Michigan
Three keys for Michigan football against Arkansas State
We are going to do the three keys a little differently heading into Week 3. Typically, I think about what Michigan needs to do in order to win its game, but if the Wolverines struggle — or dare say lose — to Arkansas State, there is a much bigger issue at hand.
Instead, I’m going to write three things fans should want to see on Saturday against the Red Wolves to give them some faith heading into a Week 4 showdown with USC.
Entering Week 3, Michigan has the 120th-ranked total offense in the nation. The Wolverines average just 276.5 yards per game. Michigan also owns the 113th-ranked passing offense (162.5 yards/game) and the 101st-ranked rushing offense (114 yards/game).
Much blame is being put on first-year starter Davis Warren and while he does own some of the failure of the offense through two weeks, I look toward the unit that has been super strong since 2021: the offensive.
Pro Football Focus isn’t the be-all and end-all, but the advanced analytics are something to ponder. According to PFF, Michigan has the 117th-best pass protection (55.0 grade), but does have the 45th-best run-blocking grade (67.1).
The offensive line has been inconsistent at best, but the one-time feared O-line is back to looking like the 2010’s Michigan offensive line. Granted the Wolverines have five new linemen trying to jell and work together, but two weeks in, it’s less to be desired.
Again, looking at PFF, when Warren is pressured it’s 83.3% of the time due to the offensive line. To get specific, the RG (Gio El-Hadi) has allowed pressure 16.7% of the time, and the RT (Evan Link) has allowed pressure 66.7% of the time — not good.
Michigan says it wants to be a run-first team, which is great, but the offensive line needs to open up holes and then also be established in pass pro. Fans are going to want to see a huge change from the offensive line against an under matched Arkansas State team.
It sounds silly to harp on the two best interior defensive linemen in college football, but the fact is that neither has played well in two games. Mason Graham is ranked as the No. 359 DT by PFF. Graham has a 65.1 defensive grade and a 69.2 run stop grade.
Grant is listed as the No. 536 DT in the country with a 60.7 defensive grade and a 69.1 run stop grade.
Through two games, Graham has seven tackles with two TFLs, while Grant has one tackle to his name, along with a PBU.
As the top two interior linemen, Michigan needs the big-time players to play as such. Heading into Arkansas State, the Wolverines are going to want their stars to tear up the Red Wolves’ O-line. Graham and Grant, while they may not rack up the stats, need to come off the ball strong and just destroy the competition. After a poor Texas game, USC is up in two weeks and that will be another key game that could dictate the season. Graham and Grant are going to want to be primed for the Trojans.
Michigan is currently ranked 110th in the country converting just seven of 23 (30.4%) third-down chances in two games. Some might point to the struggles against a good Texas’ defense, but the Wolverines weren’t good in this area against Fresno State either. In Week 1, Michigan went 4-for-11 on third downs.
Not getting behind the chains on first down would help here, but either way, Michigan has to give its defense a break and stay on the field to sustain drives. If the Wolverines want that run-first identity, getting Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings rolling would help tremendously.
On the other side of the ball, the Michigan defense is ranked 109th allowing opponents to convert on 12-of-27 (44.4%) thid-down tries. That has to improve as well. Going up against a less talented Arkansas State team, the Wolverine defense will want to wreak havoc and force some three-and-outs to gain confidence on Saturday.
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Michigan
Michigan lawmakers work through the night on ‘compromise’ budget
Lansing — Michigan lawmakers worked through the night into Friday morning on a new state budget that will use an array of spending cuts and funding maneuvers to close a $1 billion tax revenue gap.
The plan will increase the state’s investment in basic per-student support for Michigan schools and will feature $125 million for special projects sought by legislators. However, 10 state departments will get less money than they had the year before, and a variety of state initiatives, such as the arts and culture program, Pure Michigan and the Office of Global Michigan, will see cuts.
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, described the new budget, which authorized somewhere around $84 billion in spending, as one “full of compromises.”
“This was a very challenging budget negotiation, mainly because of the $1 billion deficit that we had to ensure to address,” Anthony said. “But being able to do so without reducing any benefits for folks who are receiving Medicaid or food assistance is probably the proudest thing … that comes out of this process.”
The Legislature convened throughout the night Thursday into Friday morning, when the state Capitol would normally have been closed for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Under state law, the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate are supposed to approve a new budget by July 1 each year. The first of the funding bills wasn’t unveiled this week until about 3:13 a.m. Friday morning, two days after the deadline.
Lawmakers would likely have a few hours to read the bills before the final votes, which were expected later Friday.
On Thursday afternoon, Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, said Senate Republicans had no information about what was in the budget blueprint. He labeled the process playing out in the Legislature “nonsense.”
Likewise, Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, said lawmakers had about 30 to 40 minutes between being briefed on the budget and when they had to vote on it.
“We have no idea what’s in these bills,” Runestad said.
In February, Jen Flood, Whitmer’s budget director, said the state was facing a $1.8 billion financial gap. Health care costs had jumped, the Legislature had dedicated more tax dollars to roads, and the federal government, led by Republican President Donald Trump, had forced states to pay for a larger share of costs associated with food assistance for low-income families.
Whitmer initially proposed an $88.1 budget for next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. She sought a bevy of new taxes on smokers, gamblers and digital advertising. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, refused to go along with the tax hikes.
The new budget will be somewhat close to the current budget in overall amount of approximately $84 million.
Hall and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, had been working for weeks to create the new funding plan. Hall announced a final deal had been reached Thursday.
The ultimate agreement involved dozens of other bills that were tied to the budget’s approval, including a long-sought measure by some Democrats that would double the cap on the state’s transformational brownfield program, which allows businesses behind large developments to keep income tax and sales withholdings resulting from their projects, from $1.6 billion to $3.2 billion.
The incentive is expected to be used to spur the redevelopment of Detroit’s riverfront Renaissance Center. The Senate approved the brownfield bill in December. The House voted 82-26 in favor of it early Friday.
The Senate also took up early Friday a House-backed proposal to ban former lawmakers from being paid to lobby for two years after leaving office. The bill passed in a vote of 29-7.
How will schools be funded?
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, acknowledged lawmakers were shifting a larger amount of School Aid Fund money, which would normally go to K-12 schools, toward higher education and community colleges.
The number appeared to rise from about $1.3 billion in the current year to about $2 billion in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, setting a new record. Whitmer had proposed using $1.7 billion from the School Aid Fund to support the operations of universities and community colleges.
The moves effectively free up money in the General Fund, where tax dollars are currently tight, for other needs.
“It’s too much,” Camilleri said of the shifts. “But we’re dealing with a divided Legislature with different priorities, and we all needed to fill the budget gap.”
Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, blasted the approach lawmakers took.
“Nothing in this budget justifies it once again being done late,” McCann said. “There is little in it focused on supporting Michigan’s schools, even as it raids nearly $2 billion from the School Aid Fund to pay for data centers and corporate tax handouts.”
The K-12 budget went down from $21.3 billion to $19.8 billion, a 7 percent drop in federal funds on paper.
But the plan appears to allow the federal funds not included in the tally to be spent, so it wasn’t clear how much total spending there would actually be under the legislation.
Lawmakers are increasing the base per-pupil foundation allowance for schools by about 2.5% from $10,050 to $10,300. They are also investing $50 million in high-impact tutoring and instituting a long-term plan for a so-called weighted funding formula, which would tie extra support to economically disadvantaged students and students who are learning English.
House Appropriations Chairwoman Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, touted the weighted funding formula, which will be phased in over the next 15 years.
“This is a transformational school budget, where we are making record investments,” Bollin said.
For Michigan’s public universities, overall funding increased by 12% from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion, with more money for operations and scholarships.
What were the cuts and projects?
Lawmakers’ final plan also cut $8 million in funding for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign, which received $17 million in support in the current year. The Office of Global Michigan got $500,000 less, dropping its total to about $41.4 million. And the arts and culture program got $685,200 less, dropping its total to $8 million.
Among state departments, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy saw the largest percentage drop in funding of 31%, going from $967 million to $671 million. The decrease was largely due to the reduction of money for a federal sewage and stormwater program.
Lawmakers did provide $125 million for special projects around the state.
There was $3 million for the Schoenherr Road Bridge Reconstruction in Shelby Township, $1.4 million for the Rochester Community House expansion and renovation, $3.7 million for water main replacements in Utica and $2 million for a fire station project in Waterford Township, according to the spending plan.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Michigan
Fourth inmate from Michigan’s female prison dies after cardiac event
Michigan lawmakers seek prison director’s exit
30 Michigan lawmakers seek resignation of prison director Heidi Washington after 4 prison deaths; Whitmer orders probe.
Another inmate from Michigan’s female prison died on Thursday, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported, becoming the fourth female inmate to die at the facility plagued by complaints of poor conditions since May.
Dalephenia Jones, 62, of the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility died at Trinity Health Hospital about two weeks after correctional officers found that she needed medical assistance in her cell, the department said.
“As this was an unexpected death, the department will be investigating the events preceding Ms. Jones being sent to the hospital and will provide information on the result of those investigations when they are complete,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jenni Riehle said in a statement.
Three prior deaths at the women’s facility led 30 state lawmakers on May 19 to urge the resignation of Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, citing a history of problems at the state prisons under her leadership.
The prison has recently been under fire over its conditions. A state House oversight committee heard testimony in February from prisoners, advocates and former staff who testified about the conditions, including mold and a lack of medical care, similar to complaints that have risen since the two women’s deaths.
The prison’s warden, Jeremy Howard, was put “temporarily on personal leave,” the department said earlier this month.
Washington and other health care leadership have been onsite regularly at Women’s Huron Valley since the other deaths occurred in May, Riehle said.
On June 19, Huron Valley corrections officers took Jones to the facility’s health care area after finding her conscious but in need of medical assistance, the department said. The health care staff requested outside emergency medical services, the department said.
Emergency technicians determined that “Jones was having a cardiac event and she was taken into surgery after arrival at the hospital,” Riehle said.
No other specifics were given about Jones’ condition during the 14 days following surgery or the cause of the cardiac event. But Riehl said Jones “had multiple documented chronic medical conditions for which she was being offered medical treatment as part of a chronic care plan,” some of which potentially increased the risk for cardiac events.
Jones was sentenced in Wayne County to life in prison in 1994 at the Huron Valley facility.
“The department continues to take meaningful actions at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional, and other facilities, to improve the health and safety of incarcerated individuals,” Riehle said.
Riehle maintained that the department has sent “experienced clinical leadership from across the state” to the facility and that it is “hiring additional full-time medical staff, developing a new healthcare staffing plan with enhanced nursing management, improving communication, among other action items that provide additional supports.”
The concerns about the facility began after Khaira Howard, 28, died May 14 in a medical observation cell at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Howard’s parents are calling for reform at the Ypsilanti facility and for answers about their daughter’s death.
Rebecca Fackler, 57, another prisoner, died May 17. Both Fackler and Howard reportedly died after they were denied medical care, said two attorneys handling civil cases for loved ones of the two women.
In early June, Ashley Hoath, 36, died at Trinity Health Hospital several hours after being transferred out of the prison’s medical unit, Riehle said.
Michigan
Ocasio-Cortez backs El-Sayed in Michigan U.S. Senate race
AOC Endorses El-Sayed in Michigan US Senate Race
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. He is in a competitive three-person primary.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a potential presidential or U.S. Senate candidate in 2028 and a popular, recognized leader in progressive politics nationwide, has endorsed former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary for the nomination to Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat this year.
Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, announced the endorsement in an interview with the New York Times. On July 2, El-Sayed’s campaign put out a statement from her, saying, “After watching this campaign unfold for well over a year, it has become clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the strongest candidate to keep this seat in November.”
“He is building a winning coalition by putting forward an agenda that speaks directly to working people,” she said. “He is not afraid to take on the greed making life unaffordable across Michigan because he’s never taken a dime in corporate donations. When he gets to Washington, he will work to get big money out of politics and to guarantee healthcare as a human right to all Americans. I am proud to endorse Abdul El-Sayed to be Michigan’s next senator.”
It adds to an already impressive list of endorsements that includes the UAW and Detroit’s Black Slate.
El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan, trained as a medical doctor and worked in public health, is a strong supporter of government-provided healthcare, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an arms embargo on Israel; polling averages show him narrowly leading the Aug. 4 primary over U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and the frontrunner to face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake for the seat in the fall.
Stevens, who is seen as a more moderate, mainstream Democrat, has also racked up endorsements, such as those from former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; McMorrow, making her first run for federal office, has positioned herself as a more progressive Democrat who is less tied to the party’s establishment than Stevens but more politically experienced than El-Sayed, and has gotten endorsements from U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and others.
The Free Press typically doesn’t cover individual political endorsements unless they are newsworthy. And in this case, Ocasio-Cortez’ endorsement doesn’t come as a surprise: Like El-Sayed, she is an unapologetic advocate for progressivism in the Democratic Party and she also endorsed him in 2018 as she was running for Congress for the first time and he had mounted an ultimately unsuccessful effort to win the party’s nomination for governor, losing to Gretchen Whitmer, who became governor.
Other progressive stalwarts, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, have also already endorsed El-Sayed.
But given Ocasio-Cortez’ national profile, she could be a potentially significant factor in bolstering the support El-Sayed has seen in what some progressive backers consider the most important primary of the year and one that could be determinative as to whether left-leaning candidates break through. Her endorsement − and any appearances, if she were to campaign for El-Sayed in Michigan − could also be helpful, given that absentee voting by mail has begun.
Also, unlike past election cycles, in this current one Ocasio-Cortez has been far more circumspect about handing out her endorsement, as she has been talked about as a potential candidate for president in 2028 or a challenger to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York that year. Those endorsements have also seemingly paid off with her preferred candidates winning primaries this year in California, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Ocasio-Cortez also has seemed more wary of endorsing in races where House colleagues have been challenged. But in endorsing El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez does so in a U.S. Senate race where Schumer has spoken publicly of his belief that Stevens, who was elected in the same class as Ocasio-Cortez and flipped a previously Republican district in Michigan, is better positioned to win in November.
Ocasio-Cortez’ endorsement of El-Sayed is her first in a competitive U.S. Senate race this year, as well. Taken together, it is indicative that Ocasio-Cortez expects El-Sayed to win the primary, despite Michigan’s history of electing more moderate Democrats to the U.S. Senate. (No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan since Spencer Abraham in 1994 and he served a single term before being defeated.)
“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has changed the trajectory of American politics and inspired a generation to believe that government really can work for working people,” El-Sayed said in response to the endorsement. “She has spent her career taking on the powerful on behalf of everyday people and she has shown all of us what courageous, smart, values-driven leadership looks like. I am deeply honored to earn her endorsement.”
The state Republican Party, for one, was unimpressed, with spokesman Greg Manz calling it “the least surprising political news of the week.”
“It takes one unhinged, radical socialist to spot another, and Abdul El-Sayed has made it clear he’d rather push the reckless Green New Scam that would kill Michigan auto manufacturing jobs and support dangerous immigration policies that would allow illegal, criminal invaders into Michigan neighborhoods than protect hardworking Michigan families,” he said.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
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