By ISABELLA VOLMERT and COREY WILLIAMS

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A gunman opened fire inside a Mormon church in Michigan during Sunday services before apparently setting the building ablaze, killing at least one person and injuring nine before police shot him, authorities said

Hundreds of people were inside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township when a 40-year-old man rammed a pickup truck through the front door, then got out of the vehicle and started shooting, police Chief William Renye told reporters. Police believe he “deliberately” set the building on fire.

After the suspect left the church, two officers pursued him and “engaged in gunfire,” Renye said. The man was killed.

Flames and smoke could be seen pouring from the church for hours before the blaze was put out. First responders were then sifting through the wreckage.

“We do believe we will find some additional victims once we find the area where the fire was,” Renye said.

Police said they did not yet have a motive for the fire or shooting. Investigators are searching the suspect’s residence in nearby Burton. Authorities did not provide any additional details about the suspect, including whether he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.

President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the shooting. In a social media post, he applauded the FBI, who local authorities said are sending 100 agents to the area, for responding.

“PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote.

The church building, circled by a parking lot and a large lawn, is near residential areas and a Jehovah’s Witness church.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that her heart was breaking for the community. “Violence anywhere especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” she said.

The shooting occurred the morning after Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101. The next president of the faith is expected to be Dallin H. Oaks, per church protocol.

“The church is in communication with local law enforcement as the investigation continues and as we receive updates on the condition of those affected,” Doug Anderson, a spokesperson for Utah-based faith said in a statement.

“Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved.”

Some striking nurses at nearby Henry Ford Hospital left the picket line and ran the short distance to the church to help first responders, Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass learned about the shooting.

“Human lives matter more than our labor dispute.” Glass said.

___

Associated Press reporters Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

Edward Lotterman

Words like “ignorant,” “clueless,” “stupid,” “idiotic, “inane,” “moronic,” or “asinine” are harsh. They should not be used in reasoned argumentation, simply because they undermine the credibility of the person making the reasoned argument — the person who presumably is not any of those things.

But there are occasions when the ignorance professed is so enormous, and has such potential impact, that it has to be called out, even with an appeal to the emotions.

Such an occasion occurred this past week, when President Donald Trump’s Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, speaking about the point in 2033 when the Old Age and Survivors trust fund runs out of money, said, “Eight years is a long time away.”

Sorry, but “asinine” or any of the other foregoing adjectives fits here. One need not apologize.

Social Security Commissioners usually are actuaries, statisticians or economists. (Search for “SSA Social Security Commissioners” to read bios of over 40 of them). But, as a highly paid CEO who, together with his wife, gave somewhere north of a million dollars to Trump’s 2024 campaign, following large amounts for the losing 2020 one, Bisignano meets Trump’s criteria to run an agency with a complex task — namely a rich white guy who likes and supports Donald Trump, especially with money.

Yet Bisignano’s ignorance of the job he was evidently qualified for was evident in remarks he made soon after being named:

“I’m like, ‘Well, what am I gonna do?’ So I’m Googling ‘Social Security.’ That’s one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast. …  I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?’ ”

So why is it “asinine” to say that eight years is ample time to fix the program? One, because it betrays a blithe ignorance of the scope and complex causes of the problem, which are generations in the making. And two, because waiting makes closing the gap harder every day, and makes the measures to do so increasingly unfair to those still working.

If this trust fund were to hit zero right now, we would suddenly need an additional $210 billion a year from payroll withholdings. This would be the opposite of a tax cut. And that would be only for old age and survivor’s benefits, not disability benefits nor Medicare. The increase in FICA paid by employer and employee combined, leaving Medicare aside, would need to rise from 12.4% of earnings to 14.8%. That would be a wrenching adjustment to household and business incomes if other changes to funding are not made — and such changes also will be hard. Fast-forward eight years from right now, and those percentages only go up; and the solutions only become harder.

If, in 2010, Bisignano had said, “23 years is a long time away” he still would have been unrealistically optimistic. Peter G. Peterson, the corporate CEO who served as Ronald Reagan’s Treasury secretary before heading Lehman Brothers and co-founding the Blackstone investment fund, started expounding on these issues 30 years ago.

Laurence Kotlikoff, a distinguished economist at Boston University, has devoted his career as a public finance expert to these intergenerational funding challenges. He produced a coherent array of possible policy responses that largely have been ignored for political reasons.

With these articulate voices unheard in the wilderness of partisan politics, we sail blithely toward a mega-crisis. To understand how we got in this jam, consider history.

First, the Social Security Act of 1935 has been among the most consequential government actions in U.S. history, on par with the Northwest Ordinance, the Homestead Act and the G.I. Bill. It shaped who we are as a country today. More specifically, it not only reduced poverty more than any other measure, but also made labor markets more efficient. Simply put, reducing the risks of abject poverty allows workers to make better career choices.

Secondly, it is not, as some uninformed people (in power) allege, a glorified Ponzi scheme that relies on younger age cohorts unfairly being duped into paying for the benefits of older ones. Yes, FICA paid in by current workers now does go to current retirees. However, that only mimics and simplifies what happens in any “real” economy without money. Working age people always have had to produce goods and services to meet the needs of both young and old. That has been true since prehistory.

Of course, the aged have to have some social, economic or legal claim on having their needs met. That may come from kinship, ownership of assets or government programs that effect such transfers. As long as each generation must support others at some point in their lives, the system can be just.

So it is entirely possible to have a social insurance system in which the value paid in by the average person while working equals the value of benefits received after retiring. While this is ideal if the population is constant or changing at a constant rate, it is more difficult when birth rates zig and zag. These fluctuations are the fundamental source of our current problems.

Everyone knows of the baby boom, the sharp post-World War II uptick in birth rates from 1946 through 1964. These drove a population of 170 million in the late 1950s to some 340 million today. These babies are now retiring, and have been for years, and are demanding benefits from a system they paid into while working. Post-boom generations haven’t kept pace, so new workers paying into the system not only can’t afford to continue funding the benefits, they’ll get shorted when it’s their turn.

There were additional factors. One was the dearth of births during the Great Depression and its collapse in immigration. We are correct in thinking of the 1930s as the period of hardship in question, but that is incomplete. Farming had already gone into a slump in the early 1920s at a time when over a third of the U.S. population lived on farms. So a dearth preceded the boom. And other low-birth rates have followed.

In the economically troubled period from 1973-1988, the number of children per woman fell below population replacement levels, although immigration did boost growth. But rates are falling sharply again. With 2.07 children per woman, 2007 was the last time we were above replacement levels. Now, after a dip to about 1.6 per mother in 2020, during COVID, we are at 1.8.

If this trend persists, it will shrink the population. But there is a kicker, and it’s specific to Trump administration policies. This national fertility average is as high as it is because immigrant women and their daughters born here have more children than women whose families have been here longer. If we deport these people, thus limiting the fertility rates to women whose families have been here two generations or more, the overall population would drop even more quickly. In this same vein, consider also the mass deportation of immigrant workers who also pay FICA. What happens when they aren’t here?

The funding retirements of 76 million retiring boomers has been a challenge for half a century and new trends make this also a challenge as younger workers retire, as they soon will be doing en masse.

A responsible administration and Congress saw that 40 years ago. An excellent blue-ribbon commission recommended sensible changes that were largely adopted in 1984. These included higher FICA rates and an increase in the full retirement age from age 65 to 67 phased in over years. Benefits for survivors were cut sharply, essentially covering them through high school instead of nearly through college.

Another initiative, for the trust fund to build up a substantial balance while baby boomers were still paying in, has largely failed. Ongoing irresponsibility by Congress, which used the fund to hide even larger deficits in the general Treasury accounts, has been the problem.

The rapid concentration of wealth to a relative few over the last 25 years now poses even greater challenges. Planners in 1984 worked with 85% of all household earnings being subject to FICA, and assumed this would continue. Soon, however, high proportions of increases in income went to the richest fraction of the population. Nearly all was not in the form of “earned income,” wages and salaries subject to FICA. More often it was investment income, subject to capital gains, but not funding Social Security. And almost all was over the limit subject to FICA anyway.

The fact that the richest 10% of households now enjoy 50% of total consumption expenditures illustrates this change. People who make money spend money; people who don’t pay taxes.

In the 44 years since I first taught econ, the U.S. has gone from a nation with the most equal income distribution among wealthy democracies to now being the one with the most unequal. So when we look at the Social Security trust fund and ask, “where did the money go?” this is partly the answer.

So this is a brief primer for Bisignano on the challenge he faces now, not eight years from now. So what will our ignorant commissioner do with the information? That must be left to another column.

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St. Paul economist and writer Edward Lotterman can be reached at stpaul@edlotterman.com.

By Sally French, NerdWallet

The first cruise I ever took — the Sun Princess in October 2024 — happened to collide with Hurricane Milton. Leave it to me to take my inaugural sailing during peak storm season.

Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I’d make it to the ship at all. My flight from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale was almost rerouted; the gate agent warned us we might land in Miami instead. In the grand scheme of things, a 45-minute Uber ride didn’t sound catastrophic — but when you’re starting your first ever cruise, every unknown feels oversized.

Luckily, my flight did land at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as planned. The cruise itself? Not so simple. The Sun Princess didn’t actually set sail as scheduled. We left a full day late, as the port was closed to new ships coming in.

For me, that meant an unexpected bonus day in Florida. But for the folks still onboard from the previous sailing, “extra day at sea” might have meant missed flights and an extra missed day of work, plus a scramble to rebook everything once they finally returned to shore.

That’s when I learned: Cruising during hurricane season isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, but it is a gamble. Here’s what you should know before booking a cruise during hurricane season.

When is hurricane season?

The Atlantic hurricane season typically runs from June 1 through Nov. 30, peaking in September and October, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico see the brunt of it, though storms have been known to hit in other months, too.

It’s a popular time to sail, as Caribbean cruises during these months also tend to be the cheapest.

And if you have a cruise planned this fall, you should be prepared. NOAA’s outlook for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season predicts a 50% chance of an above-normal season, meaning it’s more likely we see major hurricanes than usual.

“This updated hurricane outlook serves as a call to action to prepare now, in advance, rather than delay until a warning is issued,” said Acting NOAA Administrator Laura Grimm in a prepared statement.

What really happens when there’s a storm?

If you’re cruising and a storm is in the forecast, it’s likely you won’t even encounter it.

“Those viral videos of ships rocking in the middle of a storm certainly look scary, but cruise lines take extraordinary measures to avoid sailing directly into hurricanes,” said Jason Margulies, a personal injury lawyer who focuses on maritime and cruise ship injury law, in an email with NerdWallet.

He added that often those videos go viral because they are uncommon — not because they are the norm.

Rerouting is common

Typically, the biggest danger to cruise passengers during a hurricane is that their itinerary doesn’t typically go as planned. I departed a day later, and other passengers stayed on board a day longer.

In other cases, you could skip a port you thought you were going to cruise to, or end up at a different port that wasn’t on the original itinerary.

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“Ships are tracking weather constantly, and if there is any chance of crossing paths with a hurricane, the captain will change course long before it gets that close,” Margulies says.

For example, it’s common that you might swap an Eastern Caribbean route for a Western one.

Margulies said captains consider factors such as how far the ship can go on its current fuel, whether a port has space to take a big ship at short notice, and how swiftly customs and docking arrangements can be handled in determining which port to go to instead.

Ships are designed to keep you safe

Captains have sophisticated forecasts and the ability to outrun storms. Cruise ships can move faster than a hurricane in most cases. Though they rarely go that fast (it is a cruise, after all), cruises can typically reach speeds of more than 30 miles per hour. Hurricanes, meanwhile, typically only reach forward speeds of 15-20 miles per hour.

But if you do end up in rough waters, Margulies says you are safe.

“Modern ships are built with stabilizers and navigation systems designed to handle rough conditions,” he says. Stabilizers are fins or rotors that are used to cut down on the rolling and pitching that might make passengers feel seasick.

Your cruise might look a little different

That said, some aspects of your cruise may change. Things that could blow away or cause injury, such as deck chairs and outdoor decorations, are often put away or locked down.

Schedule changes will be communicated

You might hear announcements about delays or itinerary changes over the loudspeaker. Alerts on smartphone apps, in-room TVs and even text messages are also becoming more common.

Opt in to alerts, and make sure you can actually receive them. For example, if you’re on an international trip where you didn’t purchase an international phone plan, ensure you can get alerts the other way, such as by downloading your cruise line’s app.

How to prepare if you cruise during hurricane season

My crash-course takeaways from sailing through Hurricane Milton:

Arrive early

If your cruise departs Saturday, don’t plan to land Friday night. Come in at least a day early (two if you can). If my flight had been rerouted or canceled altogether, that cushion would have been my safety net.

Build in flexibility

If you can, don’t book a flight home the same day your ship docks. That could have been rough for passengers on the cruise before mine, who had to spend an extra day at sea. Their flights would’ve taken off without them if they intended to leave that day.

Travel insurance is worth it

If you don’t have that kind of flexibility, you might also buy travel insurance. There are usually caveats, like travel insurance typically won’t cover hurricane-related issues once the hurricane has already been named.

The storm only added a day of beach time to my trip (lucky me). But had it meant a delay or missed connection, then insurance could have covered the cost of rebooking another flight.

Use the right credit card

Now speaking of travel insurance, you may not need to pay for it. Certain credit cards include built-in travel insurance that can reimburse you if weather delays or cancels parts of your trip. Check the terms on your credit card or call the issuer to confirm the coverage terms.

Book your airfare through the cruise line, too

Many major cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, offer the option to reserve airfare through the cruise line directly. In the event of a delay like this, the cruise line will help reroute you (even if you missed your flight).

Consider “safer” destinations

If you’d rather not roll the dice, think about booking a cruise to other destinations, such as Alaska, the Mediterranean or even Southern Caribbean islands like Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, which rarely see hurricanes. Of course, no destination is immune to weather challenges, but these are generally less risky.

Sometimes, it works out

On my sailing, I lucked out with the weather. It poured in Nassau the day before I arrived, but by the time the Sun Princess pulled into port, the skies were bright blue. Had the storm lingered one more day, my one and only port stop would have been a soggy washout.

Even onboard, the rain forced adjustments. I didn’t get much use out of the pool deck, as it rained on one of my two days at sea.

But here’s the saving grace: Cruise ships have everything you need. I spent my time bouncing between live entertainment, bars, lounges and late-night snacks. Did I get the stereotypical Caribbean cruise experience of endless sunshine, poolside lounging and umbrella drinks? Not really. Did I ever feel bored? Not once.

Prepare for unpredictability

My first cruise with Princess Cruises didn’t go as planned, but I wasn’t surprised. Hurricane season comes with unpredictability baked in.

Sometimes you’ll get an extra day on a Florida beach. Sometimes you’ll be at sea longer than expected, frantically rebooking a missed flight. And sometimes, like me, you’ll luck out and watch the storm clouds clear just in time for your port day.

If you sail during hurricane season, pack flexibility alongside your swimsuit. Because the only thing guaranteed is that the weather won’t always cooperate — but the adventure will still be there, rain or shine.

Sally French writes for NerdWallet. Email: sfrench@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SAFmedia.

The article Cruising During Hurricane Season? Here’s What I Wish I Knew originally appeared on NerdWallet.

By LEANNE ITALIE, AP Lifestyles Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wellness advice seems to be everywhere these days, but change can be hard. How do you start a journey toward better health that you can stick with, and not be overwhelmed?

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Among the experts’ advice: Start with a little and it can turn into something big. Be consistent. Try to find people who can help you stay the course.

Define ‘wellness’ and start small

Kristina Schuldt is a family medicine physician and wellness director for about 14,000 employees of the Mayo Clinic Health System.

“Wellness means different things to people. There’s fitness and physical wellness, but there’s also mental wellness, financial wellness, spiritual wellness,” she said. “A person should define what their wellness goal is.”

Don’t take on the entire wellness universe at once, she warned. Start with small steps.

Increase water intake, for example, using a bottle or jug big enough to hold a day’s worth, with markings on the side to let you see how much you drink. If quitting smoking is the goal, cut down by one cigarette until it feels comfortable, then do the same thing again and again.

That goes for getting your steps in, too. If you’re not used to long walks, start with a few blocks and increase by two every week.

In the kitchen, experiment with healthy foods to find out which ones you like. Will it be pumpkin but not kale? Flaxseed but not cranberries? Don’t force yourself to eat foods you don’t like. At the table, eat slowly. Savor each bite and try to recognize when you’re nearly full.

“Go with what we call the low-hanging fruit at first,” Schuldt said of first steps overall.

Find people to support you

At her heaviest, Jenny Watson weighed 420 pounds. In January 2023, she said, “I was at a point where I was like, I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired. My body hurts. I had hit rock bottom.”

Watson, a 36-year-old mom of two and a hairstylist in suburban Dallas, tried a lot of fitness programs before finding one that stuck. While she’s still not at her ideal weight, the pounds she lost have stayed off. She works out, including weightlifting, and has started eating more whole foods, cutting processed foods from her diet.

Her biggest supporter, she said, is her husband, who has made changes in solidarity. She used to be a night owl, but both of them now head to bed at 10 p.m.

Dominique Debroux prepares a meal at home in Cliffside Park, N.J., on Sept. 11, 2025. (Dominique Debroux via AP)

Put a pin in the ‘eat, pray, love’ fantasy

Andrea Leigh Rogers, a fitness trainer who has worked with celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Nicole Scherzinger and has written a new book, “Small Moves, Big Life,” urges people trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle: Don’t fall for whatever wellness trend is making the rounds.

“There’s the game of comparison. I don’t look like her. I can’t do that if I don’t look like her. Other barriers also feel heavy, like I have to pay $50 to do one class,” she said.

You don’t. What you do need is to be consistent. That might mean mindful breathing, followed by a few minutes of stretching and a 10-minute workout in the morning. Or it could be a new approach to breakfast, or a rethink on the crush of daily responsibilities.

“We all have 10 minutes,” Rogers said. A good plan, she added, follows the acronym FEEL: “It’s fast, it’s enjoyable, it’s effective and there’s longevity.”

James Keppel poses for a selfie along the Cache la Poudre River in Fort Collins, Colo., on Sept. 14, 2025. (James Keppel via AP)

Sometimes, a reboot is needed

James Keppel, in Fort Collins, Colorado, nearly lost his liver to cirrhosis. That was in 2019. His first order of business was to get sober, which he did through rehab. Then, he worked on becoming healthier overall by making a series of nutritional and other life changes.

But a series of devastating developments, including a split with his wife and the premature loss of a close family member, left him floored. He sold his design company and turned to his sister for help, moving in with her and her family in Pennsylvania for nearly a year. He had to turn off the go-go rhythm of his old life.

“I slept a whole lot. I watched a lot of TV. I read a lot of books. I stayed off my computer. I didn’t take many phone calls,” he said. “I just slowly kind of ramped back up. You have to give yourself the space to get better.”