Standing in solidarity with UAW workers

Standing in solidarity with UAW workers

by | Sep 28, 2023 | Regional News

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The Big Three auto companies are making record profits, and it’s time for auto workers to get their fair share. When the auto industry was in jeopardy back in 2008, UAW workers made real sacrifices to ensure the Big Three survived. Now that these companies are back on their feet – and making billions of dollars in profit – workers deserve a fair share of that success.

I recently joined striking UAW workers on the picket lines to stand in solidarity with them as they fight for the wages and benefits they deserve. They’re not just fighting for auto workers – they’re fighting for the future of the middle class, and it’s time to stand with them.

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For me – and for many in our state – this fight is personal. I grew up in a union household. My mother was a Service Employees International Union steward, and my father was a member of the National Education Association. They taught me to stand up and fight for what’s right — no matter who or what is in your way — and so much of who I am today is because of them.

 

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Click HERE to watch more.

 

Unions built the middle class, and I’ll continue to have their backs as they fight for a fairer future for all workers.

 

Thanks for reading,

Gary Peters
United States Senator for Michigan
AG & FTC Sue Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power

AG & FTC Sue Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power

by | Sep 26, 2023 | Regional News

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 26, 2023

Media Contact:
Danny Wimmer

Attorney General Nessel and the FTC Sue Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power

Lawsuit contends Amazon’s ongoing pattern of illegal conduct blocks competition, allowing it to wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle innovation for consumers and businesses

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and 16 other state attorneys general today sued Amazon.com, Inc. alleging that the online retail and technology company is a monopolist that uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power. The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon.

“The illegal monopolistic practices of the behemoth Amazon hurt both its own customers and its marketplace sellers, many of whom are small businesses.” said Nessel. “Amazon has taken improper steps to dominate all other online superstores and online marketplaces, decreased competition, and raised prices for everyday shoppers. The free market is meant to work for both buyers and sellers, and Amazon has corrupted the market in its favor.”

The complaint alleges that Amazon violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging. By stifling competition on price, product selection, quality, and by preventing its current or future rivals from attracting a critical mass of shoppers and sellers, Amazon ensures that no current or future rival can threaten its dominance. Amazon’s far-reaching schemes impact hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales every year, touch hundreds of thousands of products sold by businesses big and small and affect over a hundred million shoppers.

“Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them. Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold Amazon to account for these monopolistic practices and restore the lost promise of free and fair competition.”

“We’re bringing this case because Amazon’s illegal conduct has stifled competition across a huge swath of the online economy. Amazon is a monopolist that uses its power to hike prices on American shoppers and charge sky-high fees on hundreds of thousands of online sellers,” said John Newman, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Seldom in the history of U.S. antitrust law has one case had the potential to do so much good for so many people.”

The FTC and states allege Amazon’s anticompetitive conduct occurs in two markets—the online superstore market that serves shoppers and the market for online marketplace services purchased by sellers. These tactics include:

  • Anti-discounting measures that punish sellers and deter other online retailers from offering prices lower than Amazon, keeping prices higher for products across the internet. For example, if Amazon discovers that a seller is offering lower-priced goods elsewhere, Amazon can bury discounting sellers so far down in Amazon’s search results that they become effectively invisible.
  • Conditioning sellers’ ability to obtain “Prime” eligibility for their products—a virtual necessity for doing business on Amazon—on sellers using Amazon’s costly fulfillment service, which has made it substantially more expensive for sellers on Amazon to also offer their products on other platforms. This unlawful coercion has in turn limited competitors’ ability to effectively compete against Amazon.

Amazon’s illegal, exclusionary conduct makes it impossible for competitors to gain a foothold. With its amassed power across both the online superstore market and online marketplace services market, Amazon extracts enormous monopoly rents from everyone within its reach. This includes:

  • Degrading the customer experience by replacing relevant, organic search results with paid advertisements—and deliberately increasing junk ads that worsen search quality and frustrate both shoppers seeking products and sellers who are promised a return on their advertising purchase.
  • Biasing Amazon’s search results to preference Amazon’s own products over ones that Amazon knows are of better quality.
  • Charging costly fees on the hundreds of thousands of sellers that currently have no choice but to rely on Amazon to stay in business. These fees range from a monthly fee sellers must pay for each item sold, to advertising fees that have become virtually necessary for sellers to do business. Combined, all of these fees force many sellers to pay close to 50% of their total revenues to Amazon. These fees harm not only sellers but also shoppers, who pay increased prices for thousands of products sold on or off Amazon.

The FTC, along with Michigan and its other state partners, are seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that would prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct and pry loose Amazon’s monopolistic control to restore competition.

Joining Michigan and the FTC on the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. The Commission vote to authorize staff to file for a permanent injunction and other equitable relief in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington was 3-0.
Boys Soccer Top 21

Boys Soccer Top 21

by | Sep 25, 2023 | Feature Writers, High School Sports

Boys Soccer Top 21.

Written Sunday September 24th at 11:40 PM

These are the top 21 according to History Now and Between Taormina co-host Anthony Taormina.

  1. Berkley- Bears win over Oxford on the road gives them a ton of confidence.
  2. Oxford- Wildcats win over Clarkston gives them confidence going into districts and possibly the Red.
  3. Clarkston- Wolves loss to Oxford could be a good thing to motivate them for districts.
  4. Troy Athens- Red Hawks are the consistent yardstick of the OAA.
  5. Troy- Colts continuing to build heading into districts.
  6. Adams- Highlanders could play spoiler in the Red.
  7. Royal Oak- Ravens on track to win the White and possibly move up to the Red.
  8. Bloomfield Hills- Blackhawks proving they are for real in the White.
  9. Rochester- Falcons continue to improve despite playing Red schedule.
  10. Seaholm- Maples beating on teams outside of the Red but very young team as seen with their Junior Varsity.
  11. Lake Orion- Dragons continue to improve, strong showing against Red teams.
  12. Avondale- The road to the Blue runs through Auburn Hills.
  13. Groves- League title looks lost for the Falcons but they are one of the stalwarts in the White.
  14. Stoney Creek- Must start winning league games if your the Cougars.
  15. West Bloomfield- Lakers continue to improve in the White.
  16. North Farmington- Raiders need some help if they want to win Blue.
  17. Farmington- Falcons have difficult stretch coming up.
  18. Ferndale- Eagles can play spoiler in the Blue.
  19. Pontiac- Phoenix can play spoiler in the Blue.
  20. Southfield Arts and Tech- Can Warriors improve after win over Oak Park???
  21. Oak Park- Knights continue to improve.

at September 24, 2023 No comments: 

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Saturday, September 23, 2023

 

Week Five Recap.

Written Saturday September 23rd at 3:40 PM

AROUND THE OAA TOP TEN-Week Five

  1. Lake Orion
  2. Southfield Arts and Tech
  3. West Bloomfield
  4. Avondale
  5. Seaholm
  6. Clarkston
  7. Adams
  8. Harper Woods
  9. Groves
  10. Pontiac

 

WEEK FIVE RECAP.

PONTIAC 34, BERKLEY 28.

FERNDALE 33, ROYAL OAK 14.

AVONDALE 25, OAK PARK 20.

NORTH FARMINGTON 24, TROY 6.

SEAHOLM 49, TROY ATHENS 14.

HARPER WOODS 49, BLOOMFIELD HILLS 0.

SOUTHFIELD ARTS AND TECH 46, FARMINGTON 0.

GROVES 42, ROCHESTER 7.

CLARKSTON 39, OXFORD 13

WEST BLOOMFIELD 36, ADAMS 32.

LAKE ORION 49, STONEY CREEK 28.

 

BEST WIN: Avondale: The Yellow Jackets earned a big 25-20 win over Oak Park on Friday night after scoring a touchdown with eight seconds left in the game after the Knights had taken the lead with 1:08 left in the game. Avondale has a ton of confidence right now which is a great sign. They have Royal Oak looming next week.

TOUGH LOSS: Adams: The Highlanders are getting better despite falling 36-32 on Friday night to West Bloomfield. Adams will be fine but they have a tough one looming with Lake Orion next week.

TEAM THAT NEEDS A HUG: Berkley: The Bears scored points, there is hope despite falling 34-28 to Pontiac on Friday night. Berkley has Ferndale looming next week.

VALENTI RANT: Troy: The Colts were exposed on Friday night as they fell 24-6 to North Farmington. Troy has scored six points against the Raiders. They have Seaholm looming next week.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME: Troy Athens: It was not a happy homecoming for the Red Hawks as they fell 49-14 to Seaholm on Friday night. Playoff dreams could be dashed right now. They have Pontiac looming next week.

Boys Soccer Top 21

Week Five Thoughts

by | Sep 25, 2023 | Feature Writers, High School Sports

Week Five Thoughts.

Written Saturday September 23rd at 3:30 PM

West Bloomfield: The Lakers had a really tough with Adams winning 36-32 on Friday night in the Swamp on their homecoming. Reqez Nance had a big game with three passing touchdowns but there are some concerns with the defense going forward for West Bloomfield. They have a big one with Clarkston looming next week.

Lake Orion: The Dragons had a hard fought game with Stoney Creek winning 49-28 on Friday night. Billy Roberson had four touchdowns and Andrew Parker had an interception and an onside kick score for Lake Orion. The Dragons have a big one looming with Adams next week.

Clarkston: The Wolves earned a 39-13 win over Oxford on Friday night. The offense had a great night especially Brady Collins whom was impressive on the night. Clarkston has a tough test looming with West Bloomfield next week.

Adams: The Highlanders had a tough loss to West Bloomfield 36-32 on Friday night in the Swamp. Adams has really grown in the past few weeks which is a great sign going forward. Ryan Watters looked solid as did Drew Heppner whom I thought played well against West Bloomfield. They have a big one with Lake Orion looming next week.

Oxford: The Wildcats had a tough night on their homecoming falling 39-13 to Clarkston on Friday night. Oxford needs to get things back in the right direction with a very good Stoney Creek team looming next week.

Stoney Creek: The Cougars had a tough one with Lake Orion falling 49-28 on Friday night. They got it to 28-21 in the fourth quarter but the Dragons got an onside kick return for a touchdown and things went south. Stoney Creek will be fine. They have a big one with Oxford looming next week.

Southfield Arts and Tech: The Warriors had no issue with Farmington winning 46-0 on Friday night. Isiah Marshall and Tashi Braceful had big games for Southfield Arts and Tech. They have Bloomfield Hills looming next week.

Harper Woods: The Pioneers have been dominant in the last two weeks including a 49-0 win over Bloomfield Hills on Saturday afternoon. Harper Woods has outscored their opponents by a 105-26 in the last two weeks. They have a big one looming with Groves next week.

Groves: The Falcons had no issue with Rochester on Friday night winning 42-7 on Friday night. Noah Sanders and Nick Hardy are names to know in Beverly Hills to go along with their proven experienced players. Groves has a big one looming when they head to Wayne County to play Harper Woods next week.

Farmington: The Falcons were blown out by Southfield Arts and Tech 46-0 on Friday night at Falcon Field. Cam Pettaway did not play as he got hurt in their game against Bloomfield Hills last week. Farmington has Rochester looming next week.

Bloomfield Hills: The Blackhawks were outmatched by Harper Woods on Saturday afternoon falling 49-0. Bloomfield Hills had a really tough time moving the ball against a stout Pioneers defense. The defense had a rough time as well. It does not get any easier for the Blackhawks as they have Southfield Arts and Tech looming next week.

Rochester: The Falcons were blown out by Groves 42-7 on Friday night. Rochester had a rough night on all phases. They have Farmington next week.

Seaholm: The Maples had no issue with Troy Athens on their homecoming winning 49-14 on Friday night. Colton Kinnie was dominant all night and the offense has scored 153 points in the last three weeks. Seaholm has a big one looming with Troy looming next week.

North Farmington: The Raiders earned a huge win over Troy winning 24-6 at Don Colt Stadium on Friday night. North Farmington is starting to put it together which is a great sign going forward. They have Oak Park looming next week.

Oak Park: The Knights had a tough loss to Avondale on Friday night falling 25-20 in Auburn Hills. Oak Park took the lead behind a 69 yard touchdown run from Artrell Guyton late but the defense could not get the stop late in the game. It’s no question that Oak Park has played much better despite this heartbreaking loss and they have some solid players in Guyton and Michael Jones whom both had monster games. They have North Farmington looming next week.

Troy: The Colts had a rough night with North Farmington at Don Colt Stadium winning 24-6 on Friday night. Troy’s offense has only scored six points in two years against the Raiders. It will be very interesting to see what the Colts have especially with Seaholm looming next week.

Troy Athens: The Red Hawks fell 49-14 to Seaholm on their homecoming on Friday night. Troy Athens has really struggled this season. They have Pontiac looming next week.

Ferndale: The Eagles bounced back by winning 33-14 over Royal Oak on Friday night. Cullen Hock had a nice game for Ferndale. They have Berkley looming next week.

Avondale: The Yellow Jackets earned a 25-20 win over Oak Park at Dick Bye Field on Friday night. Avondale dominated the game but gave up a controversial touchdown with 1:08 left but Tyler Herzog brought the Yellow Jackets back and scored the winning touchdown with eight seconds left in the game. Myles Moore had 143 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Avondale is red hot right now and they are peaking at the right time. They have Royal Oak looming next week.

Berkley: The Bears got their first points of the season but they fell 34-28 to Pontiac on Friday night. Berkley is getting better despite the record. They have Ferndale looming next week.

Royal Oak: The Ravens are a pure Jekyll and Hyde after falling 33-14 to Ferndale on Friday night. Both sides of the football struggled all night. Royal Oak has Avondale looming next week.

Pontiac: The Phoenix snapped a losing streak by beating Berkley 34-28 on Friday night. Coach Wendell Jefferson has this team believing and that’s big. They have Troy Athens looming next week.

Oakland County Budget Passes in Unanimous Vote

Oakland County Budget Passes in Unanimous Vote

by | Sep 21, 2023 | Regional News

Oakland County Budget Passes in Unanimous Vote

Post Date:09/21/2023 12:29 PM

● The Oakland County Board of Commissioners gave unanimous approval for County Executive Dave Coulter’s budget which makes significant investments in services for Oakland County residents.

Pontiac, Michigan – The Oakland County Board of Commissioners today approved County Executive Dave Coulter’s balanced, transparent, and fiscally-responsible budget for fiscal years 2024-2026 in a unanimous vote.

“This bipartisan, unanimous budget is proof we can accomplish great things together on behalf of our residents,” Coulter said. “It provides quality services to our residents in an efficient, responsible and equitable manner. And it builds on the programs and services that will allow us to maintain our AAA bond rating that will be so important for our future plans.”

The budget makes significant investments in initiatives and services that help residents and businesses thrive in a welcoming county such as expanding economic development programs that help small businesses grow, sustainability initiatives, and public health clinics and outreach programs that keep residents healthy. County parks and public transportation are among the areas also receiving significant support to boost the quality of life for residents and enable them to get to jobs.

Another highlight of the budget includes a three percent general salary increase for employees with the goal of attracting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce.

Oakland County’s budget is structurally balanced with no use of the budget surplus for ongoing operations and maintains a fund balance level of well above 30 percent of the county’s general fund, both of which are key practices for maintaining the county’s AAA bond rating. The general fund budgets for fiscal years 2024-2026 are $539.8 million, $547.4 million, and $560.9 million, respectively. The total recommended budgets for all funds for fiscal years 2024-2026 are $1.080 billion, $1.088 billion, and $1.108 billion, respectively.

To view the balanced budget, go to www.oakgov.com/fiscal.

Oakland County to Host Little Amal

Oakland County to Host Little Amal

by | Sep 21, 2023 | Regional News

Oakland County to Host Little Amal

Post Date:09/20/2023 3:57 PM
  • Little Amal is a 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl who is trekking an epic 6,000 miles across the United States from Sept. 7-Nov. 5.
  • She will arrive at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair Sunday afternoon in a car parade.
  • She walks for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people of all ages roaming the world in search of safety.

Ferndale, Mich. – Little Amal, the 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl who is trekking an epic 6,000 miles across the United States from Boston to San Diego, will appear at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair on 9 Mile west of Woodward on Sunday, Sept. 24. She will arrive by classic car parade that begins at Ferndale High School at 3:30 p.m.

Amal, whose name means “hope” in Arabic, is sharing her message of hope as she traverses the country from Sept. 7-Nov. 5. Along the way, she will join more than 1,500 artists and participate in 100-plus local events in 40 towns and cities, including Metropolitan Detroit with stops in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Dearborn, and Flint.

“Little Amal is a powerful symbol of the plight of refugees around the world and we’re honored that she will spend a few days in Michigan to shine a light on the need for understanding, compassion and resources for displaced people,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “Oakland County is a welcoming county for all people, including immigrants, refugees, displaced people and Little Amal.”

From 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday, Amal will be participating in a vintage car parade through Ferndale which will drop her off at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair, where she will walk among the shoppers and artisans and receive a gift before heading toward the parking lot of Ferndale Foods where the car parade participants will be on display in a mini car show. Viewers can follow Amal in Ferndale on County Executive Office social media (@oakgov.EO).

Amal walks for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people of all ages roaming the world in search of safety. She has journeyed across 15 countries, meeting more than one million people and engaging tens of millions of followers online. She will visit Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, and Dearborn and Flint on Sept. 23, 24, 26, and 27. Then she heads to Chicago.

For more information, go to oakgov.info/WelcomingWeek or WalkWithAmal.org.