Good morning reader, As the United Auto Workers strike veers into a second week, autoworkers and the companies that employ them are awaiting a Facebook Live announcement at 10 a.m. Friday by UAW President Shawn Fain. He is expected to reveal whether talks with Detroit’s three automakers have progressed sufficiently and, if not, whether the union intends to expand its strike beyond the three plants already targeted.

But General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis are taking their own, proactive approaches as layoffs begin to ripple through the industry, including to auto suppliers. Some workers at currently non-striking plants are being laid off. And GM has now posted two public statements about the status of talks as both sides fight to control public opinion.

In other Michigan news:

Washington is back in the mail-order COVID test business, announcing this week that the government will mail up to four free, at-home COVID-19 tests per household as cases begin to rise entering the fall respiratory season. Bridge tells you how to request them.

Michigan appears to be uniting behind a “lanternflies must die!” campaign. The invasive, plant-eating pests are plant and crop killers. But so far officials appear to have done a pretty good job containing and eradicating them in Oakland County before they can spread. The state’s actual campaign slogan is pretty catchy: “See it. Squish it. Report it”

Dark sky parks are spreading in Michigan, with many parks paying more attention these days to a growing form of tourism: stargazing.

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