The new year is nearly upon us, and if you’re looking for dining options to ring in 2025, Michigan will offer plenty of choices.

Most restaurant chains will remain open for the New Year’s holiday, including some 24/7 dining options.

Here’s what to know.

When is New Year’s Eve?

New Year’s Eve is Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. New Year’s Day is Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.

More: Michigan embraces frigid season with winter festivals. Here’s where to chill with friends

Will Applebee’s be open on New Year’s?

Yes, but Applebee’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online or call ahead for your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Biggby be open on New Year’s?

Some Biggby locations will be open on New Year’s. Check online for your nearest Michigan Biggby.

Will Big Boy be open on New Year’s?

Some Big Boy locations will be open for New Year’s. Check online or call ahead for hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Bob Evans be open on New Year’s?

Bob Evans restaurants’ New Year’s hours may vary by location. Call ahead or check online for your nearest Michigan restaurant before visiting.

Will Buffalo Wild Wings be open on New Year’s?

Many Buffalo Wild Wings will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the company said. Hours will vary by location, so check online with your nearest Michigan Buffalo Wild Wings.

Will Burger King be open on New Year’s?

Burger King’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online with your nearest Michigan restaurant before visiting.

Will Carrabba’s be open on New Year’s?

Carrabba’s locations’ New Year’s hours may vary. Check online or call ahead for hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Chick-fil-A be open on New Year’s?

Yes, Chick-fil-A locations will be open on New Year’s, according to the company. Hours may vary by location, so check online with your nearest Michigan location.

Will Chili’s be open on New Year’s?

Yes, Chili’s restaurants are open on New Year’s. Hours may vary by location, so check online for your nearest Michigan Chili’s.

Will Cracker Barrel be open on New Year’s?

Yes, Cracker Barrel locations are open on New Year’s. Check online for hours at your nearest Michigan location.

Will Denny’s be open on New Year’s?

Yes, Denny’s restaurants will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 24/7.

Will Domino’s be open on New Year’s?

Domino’s Pizza locations’ hours may vary on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Check online for your nearest Michigan Domino’s.

Will Dunkin’ be open on New Year’s?

Dunkin’ outlets’ hours may vary by location on New Year’s, so check the Dunkin’ store locator or the Dunkin’ Rewards app for your nearest Michigan location.

Will Hungry Howie’s be open on New Year’s?

Hungry Howie’s restaurants New Year’s hours may vary by location. Visit the Hungry Howie’s website to check with your nearest Michigan location.

Will IHOP be open on New Year’s?

IHOP hours may vary by location. Check online with your nearest Michigan location before visiting.

Will Jet’s be open on New Year’s?

Jet’s Pizza’s hours may vary by location. Check the Jet’s website for your nearest Michigan location.

Will Jimmy John’s be open on New Year’s?

Jimmy John’s hours may vary by location. Check online for hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Leo’s Coney Island be open on New Year’s?

Leo’s Coney Island’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online or call ahead with your nearest Michigan location before visiting.

Will Little Caesars be open on New Year’s?

Most Little Caesars locations will be open for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the company said. Check online with your nearest Michigan Little Caesars for specific hours.

Will McDonald’s be open on New Year’s?

Most McDonald’s sites will be open on New Year’s, the hours may vary by location, the company said. You can check the store locator for hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Olga’s Kitchen be open on New Year’s?

Olga’s Kitchen restaurants’ New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online for your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Olive Garden be open on New Year’s?

Olive Garden’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online with your nearest Michigan restaurant for hours.

Will Panda Express be open on New Year’s?

Panda Express’ New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online or call ahead for your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Panera be open on New Year’s?

Panera Bread’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online or call ahead for your nearest Michigan cafe.

Will Papa Johns be open on New Year’s?

Papa Johns Pizza’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Call ahead or check online for hours at your nearest Michigan Papa Johns.

Will Pizza Hut be open on New Year’s?

Most Pizza Hut locations will be open for regular hours on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the company said. You can check online for hours at your nearest Michigan Pizza Hut.

Will QDOBA be open on New Year’s?

QDOBA restaurants will be open for normal store hours on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the company said. Check online with your nearest Michigan restaurant for specific hours.

Will Red Lobster be open on New Year’s?

Red Lobster restaurants’ New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online or call ahead for hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Red Robin be open on New Year’s?

Yes, Red Robin burger restaurants will be open on New Year’s. You can visit the Red Robin website to check hours at your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Starbucks be open on New Year’s?

Starbucks Coffee’s New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check the Starbucks store locator or Starbucks app to check hours for your nearest Michigan location.

Will Subway be open on New Year’s?

Subway restaurants’ New Year’s hours may vary by location. Check online for your nearest Michigan location.

Will Taco Bell be open on New Year’s?

Taco Bell locations are open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve hours may vary by location, so check online with your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Texas Roadhouse be open on New Year’s?

Texas Roadhouse locations will be open on New Year’s, the company said. Locations will be open for normal hours or expanded hours, varying by location. Check online for your nearest Michigan restaurant.

Will Tim Hortons be open on New Year’s?

Tim Hortons locations’ New Year’s hours will vary by location, the company said. Check online for your nearest Michigan Tim Hortons.

More: This Michigan location is tops in the nation for enjoying the snow. Here’s where to visit

Will Wendy’s be open on New Year’s?

Many Wendy’s locations will be open on New Year’s. Hours may vary by location, so check online for hours at your nearest Michigan Wendy’s.

Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.

EAST GRAND FORKS — As Minnesota lawmakers head into their legislative session, working to pass the next state budget likely will be the biggest item on their agenda, according to Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson.

“Especially if we start off slow with these court cases, I’m not planning a vacation in June,” said Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks. “There are a lot of needs in this state — not just in my district but across the state — but given the issues with the budget right now … there’s going to be a lot going on down in St. Paul.”

The Legislature convenes Jan. 14 for its 94th session. The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party has a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the House of Representatives is expected to be tied at 67. While a

power-sharing agreement — with both DFL and Republican chairs

on all committees — has been discussed, two ongoing court cases mean unknowns remain on final majorities.

“We don’t know when those are going to be resolved,” Johnson said. “The House might be in a little bit of limbo trying to figure out who’s going to be leading.”

Two cases — one

regarding discarded ballots in a close representative race in Shakopee

and another challenging the residency of a Roseville representative — are working their way through Minnesota court.

If a DFL-Republican tie does end up being the case on Jan. 14, there’s legal and constitutional ambiguity about whether co-speakers of the House could exist. A tie has only happened one other time in Minnesota, in 1979. At that time, the Independent Republican Party gained the speakership and the DFL chaired the rules, taxes and appropriations committees. It created

chaotic final days of the session.

There’s also the case of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, who has been

accused of burglary in Becker County court and has a jury trial scheduled for the end of January.

There have been calls for her resignation, but others have stressed that she hasn’t yet had her day in court.

“So even before we get into the budget cycle, there are all these dynamics going on behind the scenes,” Johnson said. “That’s triggered some interesting conversations of a few Democrats in the Senate.”

Even disregarding the controversies, the Legislature will be tasked with creating and passing a budget for the next two-year biennium.

The last budget, passed in 2023, was only the

eighth budget in 40 years that was passed before the regular session’s

constitutional end date of the Monday after the third Saturday in May. This year, that date is May 19. If a budget isn’t passed by then, Gov. Tim Walz will have to call a special session; if a budget isn’t passed by June 30, the government will shut down. That last occurred in 2011.

With the Minnesota Management and Budget Office

saying that the state has a structural imbalance

and as costs increase for long-term care and special education, Johnson said the Legislature needs to look at policy fixes.

“There are some policy things that we could be doing going forward that would really help out and fix what the Democrats have been doing over the last two years with that extreme policy,” he said. “Minnesotans are paying for (it) every single day and we can address and make this government more effective and efficient, and we can make it cheaper and better for people in Minnesota to live here.”

Voigt covers government in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.

An investigation by the Missouri Ethics Commission found “reasonable grounds” that Truth In Politics — a group which primarily sought to influence the outcome of Springfield school board races — repeatedly violated campaign finance laws.

A consent order filed Dec. 18 and uploaded Friday, making it public, outlined the ways that Truth In Politics broke the rules, according to the MEC.

The five leaders behind the group were assessed a hefty financial penalty totaling nearly a quarter million dollars.

For a two-year period, while taking in more than $127,000, Truth In Politics failed to register as a committee, report contributions and spending, and file the required campaign finance reports.

A fee of $249,446 was jointly imposed by MEC against five leaders of Truth In Politics: Curtis Jared, president; George Husted, secretary and treasurer; and directors Lee Fraley, Royce Reding, and Sam Clifton.

If they pay $20,000 of the fee within 45 days, the remainder will be waived, provided none of the group members violate campaign finance laws for the next two years. If they do, the remaining $229,446 will be due.

Jared, Husted, Fraley, Reding and Clifton — as well as their attorney Lucinda Luetkemeyer — signed the consent order in December, waiving their right to a hearing.

It was also signed by MEC executive director Stacey Heislen.

Formed as a nonprofit corporation in July 2020, Truth In Politics started seeking contributions in March 2021 “with the express purpose of using such resources to influence the outcome of the elections” in April 2021 and 2022, according to the consent order.

In a two-year period ending in March 2023, the group raised at least $127,000 without reporting the contributions to the MEC. The gifts included $18,000 each from Humana and Centene Management, and $17,000 from Rapid Roberts.

They spent $119,826 during the same period “in support of candidates for office.”

Here are examples of ways in which Truth In Politics sought to influence the outcome of April elections in 2021 and 2022, primarily for school board but also Springfield City Council:

• A flyer or door hanger that read “Paid for by Truth in Politics, Royce Reding, treasurer” alleged Springfield teachers were “forced to participate in Critical Race Theory, which has roots in Marxism” and urged support for school board candidates Kelly Byrne and Maryam Mohammadkhani. The flyer also touted support for City Council candidate Brent Brown;
• Paid for billboard advertising for Brent Brown;
• A political attack ad ran on TV falsely alleging incumbent Charles Taylor “hijacks meetings so he can push critical race theories over and over again.” The ad also urged support for candidates Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski. At the time, Byrne publicly asked that the ad stop running.
• Following calls for the TV ad to be removed, Reding issued a statement repeating allegations against Taylor and saying “We stand by our ad and will not back down to those afraid of the community learning the truth.”

In the 2021 board race, Mohammadkhani was elected along with Danielle Kincaid and Scott Crise. Brown, who donated to the Truth In Politics group, was not elected to the City Council.

In 2022, Taylor was defeated and Byrne and Makoski were elected to the school board.

There is no public, direct connection between the Truth In Politics group and candidates Mohammadkhani, Byrne and Makoski and none donated to the group. However, Rapid Roberts — where Makoski is employed — was a major donor. Byrne’s campaign treasurer, Tyler Creach, also donated $2,300 to the group.

In the 2024 school board race, an in-kind donation by a company owned by Curtis Jared also received scrutiny by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The company placed billboards in support of board candidates Mohammadkhani, Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins in Springfield for more than four months before the April election.

McCarter and Rollins reported an $7,500 in-kind donation from Jared Outdoor LLC but the LLC was not classified as a corporation under federal tax code and it was not registered with the MEC, a required step.

As a result, McCarter and Rollins were each assessed a fee of $7,500 under separate consent orders in December but were allowed to pay only $750 as long as they don’t violate campaign finance laws for two years.

In all, MEC found that Truth In Politics failed to file 12 campaign finance reports, which are due quarterly and on specific dates before and after elections.

Truth In Politics also failed to quickly report large contributions and spending as required by law right before and after elections including four donations of $5,000 or more.

As part of the report, Truth In Politics publicly detailed the funds it accepted and spent. The details were included in the consent order.

Contributions in 2021, 2022

This includes total contributions of $500 or more. In some cases, an individual made a dozen or more contributions over the two-year period.

• $18,000 − Centene Management; Humana;
• $17,000 − Rapid Roberts;
• $7,750 − Curtis Jared;
• $5,500 − Ronald Neville;
• $5,000 − Jeffrey Caison; Bryan Magers; Brent Davis;
• $3,000 − Loren Cook II;
• $2,500 − Nicholas Austin; Brent Brown;
• $2,400 − Carson Buckman;
• $2,300 − Royce Reding; Joe Passanise; Tyler Creach; Kandice Prewitt;
• $2,200 − John Ruder;
• $2,100 − Caleb Arthur; Sam Clifton;
• $2,000 − Candice Ehase; Fraley Masonry; Sam Coryell;
• $1,500 − Penn Enterprises; 311 S. Hampton LLC;
• $1,200 − Nathan Adams; David Havens;
• $1,000 − Judy Beisner; Mavis Busiek; Mark and Margaret Bult; Unknown donor;
• $900 − Scott Speight;
• $500 − Gordon Kinne; Ginco Facilities Management;

Spending in 2021, 2022

Truth In Politics paid more than a dozen companies and individuals over the two-year period. Here are the amounts of $5,000 or more.

• $35,105 − Ax Media;
• $34,926 − Vanguard Field Strategies:
• $16,498 − Axiom Strategies;
• $6,974 − Remington Research Group;
• $5,000 − WPAI.