WEATHER FORECAST FOR LABOR DAY, SEPT. 3, 2018

TODAY – PARTLY CLOUDY WITH AFTERNOON SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH NEAR 90.

TONIGHT – SOME CLOUDS. LOW – 67.

TUESDAY – PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. A SHOWER OR
THUNDERSTORM IS POSSIBLE. HIGH NEAR 90.

The Latest: Trump tells Congress of plan to sign Mexico deal
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — 4:08 p.m.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says President Donald Trump has notified Congress that he plans to sign a trade agreement with Mexico — and Canada, if it is willing — in 90 days.
U.S. trade talks with Canada that were being held in Washington broke up Friday afternoon but will resume Wednesday, Lighthizer says.
The talks are aimed at bringing Canada into a new trade accord that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The flurry of events followed a preliminary agreement that the United States and Mexico reached Monday to replace NAFTA with an arrangement that is intended, among other things, to shift more auto manufacturing to the United States.

Presidents, pop stars join in epic farewell to Queen of Soul
By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Former presidents and preachers joined a parade of pop stars Friday in a singing, hip-swaying, piano-pounding farewell to Aretha Franklin, remembering the Queen of Soul as a powerful force for musical and political change and a steadfast friend.
In a send-off both grand and personal, an all-star lineup of mourners filled the same Detroit church that hosted Rosa Parks’ funeral and offered prayers, songs and dozens of tributes. Guests included former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.
Robinson, the Motown great, remembered first hearing Franklin play piano when he was just 8 and remained close to her for the rest of her life, talking for hours at a time. “You’re so special,” he said, before crooning a few lines from his song “Really Gonna Miss You,” with the line “really gonna be different without you.”
Bill Clinton described himself as an Aretha Franklin “groupie” whom he had loved since college days. He traced her life’s journey, praising her as someone who “lived with courage, not without fear, but overcoming her fears.”
He remembered attending her last public performance, at Elton John’s AIDS Foundation benefit in November in New York. She looked “desperately ill” but managed to greet him by standing and saying, “How you doin,’ baby?”
Clinton ended by noting that her career spanned from vinyl records to cellphones. He held the microphone near his iPhone and played a snippet of Franklin’s classic “Think,” the audience clapping along.
“It’s the key to freedom!” Clinton said.
Expected to last several hours, the service encompassed many elements, emotions and grand entrances that were hallmarks of her more than six decades on sacred and secular stages.
Ariana Grande sang one of the Queen’s biggest hits, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and Faith Hill performed “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” The Aretha Franklin Orchestra performed a medley featuring “I Say a Little Prayer,” ”Angel” and other songs she was known for, along with such gospel numbers as “I Love the Lord” and “Walk in the Light.”
Barbara Sampson read a statement from former President George W. Bush, saying that Franklin would continue to inspire future generations. The Rev. Al Sharpton read a statement from former President Barack Obama, who wrote that Franklin’s “work reflected the very best of the American story.”
Sharpton received loud cheers when he criticized President Donald Trump for saying that the singer “worked for” him as he responded to her death. “She performed for you,” Sharpton said of Franklin, who had sung at Trump-owned venues. “She worked for us.”
“She gave us pride. She gave us a regal bar to reach. She represented the best in our community,” Sharpton said.
Many noted her longtime commitment to civil rights and lasting concern for the poor. Her friend Greg Mathis, the award-winning reality show host and retired Michigan judge, recalled his last conversation with her. They talked about the tainted water supply in Flint. “You go up there and sock it to ’em,” she urged Mathis, paraphrasing the “sock it to me” refrain from “Respect.”
Franklin died Aug. 16 at age 76.
Her body arrived early Friday in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse. She wore a shimmering gold dress, with sequined heels — the fourth outfit Franklin was clothed in during a week of events leading up to her funeral.
The casket was carried to the church that also took Franklin’s father, the renowned minister C.L. Franklin, to his and Parks’ final resting place at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the singer will join them. Pink Cadillacs filled the street outside the church, a reference to a Franklin hit from the 1980s, “Freeway of Love.”
Program covers showed a young Franklin, with a slight smile and sunglasses perched on her nose, and the caption “A Celebration Fit For The Queen.” Large bouquets of pink, lavender, yellow and white flowers flanked her casket.
Floral arrangements from singers such as Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett and from the family of the late Otis Redding, whose “Respect” Franklin transformed and made her signature song, were set up in a hallway outside the sanctuary.
Detroit plans to honor one of its most famous residents. Mayor Mike Duggan announced during the service that the city would rename the riverfront amphitheater Chene Park to “Aretha Franklin Park.”
Bishop Charles Ellis III of Greater Grace knows well the boldface guest list and surrounding pomp and circumstance, but he has a higher mission in mind.
“It is my goal and my aim to ensure that people leave here with some kind of spiritual awakening,” Ellis said. “This is not a concert, this is not a show, this is not an awards production. This is a real life that has been lived, that a person regardless of how famous she became, no matter how many people she touched around the world, she still could not escape death.”
Family members, among them granddaughter Victorie Franklin and niece Cristal Franklin, spoke with awe and affection as they remembered a world-famous performer who also loved gossip and kept pictures of loved ones on her piano.
Grandson Jordan directed his remarks directly to Franklin, frequently stopping to fight back tears.
“I’m sad today, because I’m losing my friend. But I know the imprint she left on this world can never be removed. You showed the world God’s love, and there’s nothing more honorable.”
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Associated Press writers Josh Replogle and Kristin M. Hall contributed to this report.
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Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffkaroub and find more of his work at https://apnews.com/search/jeff%20karoub .
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For more, visit https://apnews.com/tag/ArethaFranklin

The Latest: Thousands line up to pay tribute to McCain
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on memorial services for the late Sen. John McCain (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
Thousands of people lined up for blocks outside the U.S. Capitol to say goodbye to Senator John McCain as officials, relatives and friends paid tribute to the Vietnam hero and longtime senator lying in state under the majestic dome.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called McCain “one of the bravest souls our nation has produced.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “We thank God for giving this country John McCain.”
President Donald Trump was absent from the event, at the McCain family’s request after an extended feud between the two.
McCain died Saturday at age 81.
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12:10 p.m.
Family, friends and a roster of current and former Washington officials are paying tribute to John McCain at the Capitol.
Vice President Mike Pence was joined by top White House officials including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Military brass included members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and actor Warren Beatty are among those pausing at McCain’s casket as the senator lies in state under the dome.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan delivered remarks. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were flanked by scores of lawmakers, including former prisoner of war, GOP Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas.
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11:50 a.m.
At a memorial service in the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence says John McCain will be missed and that President Donald Trump respected the late senator’s service to the country.
Pence says, “In every country there are those who put country first, who prize service ahead of self, who summon idealism from a cynical age. John McCain was such a man.”
The vice president closed his remarks in the Capitol Rotunda by echoing the senator’s own words for how he once said he wished to be remembered.
“On behalf of a grateful nation,” Pence says, “we will ever remember that John McCain served his country and John McCain served his country honorably.”
McCain is lying in state on Friday. A public viewing will be held in the afternoon.
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11:30 a.m.
A memorial for John McCain is underway at the U.S. Capitol where elected officials, family and friends are gathered in the Rotunda.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says they’re there, “to recognize a great loss and celebrate a great life.”
McConnell says “generations of Americans will continue to marvel at the man who lies before us.”
He described “the cocky, handsome Naval aviator who barely scraped through school, but then fought for freedom in the skies” and “who became a generational leader” in the Senate.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says McCain may never have reached his goal of the White House, but he achieved something “far more enduring – the abiding affection of his fellow citizens and an example for future generations.”
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11:15 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence greeted John McCain’s mother, Roberta McCain, in the Capitol Rotunda ahead of the senator’s memorial service in the Rotunda.
Pence is filling in for President Donald Trump, who was not invited by the McCain family for the services this week honoring the Republican senator. He attended with his wife, Karen.
The vice president is among several officials who are expected to deliver remarks.
Roberta McCain is 106.
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10:45 a.m.
The hearse carrying the casket of John McCain has arrived at the Capitol as a memorial begins for the Republican senator.
McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, and other members of his family watched from the steps of the East Plaza as his casket was carried into the Capitol.
Family, friends, lawmakers and other guests, including some celebrities, gathered in the Capitol’s Rotunda for the service. Congressional leaders are expected to deliver remarks.
It’s the first of two days of services honoring the Arizona senator in the nation’s capital where he served for more than 30 years in elected office.
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12:20 a.m.
It’s Washington’s turn to say goodbye to the late Sen. John McCain. And McCain is saying farewell — his way.
The six-term Republican senator from Arizona, who lived and worked in the nation’s capital over four decades, will lie in state under the U.S. Capitol rotunda Friday for a ceremony and public visitation.
On Saturday, McCain’s procession will pause by the Vietnam Memorial and head for Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral service. At McCain’s request, two former presidents — Barack Obama and George W. Bush — are expected to speak there.
People close to the White House and McCain’s family say President Donald Trump has been asked to stay away from all events. During the presidential campaign, Trump mocked McCain for getting captured during the Vietnam War