News briefs

Tribune News Service on Dec 8, 2025

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Outgoing Detroit Mayor Duggan: 'I changed the politics in this city'

DETROIT — Outgoing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said one of his biggest accomplishments during his 12 years as mayor was that he eased the often-divisive political tone of race and city versus suburb.

Speaking onstage Monday with Huntington Bank CEO Gary Torgow at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon, Duggan was allowed to spin a friendly narrative from his days as write-in candidate during his first election to his legacy.

Asked about his biggest accomplishments, Duggan responded that he changed the tone of city politics from "us versus them" to one of more cooperation.

"Oh, I just think the one thing is, this last mayoral election, there was no us versus them, no Black versus White, no city versus suburbs," Duggan said. "I think I changed the politics in the state, the city at least — one more to go," he said, referring to his gubernatorial run. He added that he believed he changed the tone of Detroit politics "long term."

—The Detroit News

Nearly 900 acres of land on Yosemite border returned to tribe forced out 175 years ago

In the 1850s, miners, settlers and soldiers violently drove them out of the Yosemite area during the Gold Rush.

Now, 175 years later, the Southern Sierra Miwuks’ descendants have begun to reclaim some of the land. Last week, the tribe, based in Mariposa, California, closed a deal to purchase 896 acres of scenic forests and steep outcroppings along Yosemite National Park’s western border.

Sold by the Pacific Forest Trust, an environmental group based in San Francisco, the landscape near the intersection of Wawona and Glacier Point roads includes groves of incense cedar, white fir and sugar pine trees, with breathtaking views from Henness Ridge across the Sierra Nevada foothills and the Merced River.

“Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren,” said Sandra Chapman, tribal council chairwoman of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. “It will be a sanctuary for our people.”

—The Mercury News

Trump ban on wind energy projects ruled illegal by US judge

President Donald Trump’s executive order directing government agencies to halt approving new wind energy projects was ruled illegal by a federal judge.

The ruling Monday sided with more than a dozen states and a New York clean energy group that had challenged the executive order that essentially froze U.S. approvals of wind energy developments pending a review.

Trump issued the executive order on his first day in office, a move that included a freeze in permitting wind power projects despite warnings from developers it imperiled jobs from coast to coast. It was part of his administration’s efforts to boost the nation’s output of fossil fuels and reverse former President Joe Biden’s federal support of clean energy.

Trump’s campaign to thwart renewables — and offshore wind in particular — have whipsawed industries that had been favored by Biden. Whereas Biden pushed to green U.S. electric grids, Trump has moved to prop up traditional fuels, including natural gas and coal, that are capable of providing round-the-clock power at a time of surging electric demand from data centers.

—Bloomberg News

Nearly 1,000 people dead, 1 million displaced in Indonesia floods

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Nearly 1,000 people have died and nearly 1 million have been forced from their homes after weeks of flooding and landslides in northern Sumatra, according to figures released on Monday by Indonesia's disaster agency.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported 961 deaths, 234 people missing and about 5,000 injured across the Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra provinces on the island as of Thursday.

The agency also recorded damage to more than 156,000 homes. A total of 52 districts and cities remain heavily affected.

Suharyanto, the head of BNPB, told President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday evening that 975,075 people had taken refuge in temporary shelters across the three regions. Aceh has been hardest hit, with more than 900,000 people displaced, BNPB stated.

—dpa