Butler wide receiver transfer Braydon Alford, the son of Michigan offensive run game coordinator and running backs coach Tony Alford, has committed to U-M under new head coach Kyle Whittingham, he announced on social media Friday evening.

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Dublin, Ohio, native didn’t appear in any games in his two seasons at Butler and has three years of eligibility remaining.

From Alford’s bio while at Butler: “Set his school’s single-season receptions record with 90 catches during his senior year… Had 1,487 all-purpose yards that year and scored 10 touchdowns… Named First Team All-Conference, First Team All-District and Third-Team All-State as a senior… Team captain… Had an outstanding game against Hilliard Bradley in Week 5 which included 14 catches for 195 yards and three touchdowns.”

Alford entered the transfer portal earlier this week and quickly became a Michigan commit.

Whittingham took the Michigan job Dec. 26 and quickly built his staff. One of three holdovers on the group of assistant coaches was Tony Alford, who’s entering his third season in Ann Arbor. Whittingham had a previous connection with Tony Alford’s family.

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“Tremendous football coach. I was blessed to have at Utah, his brother, Aaron Alford, before he passed away, worked for us for several years,” Whittingham said at his introductory press conference. “So I know the Alford family. Great family. Tony, I got a ton of respect for him and we’ll see how things work out in that direction.”

Alford was an unranked recruit out of Dublin (Ohio) Jerome.

Protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are continuing across the Triangle this week, fueled by anger and fear after a woman was shot and killed during an immigration enforcement operation Wednesday in Minnesota.

Adali Abeldanez, owner of Moroleon Supermarket in Durham, said fear is impacting daily life and local businesses, including his own.

“People are still stressed and worried,” he said.

Abeldanez said he has seen a noticeable change in customer behavior since ICE operations intensified. While his store has offered delivery services for years, he noticed requests surged in November, when ICE was in the state, and have remained high.

“That uptick in delivery – do you believe that’s directly tied to people’s fear about ICE?” WRAL asked Abeldanez.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said.

He said some store clients are afraid to leave their homes and are relying on organized deliveries instead. Abeldanez said his wife is undocumented and frightened, a feeling he said is widely shared in the immigrant community.

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Abeldanez believes ICE agents need more training and greater accountability.

“They’re dealing with people — human beings. It’s life,” he said. “The law should be enforced, but obviously with due process and taking into consideration humanity, being humane.”

He also criticized what he described as racial profiling; he said agents approach people in public spaces based on appearance rather than targeted investigations.

“They should have some kind of plan to know where to go, who to look for, and not just randomly pick people,” Abeldanez said.

Despite his concerns, Abeldanez said he felt encouraged by this week’s protests, as long as they remain peaceful.

“As long as it’s something peaceful, I feel proud,” he said. “Seeing people protest in favor of protecting the immigrant community — I think that’s awesome.”

But while both sides believe peaceful protesting is important, the divide is regarding ICE’s actions.

Matt Mercer, communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party, said the Minnesota shooting involved an agent acting in self-defense, citing video evidence and injuries the agent sustained.

“There’s a human element where someone loses their life, which you never want to see,” Mercer said. “But the video speaks for itself.”

Mercer said recent confrontations with ICE agents are not peaceful protests but attempts to obstruct federal law enforcement.

“If you wish to protest, do that in ways you can traditionally protest,” Mercer said. “Surrounding agents, obstructing vehicles or creating chaos is not legitimate protest.”

The Minnesota incident remains under investigation. Meanwhile, protests in the Triangle are expected to continue, including one Friday night in Durham.

An attorney representing Missouri’s top election official admitted in court Friday that her client had authored ballot language that could “prejudice” voters about a referendum to block the GOP’s new gerrymandered congressional map. 

The state constitution gives Missourians the right to veto new state laws by holding a statewide referendum vote. Since Missouri Republicans passed mid-decade redistricting in September, voters have been fighting to put it to a referendum. But the Republican Party – including Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins – are throwing every possible hurdle in its path. 

That apparently includes ballot language.

In November, People Not Politicians, the group leading the referendum effort, filed a lawsuit challenging what it termed the “dishonest” text Hoskins had approved.

The court could take over the task of writing the ballot language if Hoskins fails to provide an acceptable version after three tries. A bench trial is scheduled for Feb. 9.

Missouri law requires the secretary of state’s ballot language to be a “true and impartial statement” that isn’t “intentionally argumentative” or “likely to create prejudice either for or against the proposed measure.”

At a hearing Friday, Hoskins’ attorney admitted the ballot summary was likely to create prejudice against the referendum, according to People Not Politicians. She also said the language would be revised in negotiations with the referendum organizers, the Missouri Independent reported.

Now, the state will get “another bite at the apple” to write new language, Chuck Hatfield, an attorney representing People Not Politicians, told Democracy Docket. 

“Rather than losing in court, today the Secretary of State simply admitted that he broke the law and sought to deceive Missouri voters,” Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said in a statement. “While warranted, this admittance does little to alleviate our concerns that a subsequent summary prepared by him will be any more accurate. Missourians deserve the truth about their rights and the referendum.”

According to court filings, the official certified ballot language reads: “Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled ‘House Bill No. 1 (2025 Second Extraordinary Session),’ which repeals Missouri’s existing gerrymandered congressional plan that protects incumbent politicians, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more cities and counties intact, are more compact, and better reflects statewide voting patterns?”

In addition to the misleading ballot language, Republicans have devised relentless obstacles for referendum supporters, including trying to decline certifying the petition on holding a referendum for being filed too soon, reject signatures for being collected too soon, block the petition from moving forward and intimidate referendum supporters. 

Hoskins is also insisting on enacting the new map before voters can hold the referendum, breaking with Missouri precedent.