Stephanie Chang

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed Senate Bill 373, requiring Michigan landlords who offer multiple rent payment methods to include at least one option free of extra fees. Any lease terms violating the rule are void. Sponsor Sen. Mary Cavanaugh, D-Redford Township, framed the measure as part of a wider effort to address housing affordability, citing data showing nearly 310,000 Michigan rental households qualify as extremely low income. A companion bill, Senate Bill 1052 from Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, clarifies that certain Medicare/Medicaid-sponsored incentive arrangements won't be treated as kickbacks or bribery.

The rent-fee law is among several Michigan stories in brief: three boaters were rescued after their catamaran capsized in Lake Michigan near Coloma; the state House advanced a dam-safety overhaul six years after the deadly Edenville and Sanford dam failures; GOP congressional candidate Thomas J. Smith declined a candidate forum invitation ahead of his race against Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet; and a Bay County teen shot during a home invasion now faces charges for firing at his mother's vehicle.

Michigan's U.S. Senate race has become one of the country's most closely watched and negative contests, pitting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers with control of the Senate potentially at stake. El-Sayed has cast Rogers as a "sock puppet" for Donald Trump, citing Rogers' defense of Trump's brief delay of the Gordie Howe Bridge opening and his broader alignment with the president. Rogers has countered by branding El-Sayed a "fringe extremist," pointing to his progressive positions and a bruising Democratic primary against Haley Stevens.

Recent polling shows a tight race, with El-Sayed narrowly ahead in most surveys but within the margin of error. Analysts note the outcome may hinge on turnout among Black and Jewish voters, some of whom have expressed hesitation over El-Sayed's rhetoric on Israel and ties to livestreamer Hasan Piker, as well as on Trump's low approval ratings weighing on Rogers' candidacy.