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April 17, 2026Can you guess what’s pictured above? Click the image to find out! |
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| | On Monday, I was ready to share here a charming anecdote about running into Debbie Dingell by the soda fountain at Panera an hour before I was scheduled to interview her by phone for a freelance assignment. She was too carefully scheduled to just do it there in person, but we had a good laugh about it when we got on the horn.
That was a funny moment.
The next day, that bit was almost certain to be replaced by a bizarre call from Trojan Dry Cleaners in Ypsi. Could I come pick up a couple of pants and shirts I’d put in (and prepaid for) at least eight years ago? EIGHT! I last wore some of those clothes at my niece’s wedding in 2017! I’d lost the ticket, they didn’t have a computerized system, and they couldn’t find my clothes way back then because (now we know) someone misspelled my name in a uniquely disastrous way. I gave up long ago. Now the owner is closing for a few months to address a health issue, so they spent this week calling anyone who hadn’t picked up their dry cleaning … ever, it seems.
That was a wild moment.
But then, of course, came 2 a.m. on Wednesday when the heavens crashed. We huddled in the basement, the two kids fused to either side of me in the powerless dark watching the lightning show through a small window. I’d been here for one or two tornado watches before, but never one as a homeowner with small kids.
That was a terrifying moment.
We lost power but otherwise all was fine with us, save for a chaotic no-school day. And by midday Wednesday, our four-year-old who said, “Daddy, Dada, I’m scared,” about a hundred times now tells whomever will listen, “That was a funny moment when Dada woke us up and took us downstairs during the thunderstorm!” Kids!
So … how was your week? Here’s hoping your homes are intact, your loved ones are safe, and that you know exactly where all of your laundry is.
Your news is here. U-M’s president-elect is stepping aside because of brain cancer, Ann Arbor’s mayor wants ICE abolished, AAPS teachers may have a contract, Ypsilanti Twp. is trying just about anything to halt that U-M–Los Alamos supercomputing facility, and Sherrone Moore learned his legal punishment.
This is last week’s most-clicked link.
– Steve Friess, editor |
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| | | Before the sirens Wednesday, looking west from Huron Towers. Credit: Kai Petainen |
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Remains of the night. Credit: Abe DePasquale |
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| | Twister rips through Ann Arbor: Yost Ice Arena lost some of its roof in Wednesday’s wild middle-of-the-night storm which the National Weather Service confirmed was an EF-1 tornado. Farther west, the ice rink at Veterans Memorial Park (above) lost a full wall. The city plans to send teams into impacted neighborhoods today and Saturday to assess overall damage as a first step toward possibly seeking a disaster declaration, according to a social media post. AAPS suffered a districtwide fiber outage that compromised phones, cameras, building access, and fire safety systems and caused possible structural damage to some schools; all schools reopened Thursday. The storm also had a political outcome: city councilmember Dharma Akmon posted on social media that “after hearing clearly from residents that they value them,” the city will not move forward with any consideration of taking down the outdoor siren system for emergency alerts. Meanwhile, more rain on Thursday prompted a flood watch – and the skies look likely to open again on Saturday, too. Today and Saturday city announced, it will send |
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| | Grasso now official U-M president after cancer forces Kent Syverud to step aside: In an emotional and personal public letter, the man selected to become the school’s sixteenth leader explained that he must instead focus on treatments for brain cancer. “I am approaching this with optimism, with determination, and with full confidence in the people who are caring for me. I believe in the road ahead, and I intend to walk it with everything I have,” writes Syverud, sixty-nine, who is winding down a twelve-year tenure as chancellor and president of Syracuse University. He was due to start on May 11; Domenico Grasso, who has been interim president since May 2025 following Santa Ono’s ignominious and sudden departure, has retroactively been named the sixteenth president, according to MLive. A new presidential search to find the school’s seventeenth leader will start soon, according to the outlet. Syverud still appears to be Ann Arbor—bound, though; he’s been invited by the regents to teach at the law school. |
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| | Mayor calls for abolishing ICE after “high-risk” arrest: Christopher Taylor took to social media to slam an incident at Beakes St. and N. Fifth Ave. early Tuesday in which “agents sealed off a car with multiple vehicles, approached with guns drawn, extracted the driver, and took him into custody.” Such incidents, Taylor wrote, “are designed to create fear and to intimidate” and show the agency “cannot be redeemed.” The identity and immigration status of the detainee was not immediately available. ICE left the detainee’s vehicle, which had an out-of-state plate, in the bike lane, MLive reports. |
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| | AAPS teachers may have a contract: Three months after their prior pact expired, the Ann Arbor Education Association says it has a tentative deal. The details remain under wraps; AAEA expects to hold a general membership meeting next week to lay out the plan in advance of a vote. A union insider warned a2view that the first agreement often gets voted down and the process may be far from over. |
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| | | Tax inequity highlighted in study: Higher property values in Ann Arbor translate into more property tax revenue than neighboring communities of Superior Twp., Ypsilanti, Pittsfield Twp., and Ypsilanti Twp., according to newly published research from U-M sociology prof Robert Allen Manduca. Drew Saunders breaks down what it means, notably for the “municipal tax haven” that is Barton Hills Village.
Signs point to a mysterious new “district”: Signs reading “ANN ARBOR INNOVATION DISTRICT” popped up on Plymouth and Traverwood roads, but U-M brass had no idea why. Ally Choi figured out it’s just real estate branding for two business parks owned by First Martin Corporation. The Ann Arbor Innovation District is the commercial real estate firm’s effort to “identify and reimagine our individual business parks” by consolidating them, then “connecting them to the larger community of technology and research out in northeast Ann Arbor,” president Mike Martin says.
Queens of the monarchs: Vania McAllister writes about how Whitney Wilkes-Krier and her family’s obsession with the regal butterflies took flight – and how her interest brought another enthusiast, Susin Tang, into the hobby of helping them mature in their backyards. “Raising monarchs feels important to me because they are, like any creature, a part of the biodiverse world I want to preserve for my children,” Wilkes-Krier says. “We should all care about the monarchs, about all endangered and threatened species, and about the way our footprints have destroyed vital ecosystems and native habitats.” |
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Susin Tang’s daughter makes a new pal. Courtesy: Susin Tang |
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| | | Ypsilanti Twp. hopes it can thwart the planned, massive U-M–Los Alamos supercomputing center by withholding water. Gulp!
A2 state representative Jason Morgan said on TikTok he’s among more than 200 state legislators in twenty-five states calling on Donald Trump’s cabinet to remove the president via the 25th Amendment.
Former U-M football head coach Sherrone Moore was sentenced to eighteen months’ probation and must pay a $1,000 fine. His scandal and the internal investigations and legal actions that followed have cost the university more than $9 million, MLive reports.
Gun drawn at the Arb?
The annual U-M football spring game is tomorrow. Here’s what to know.
In related news, Bryce Underwood is so 2025 and 2026. Kamden Lopati is the new name you need to know.
The developers of South Town can build seventy-three more units, the planning commission decided.
Oh, deer. But they’re so cute!
An A2 startup won $1 million in a pitch competition.
That’s impressive, but not as eye-popping as Ann Arbor—based Sygaldry Technologies raising $139 million in venture capital. They make speedier, more power-efficient equipment for AI.
Students and faculty want U-M to rebuild diversity programs gutted amid Trump’s anti-DEI jeremiad.
There’s a new dog park in town.
An emissary of the conservative group Turning Point USA held a prove-me-wrong-style public debate on the Diag. His remarks about Indians were particularly repugnant.
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Game Pawn to open an A2 location on May 1: The video game and collectibles shop on N. Maple will be the fifth for the Michigan-based chain, which already has an Ypsi store, MLive reports. Co-owners Cam Sohrabi of Novi and Garrett Pyatt of Beverly Hills say they hope an Ann Arbor spot will attract U-M students. They also have Game Pawns in Waterford Twp., Novi, and Kalamazoo.
Colonnade jumps on the Hummus Express: The sit-down Zamaan Café Mediterranean Grill has given way to a Chipotle-style build-your-own Middle Eastern bowl restaurant, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. “The trend right now is that people want to grab something fast, and they prefer it to be fresh and clean,” co-owner Fred Ansari says.
Shoe shop, Korean gastropub close downtown: The Ann Arbor Running Company vacated its berth at 209 S. Ashley but continues to operate its two other local shops, Algase writes this month. Their former store will soon be occupied by Purgatory Exchange, a resale clothing shop. Also closing was HanJan Pocha House at 106 S. First St.; the owners found operating to be “no longer financially sustainable.” |
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| | | Superior Twp. roadside cleanup day is tomorrow: The third annual event kicks off at 9 a.m. at the township hall, where safety vests, trash bags, and grabbers will be provided to volunteers willing to fan out around the area to pick up garbage, according to Beautify Superior. Free snacks, refreshments, and lunch will be provided. To sign up, click here. Last year’s event removed more than 5,000 pounds of trash from along the township’s roads.
Screening to raise legal-defense funds for ICE detainees: The April 28 showing at Michigan Theater of the 2024 documentary Borderland: The Line Within and Q&A with the film’s director and producer will be hosted by Temple Beth Emeth. Proceeds from tickets, which are $19.25 for students and $37.25 for other attendees, go to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
Dinner, silent auction to support Ukraine medical care: Hamtramck’s Polish Village Cafe is catering the A2 For Ukraine fundraiser on April 24 at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Activity Center in Ann Arbor. Proceeds go to support the work of American combat medic Rima Ziuraitis, who since 2022 has been on the front lines providing care in the war-torn nation. Ziuraitis is expected to attend the event. Tickets, which cost $150 if purchased by today or $200 thereafter, are available online. |
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| | | Friday: U-M musical theatre students perform Dave Malloy’s 2012 electro-pop musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an adaptation of part 8 of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. (See Davi Napoleon’s preview.)
Saturday: At the Annual Midwest Literary Walk, Strange Planet comic artist Nathan Pyle, Métis memoirist Chris La Tray, and Romanian-born poet and memoirist Carmen Bugan read at venues around Chelsea.
Sunday: Leslie Science & Nature Center’s A2 Earth Day includes an All Species Parade of attendees in animal costumes, art projects, and hands-on environmental experiments.
See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events. |
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