Midwest
The cherry could be this state's official fruit if new bill passes
The Great Lake State may have an official fish and a state flower, but it has yet to have an official state fruit.
A bill introduced in the state Senate by Sen. John Damoose, is looking to change that by officially naming the cherry as Michigan’s fruit.
Michigan isn’t the only U.S. state without an official state fruit. Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut and Hawaii are a few other states that have not yet received the agricultural symbol.
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Michigan produces both sweet cherries for eating, and tart cherries which are commonly used for baked goods.
Sen. John Damoose introduced a bill to name a cherry as the state fruit of Michigan. (Photo by John L. Russell/Cherry Marketing Institute via Getty Images)
The state grows 70% of the United States’ supply of tart cherries, according to the Michigan Ag Council, an organization that raises awareness of food and agriculture.
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Damoose, who represents Michigan’s 37th congressional district, told Fox News Digital via email that the bill is more than just a feel-good measure.
The state grows 70% of the United States’ supply of tart cherries, according to Michigan Grown council. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Instead, it is intended to highlight the challenges faced by the cherry industry that has been devastated by illegal dumping of product from foreign nations, unfair trading practices, and an onerous regulatory environment,” Damoose said.
The state of Michigan produced 201 million pounds of tart cherries in 2018, valued at $280.1 million, according to the Michigan Ag Council.
“We in Northern Michigan have seen too many orchards chopped down by farmers who cannot afford to keep losing money on every cherry sold. It is time we help rebuild this industry, which is a source of pride for the entire State of Michigan,” Damoose said.
The state of Michigan produced 201 million pounds of tart cherries in 2018, valued at $280.1 million, according to Michigan Grown council. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images, Photo by John L. Russell/Cherry Marketing Institute via Getty Images)
In August, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested the U.S. Department of Agriculture declare a federal disaster over the state’s drastic losses in the 2024 cherry harvest.
Whitmer’s request cited rainfall, insect infections and fungus growth, which resulted in estimated crop losses of between 30% and 75%.
Fox News Digital reached out to Whitmer’s office for comment.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Linn County, Kansas, man died in a single-vehicle crash early Thursday morning.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says just after midnight Thursday, a 41-year-old Centerville, Kansas, man was driving south on Mills Road about 6.5 miles southwest of La Cygne when he lost control of a 2012 Hyundai Elantra.
The vehicle left the roadway and struck an embankment, causing the Hyundai to overturn before coming to rest on its top.
The driver and sole occupant of the car, Edward Schultz, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
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.
(FOX 9) – Not much will change for Minnesota weather-wise the next couple of days as we’ll have heat, steam and some occasional thunderstorms around.
Thursday’s forecast in Minnesota
The forecast:
There will be plenty of heat across central Minnesota Thursday with highs on either side of 90 in most cases.
Temperatures will be a little cooler to the south and south-east with isolated storm chances that will take us through Thursday afternoon and Thursday night, and a better opportunity for some widespread thunderstorms rolling out of the Dakotas into western and central Minnesota overnight.
Storm chances overnight Thursday
What we know:
Severe weather outlook for Minnesota on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
Clusters of storms will be found across parts of the Upper Midwest on Thursday. The main severe threat for the Twin Cities metro will be late Thursday evening and overnight.
There are several zones of storms across the region on Thursday.
One of those will be in northern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota with isolated to widely scattered storms possible throughout the day as a frontal boundary remains rooted in the area.
The overall strength of these storms will be conditional on how much of a break can occur between rounds of storms, allowing the atmosphere to “recharge”. The best chances for some isolated severe storms will still be late afternoon and the early evening.
The second batch to watch will be late Thursday evening and overnight. Storms are likely to develop in the Dakotas Thursday afternoon and roll into western Minnesota Thursday evening. These are the storms that could affect a lot of the area, including the metro. If these storms can form into a strong enough line, widespread straight-line winds will be possible.
If it’s more clustered, then isolated gusty winds and large hail will be the main threats.
Extended Minnesota forecast
What’s next:
Thunderstorm chances will linger overnight into the first part of Friday. They will kick out on Friday afternoon and then may do it all over again late Friday night into the first part of Saturday.
On Friday, there will be highs in the middle 80s, give or take, across the state, going for a high of 86 in the Twin Cities metro. Now there is an overnight thunderstorm chance from Friday night into early Saturday.
The rest of your Fourth of July will be quiet with maybe an isolated stray storm possible Saturday night, and then a little less humid after that. Next week, expect highs to remain in the mid to upper 80s.
The Source: This forecast uses information from FOX 9 meteorologists.
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