It's Thursday, people!

🎧 Sounds like: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day

🌧️ Today's weather: Chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high of 88 and a low of 70.

Today's newsletter is 1,051 words — a 4-minute read.

Visit Detroit, the region's tourism bureau, isn't advertising to Canadian tourists as renewed U.S.-Canada trade tensions continue to lead visitors to other destinations.

Why it matters: Last year's tariff dispute, and the current one, greatly impact Metro Detroit. Tourism from Canada is significant here, considering our busy Detroit-Windsor crossings.

• Canadian trips to the U.S. were already down before the most recent tariff battle, falling nearly 11% year over year in the first quarter.

Catch up quick: President Trump's administration announced an additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods on July 20.

• Trade talks fell apart late last month, an unprecedented breakdown in the two countries' relations.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that U.S. officials need to "start being serious."
• Canada plans to impose retaliatory tariffs Sept. 8.

What they're saying: "I'm somewhat disappointed that there's such negative interactions going on between our two federal governments, because … while [the tourism industry is] not the intended target … it has definitely been an unintended victim," Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, tells Axios.

Context: Before the latest U.S.-Canada tensions, Canadians were Southeast Michigan's largest international visitor market, Molinari says.

• "And we've seen that a lot of Canadians are now boycotting the United States and doing domestic travel."

State of play: Starting in July 2025, the bureau halted its tourism advertising to Canadians "because we just think it would come off as tone deaf, it wouldn't be well received," Molinari told Axios late last week. "I think that it would be, you know, antagonistic, frankly, even if we meant it the nicest way."

• The pause included laying off its Canadian marketing agency.
• For now, those marketing dollars are redirected toward Europeans and other international visitors.
• The organization is still engaged with Canada, collaborating with its tourism counterparts, he says.

Zoom out: Visit Detroit's move echoes decisions also made by some other tourism organizations since tensions began driving down travel.

Flashback: Even before the latest tariff conflict, last year's trade tensions, tariffs and Trump's rhetoric led many Canadians to vacation elsewhere.

• Canadian-resident return border crossings from the U.S. fell more than 25% in 2025, with travel spending falling $3.3 billion, according to a Canadian government report released in July.
• Then, in the first quarter of 2026, Canadians took nearly 11% fewer trips to the U.S. than a year earlier — a trend that may continue if this summer's tariff battle lasts past the midterms.

Yes, but: At the same time, Detroit and Windsor are also seeing new cross-border energy from the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

• Its pedestrian crossing recorded 3,400 walkers and cyclists on its first day, Aug. 5, and is expected to become a huge green tourism draw.

The bottom line: "As things improve in the future … we'll be ready to welcome Canadians back," Molinari says.

• "I think that's going to be the nexus of our campaign, is going to be to really just taking a very humble and thought-provoking view, of being able to say: 'We hope that you're going to be happy to come visit us again because we miss you.'"

If you look up Lake Ontario on your phone, you'll most likely see it called Lake America.

Driving the news: Google and Apple now label the Great Lake as "Lake America" in the U.S., following President Trump's Aug. 27 executive order renaming it.

• Google says Canadian users will continue to see "Lake Ontario," while users elsewhere will see both names.

Yes, but: Canada isn't going along. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the 400-year-old name remains "Lake Ontario — then, now and always."

The intrigue: MapQuest is taking a different approach, declaring on social media: "We're not changing it."

• The throwback mapping service was downloaded 80,000 times Sunday on Apple's iOS platform, according to Forbes, citing market intelligence firm Appfigures.
• That's up from about 500 downloads a day in early August.

The bottom line: Apparently there's still a market for MapQuest.

📰 MLive will end print editions of all eight of its newspapers in December, including the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times and Flint Journal. It cites "long-shifting audience trends."

• Publication will continue on MLive.com, email newsletters and its app. (MLive)

⛽ A controversial gas station network touted by Trump, Freedom Fuel, has appeared on Detroit's east side at 17046 Harper Ave. (Metro Times)

🎓 Four Michigan colleges now offer three-year bachelor degree programs that aim to cut costs and time for students. (Bridge Michigan)

🐄 Michigan State Fair: 'Tis the season for carnival rides, farm animals, fair food, a demolition derby and more at the Vibe Credit Union Showplace in Novi.

• 11am-8pm Thursday and Friday; 10am-8pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
• Tickets: $42 with unlimited rides, or $10.

🎷 The Detroit Jazz Festival returns with four days of free music — a Labor Day tradition.

• Gates open at 5:30pm on Friday, and 12:30pm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Hart Plaza.

✊ Attend Detroit's Labor Day March in Corktown, kicking off at 9am.

🌯 The free Hamtramck Labor Day Festival runs noon-11pm Saturday-Monday, with food, music, a parade and a carnival. The famous boat races are at noon Monday.

More ideas for your weekend

Mayor Mary Sheffield named a big-time city leader yesterday who'll lead her administration's strategy on businesses, jobs and land development, the Free Press reports.

State of play: Olga Stella, the new chief of economic development and workforce, comes from a VP job at the College for Creative Studies.

• She also worked for former Mayor Dennis Archer and was at the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. for a decade.

Zoom in: Stella will oversee five departments/offices: economic development, planning, housing, small business affairs and civil rights.

• She'll also lead partnerships with agencies like the Detroit Land Bank Authority and DEGC.

Our picks:

📹 Joe is watching TMZ DC's paparazzi-style interview with Shri about his primary loss and recent bar hopping.

🙂‍↔️ Annalise refuses to apologize for referencing the second-most cliche September song ever created in today's newsletter intro.

Edited by Larry Graham.