quarterly
-
Augusta, GA18 minutes ago
Start your engines: Augusta Tech gets $6.8M grant for new auto institute
-
Washington, D.C24 minutes agoLawton veteran returns from Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight to Washington
-
Cleveland, OH29 minutes ago’27 DE Munir Lewis Commits to Louisville
-
Austin, TX35 minutes agoCentral Texas aquifers could see slight boost after week of rainfall
-
Alabama41 minutes agoAlabama QB Ty Simpson says faith in Jesus Christ fuels confidence heading into 2026 NFL Draft
-
Alaska48 minutes agoHawaiian and Alaska Airlines officially integrate digital services