DPSCD early dismissals due to heat • Donald Trump visiting Detroit • Apple juice recalled due to arsenic

MONDAY NEWS HIT - Detroit Public Schools Community District students head back to school on Monday, but they will get a bit of a break due to the heat.

Schools will be dismissed three hours early both Monday and Tuesday. Some schools do not have air conditioning heading into this hot first week of school.

Monday starts with temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s before they jump up to around 90. It will also be muggy, and that humidity will lead to it feeling hotter and sticky.

Tuesday's temperatures are forecasted to be even hotter.

The district said it will monitor the temperatures Monday and Tuesday before making a decision on how to proceed the rest of the week, as the heat is expected to stick around for a few days.

Donald Trump visiting Detroit

Former President Donald Trump will visit Michigan again on Monday, this time to speak at the National Guard Association conference in Detroit.

It is the final day of the National Guard Association of the United States' 146th General Conference & Exhibition, an event with the theme of The National Guard: Built to Defend America this year.

Trump also spoke at the conference when he campaigned for president in 2016.

The association said Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was also invited to speak at the event.

"Members of the National Guard are more than defenders of democracy, we’re all participants," said retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the NGAUS president. "We want to know how the next administration will support the National Guard and whether the Guard will continue its prominent role in the National Defense Strategy."

Apple juice recalled due to arsenic 

Michigan is one of 25 states where apple juice sold at Walmart is being recalled due to an elevated level of "inorganic arsenic."

The impacted products are the "Great Value" brand 8oz Apple Juice that were sold in six packs in PET plastic bottles, said the Food and Drug Administration. The recall includes more than 9,500 cases.

The recalled juices have a UPC of 0-78742-29655-5 and a "best if used by" date of December 28, 2024.

The recall was initiated on August 15 and was classified as a "Class II" recall on August 23, said the FDA in its announcement.

They were sold at Walmart stores in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia, said the FDA.

A "Class II" recall means "a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote," said the FDA's website.

Report says pandemic policies helped lower childhood poverty

Good news came out of the latest Kids Count report that tracks the health and livelihood of Michigan's young people, with falling rates of child poverty, infant mortality, and students experiencing homelessness.

However, the number of 3rd graders proficient in reading declined.

Both trend lines are the product of pandemic-era policies, with historical funding helping lift families out of poverty while making it for students to keep up after missing a year of in-classroom schooling. But with programs offering help to pay rent and keeping families on Medicaid ending, some worry the gains recorded in 2022 and 2023 could reverse.

"(When data was collected), relief programs were still in place, like emergency rental assistance and increases in food assistance that allowed families to get nutritious food. We see the impact in this year's data," said Anne Kuhnen, the Kids Count policy director at the Michigan League for Public Policy.

Kids ages 0–5 years old saw poverty levels drop from 25% to 19.9%. Because having enough money influences everything from transportation to access to food, the number of kids living below the poverty line is seen as a key indicator for other facets of child well-being.

Kuhnen said specific policies born out of the pandemic meant to buoy families through the public health crisis had a major impact on those with the lowest wages.

"We know the low unemployment rate and tight labor market helped wages rise fastest among low-wage workers during the years covered here," she said, "Low-wage workers saw more benefits than high-wage workers and that would have an impact on poverty."

Michigan gas prices hit lowest since June

Gas prices are falling in Michigan, according to AAA.

Drivers are now paying an average of $3.41 per gallon for regular unleaded, down 5 cents from this time a week ago. This price is also 39 cents less than this time last month and 37 cents less than this time last year.

The cheapest averages can be found in the Grand Rapids, Flint, and Saginaw areas, while the most expensive gas price averages are in Ann Arbor, Jackson, and Marquette.

"Gas prices continue to fall, with Michigan motorists seeing the lowest prices since early June," said Adrienne Woodland, spokesperson, AAA-The Auto Club Group. "Mild gasoline demand, steady supply, and low oil costs may cause pump prices to slide further."

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It's going to be a steamy start to the week.

What else we're watching

1. A boater who went missing while swimming in Livingston County's Lake Chemungat died over the weekend. Their body was recovered Saturday night.
2. The Dearborn Fire Department was recently awarded $877,961 in money from a competitive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant.
3. A 73-year-old Detroit man riding a three-wheel motorcycle died when he crashed into the wall of the I-94 express ramp to the Southfield Freeway on Sunday evening.
4. The first Michigan Sheetz location is opening Tuesday. The convenience store will be at Wick and Vining roads in Romulus.
5. Ready for spooky season? Hallowe'en in Greenfield Village tickets go on sale Wednesday. Learn more here.

Scott Peterson maintains innocence as he reveals theory of wife's murder

In his first on-camera interview since he was convicted for his wife's murder twenty years ago, Scott Peterson maintains his innocence - and shares his theory on what really happened to his pregnant wife.

"Why do I want to speak? I regret not testifying," Peterson said in Peacock's new three-part series Face-to-Face with Scott Peterson. "I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they're willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing I can accomplish right now - because I didn't kill my family."

Laci, 27, was eight months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve 2002. Peterson reported her missing after allegedly returning from a solo fishing trip to find their Modesto home empty. Laci's body, along with the body of her unborn child Conner, washed up on shore near Peterson's fishing spot four months later.

After he was arrested at the Mexico border with bleached hair carrying his brother's passport, prosecutors revealed a mountain of evidence against him. A police K9 unit picked up Laci's scent at a boat ramp in Berkeley, where Peterson claims he went fishing, and found the woman's hair in the teeth of a pair of needle-nose pliers on Peterson's boat.