West Michigan Wakeup October 24, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The news you need to start your days. It's the
West Michigan Wake Up powered by Minards on Star one
oh five point seven. Hey, good morning, you guys, it's Schmidty.
Let's start here. In Michigan, the US Department of Agriculture
has officially instructed the state to pause the distribution of
SNAP benefits for the month of November amid the ongoing

(00:21):
federal government shutdown. SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
is the largest food assistance program in the country, helping
low income individuals. Nearly thirteen percent of Michigan households, that's
more than one point four million people rely on SNAP benefits,
according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services,

(00:43):
this is due to limited availability of funds and unfortunately,
the pausing of benefits will impact many residents in the state.
SNAP recipients have been advised to contact their local MDHHS
office if they have any questions regarding their benefits, or
to check online for updates. That's new MII bridges dot

(01:04):
Michigan dot gov. President Trump saying yesterday he is terminating
trade talks with Canada, plunging relations between the two very
close countries into a fresh crisis. Trump said he canceled
the talks in response to an ad released last week
by the government of Canada's Ontario province, which featured audio

(01:24):
from a speech by former President Reagan criticizing tariffs on
foreign goods. In the ad, Reagan calls out tariffs as
hurting every American worker and consumer and triggering fierce trade wars.
After the ad aired, the Reagan Foundation actually came out
and said this misrepresents the speech and that the Ontario

(01:44):
government had not asked permission to use this clip. By
last night, Trump had taken to social to blast the ad,
claiming it's interfering with the decision of the Supreme Court
and other courts, and all trade negotiations with Canada are
hereby terminated. Well. Michigan is the second largest producer of

(02:05):
apples in the country, and, despite some difficulties during the
growing season, happy to report, local producers say they are
quite satisfied with the results of this year's harvest. The
Michigan Apple Committee estimates that the twenty twenty five state
wide apple harvest will bring in approximately thirty million bushels.
That is the fourth consecutive year of above average crop yields,

(02:29):
which is great for our community, great for our economy.
I know, I saw emmsive Semi when I stopped for
guests this morning, just filled with apples. Finally, the holiday
season used to kick off with Black Friday deals, but
looking at Halloween spending this year, that could be the
new big bust In twenty twenty four big boom. Excuse me.

(02:50):
In twenty twenty four, almost twelve billion dollars in revenue
was generated in the US at Halloween. Even more expected
this year, plus, according to retailers like Walmart. With Halloween
falling on a Friday this year, another driving factor behind
increased spending. People want to have parties, stay out late,
and are buying more things