Democratic Sen. Gary Peters won’t run for re-election in Michigan in 2026, creating a pivotal open Senate seat in one of the most tightly divided battleground states in the U.S.

Ten Michigan restaurants and chefs have been named as semifinalists in the 2025 James Beard Awards. Many of the names longlisted are familiar to the institution, which is considered the top honor in culinary excellence in the United States. While the names have been nominated before, some of the categories for them are new.

Drexel at Northeastern, 3 p.m. Cornell at Dartmouth, 6 p.m. Princeton at Yale, 6 p.m. Delaware at Towson, 6:30 p.m. Columbia at Harvard, 7 p.m.

It’s a fun time to be a Woodside boys varsity basketball fan. “We’re very connected,” said four-star, VCU commit Silas Barksdale. “We’re very young,

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who led the Democrats’ Senate campaign efforts the past two election cycles, has announced he will not seek a third term in 2026, creating a highly contested battleground seat expected to be coveted by both major political parties.

His unexpected retirement in the battleground states comes in an already difficult Senate cycle for Democrats.

He called himself "the best kicker in history" and had the numbers to back it up, but miss a big one and all the makes seem to disappear.

Washington ― Gary Peters, Michigan’s senior senator and a former congressman, said he won’t seek reelection next year and will retire from the U.S. Senate when his second term ends in January 2027.

In Rudyard Township, in the eastern Upper Peninsula, snowy owls make themselves at home in the winter. The township and the Michigan House passed resolutions calling the township the Snowy Owl Capital of Michigan — they even have a sign, so that makes it pretty official.

Ketch Secor, founder and frontman of Old Crow Medicine Show, emcees the second night of the 48th annual Ann Arbor Folk Fest at Hill Auditorium on Jan. 25, 2025. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com) Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Happy birthday, Michigan! The Mitten State was granted statehood on Jan. 26, 1837 — 188 years ago today. But many chapters of Michigan’s rich history predates statehood.