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Inside today’s Free Press
❚ Nation+World .....................25A❚ Opinion .......................27A-30A❚ Obituaries ..................32A-35A❚ Puzzles.............................8D-9D
YEAR INPHOTOS2021 showed ustragedy and loss,but moments oftriumph and joyPAGES 18-19A
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 | FRE EP.COM PA RT O F THE USA TO DAY N E TWO RK
SPORTS, 1C
A $95 million extensionA secret conversation withMat Ishbia led to Mel Tuck-er’s massive deal.
BUSINESS, 1B
City economicengine roarsThese 10 development,redevelopment projects arecoming in 2022.
ENTERTAINMENT, 4D
Eager to seenew year arriveSeven famous metro Detroi-ters have big showbiz pro-jects on top for 2022.
BUSINESS, 1B
Families facebudget pinchThose relying on child taxcredit could lose hundredsper month in new year, Su-san Tompor writes.
Infection totalsMichigan: 26,376 deaths,1,448,523 casesU.S.: 816,449 deaths,52,090,316 casesWorld: 5,396,013 deaths,279,394,571 casesAs of 8 p.m. Saturday; Michigan as
of Wednesday.
Sources: Johns Hopkins University
and state of Michigan.
BOCA RATON, Florida — Thirteendays after her death in the OxfordHigh School shootings, Madisyn Bal-dwin’s name remained etched on awhite board in a conference room of anondescript single-story offi�ce build-ing in Boca Raton, Florida.
No signage identifi�ed the business.A giant shade draped across thelocked front entrance blocked the
view of anyone who might be passingby — or looking for the businessmaninside.
A camera monitor captured imagesof potential visitors who approachedthe building in this city fi�lled withwarm sunshine, palm trees and mon-ey.
Bill Pulte, 33, of Boca Raton, opensthe door to greet visitors he is expect-ing. A philanthropist and heir to whatis recognized as Michigan’s most pro-lifi�c homebuilder, Pulte has 3.2 millionfollowers on Twitter. He has the ability
to move tens of thousands of people totake action in a matter of seconds.
And he has. A passion project in recent weeks
has been Oxford, Michigan — not justthe four high school students killedand seven other people wounded, in-cluding a teacher, after a shooting atthe high school on Nov. 30, but thewhole community.
The social media superstar is fol-lowed by people all over the country
Pulte works to be ‘a disruptor’Millionaire uses Twitter infl�uence to spur aid to Oxford
Bill Pulte shows the TwitterPhilanthropist of the Year trophy inhis offices in Boca Raton, Fla., onDec. 13. Pulte is known globally as aTwitter philanthropist.LANNIS WATERS/THE PALM BEACH POST
Phoebe Wall HowardDetroit Free Press
USA TODAY NETWORK
See PULTE, Page 22A
Christmas arrived around theworld Saturday amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that kept manyfamilies apart, overwhelmed hospi-tals and curbed religious observancesas the pandemic was poised to stretchinto a third year.
Yet, there were homilies of hope, asvaccines and other treatments be-come more available.
Pope Francis used his Christmasaddress to pray for some of those vac-cines to reach the poorest countries.While wealthy countries have inocu-lated as much as 90% of their adultpopulations, 8.9% of Africa’s peopleare fully jabbed, making it the world’sleast-vaccinated continent.
Only a few thousand well-wishersturned out for his noontime addressand blessing, but even that was betterthan last year, when Italy’s Christmaslockdown forced Francis indoors forthe annual “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the cityand the world”) speech.
“Grant health to the infi�rm and in-spire all men and women of goodwillto seek the best ways possible to
Omicron,‘jingle jabs’make fora somberChristmasNicole Winfi�eld and Peter SmithASSOCIATED PRESS
See CHRISTMAS, Page 15A
Insideh Jewish, Muslim volunteers delivergifts to kids in southwest Detroit. 4A
h Flight cancellations mount acrossthe country. 25A
BAY MILLS — “What is this?” she asked the other elders. “Why is this here?”Paula Carrick, 62, was on the Bay Mills Indian Community’s reservation, which
lies along the northern coast of the Upper Peninsula, just west of Sault Ste. Marie.She was standing with several others inside a cemetery known simply as the OldIndian Burial Ground. They were looking down at a small pile of sand next to a veryold grave.
“No idea,” said her sister, Wanda Perron, 73. “Poke it a little bit. There could beants in there.”
Carrick stuck her hand into the mound. Nothing came out. It wasn’t an anthill.This cemetery offi�cially dates to 1841, but tradition says it’s much older. It over-
looks St. Marys River, where Lake Superior narrows before spilling into Lake Huron.Hundreds of graves lie beneath the shade of pines, in view of the water. Some arecovered with spirit houses, which are little wooden boxes shaped like tiny cabins.They’re meant to protect the ancestors’ bodies while their souls travel to the spirit
Nature creates big threatfor Up North burial site
Paula Carrick, historian for the Bay Mills Indian Community, stands inside the OldIndian Burial Ground among gravestones and spirit houses on Oct. 18.
RYAN GARZA/DETROIT FREE PRESS
FOR YEARS THE BAY MILLS TRIBE HAS DEALT WITHGRAVE ROBBERS. NOW LAKE SUPERIOR LOOMS.
John CarlisleColumnist
Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY NETWORK
See BURIAL, Page 8A