Greetings from I-80 as my family returns home from a trip to Ocean City, MD. People wondered about our sanity taking two kids under five on such a drive, but we’ve had a wonderful time. Our Midwest and pandemic-era babies finally dipped toes in the ocean, and it was just thrilling.

The highlight, however, was when two-year-old Claire and I walked around the statehouse in Delaware (I’ve now visited thirty-nine of them) and wandered into the Senate chambers. The legislative session was in recess, so some senators encouraged me to seat my daughter in one of the big chairs. She leaned over, hit a button and started singing “Baby Shark” over the PA system. Pix, though sadly no video, here.

The news is here for you, and my favorite item is an MLive piece about a half-dozen middle school girls from Ypsi who beat all the boys at a big remote-control car race event.

As I look forward to a weekend at home after so much excitement, I wish you all a peaceful, restful week ahead.

–Steve Friess

School district plans to sell building, property, cut $4.5M in jobs to fix budget hole: In a filing with the state, Ann Arbor Public Schools outlined steps to fix the near-term problem of its unexpected $25 million deficit. The building and land referenced in the document are not identified. The report acknowledges that the sales only address the current shortfall and that the money generated “will not be used for continuing expenses.” At a series of town halls and other public events held by AAPS, residents expressed anger and fear over the prospect of long-term cuts that could include teacher layoffs and eliminating programs to get the district on stable footing, Fox 2 Detroit reports. Meanwhile, ClickOnDetroit reports that a third-party investigation is underway to determine why the shortfall went undetected until last November.

Gaza war continues to roil campus: Last Thursday, some 100 people rallied on the Diag in support of Israel, the Michigan Daily reports. On Sunday, pro-Palestinian protesters picketed outside the Rackham Building to oppose a planned speech by former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett at an event titled “Division to Dialogue: Bridging Perspectives in the Middle East.” The speech had already been moved from in-person to livestream because of threats, the Daily writes. Then, on Monday, the TAHRIR Coalition, a consortium of U-M student groups, called a campus strike, asking students to skip class and work to protest the regents’ refusal to divest the school from companies connected to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the group says.

Construction season gets underway with road closures: Starting Saturday and running through May 18, Hill St. from S. Fifth Ave. to S. State St. will be closed for repaving, water main and sewer work, the city says. S. Forest Ave. between Hill and Willard streets remains closed until May 3 for utility work related to the construction of the Verve Ann Arbor apartment building. In addition, west of town, the intersection of Miller and Zeeb roads in Scio Twp. closed Monday for three months so crews can install a roundabout, Washtenaw County Road Commission announced. Two bright spots: the intersection of E. Madison St. and S. Fifth Ave., which has been closed for utility work related to the relocation of Elbel Field, is scheduled to reopen at 5 p.m. tomorrow and the eastbound M-14 on-ramp at Maple Rd., closed since Tuesday for road work, reopens at 5 p.m. Saturday, MDOT says.

City to install three roundabouts along Nixon Rd.: The traffic-easing upgrades will include all intersections between Huron Pkwy. and Dhu Varren Rd., city records show. The work at Sandalwood Cir., Bluett Dr./Meade Ct. and Traver Blvd. is expected to take place next year, after the city acquires the necessary easements.

U-M’s first net-zero building is under construction: Trilby MacDonald writes in this month’s Observer about the $10 million, 11,000-square-foot Edward and Rosalie Ginsberg Building at the corner of Hill and East University, a forerunner in the school’s shift to geothermal energy and other renewable sources. Two other geo-exchange projects are also underway: the Hayward Street Geothermal Facility, which will serve the Leinweber Computer Science and Information Building on North Campus, and a system that will serve the dining hall of the new Central Campus residential complex on the former Elbel Field. A districtwide geo-exchange system is now in the design phase as part of the U-M’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.

100,000+ applications break record for university: U-M received more than 105,000 submissions from first-year and transfer students for the fall 2024 semester, up 11 percent from the fall 2023 semester, the University Record writes. That includes a 15 percent increase in applications from students of color, a 17 percent increase in students from “self-reported low-income backgrounds,” and 14 percent from first-generation American students.

Debate team takes first national title: U-M seniors Kelly Phil and Bennett Dombcik won the National Debate Tournament at Emory University in Atlanta earlier this month, besting seventy-eight teams from forty-seven schools, the Record writes. The duo swept University of Kansas 5-0 in the final. U-M was the runner-up three years in a row before this year; Phil was on the 2023 team that lost to Wake Forest University in the final.

Local all-girls teen team heads to national remote-control car competition: The Golden Grizzlies of Ypsilanti Community Middle School earned their way to the event next weekend in Charlotte, NC by winning races at last month’s National Society of Black Engineers Convention in Atlanta, MLive reports (paywall). Seventh-grader Telia Hinton, who is thirteen, drove the car they built at the Atlanta event; all the other drivers were boys.

Husband charged in stabbing of wife, teenager: Munsif Altork, forty-nine, faces two counts of assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, Ann Arbor Police wrote on social media. The victims, ages forty-two-year-old and fifteen-year-old, are hospitalized after the incident Monday at a residence on Braeburn Cir. Altork is being held on $2 million bond.

Seventy-three-year-old accused in wife’s death: Luke Junior Edwards was arraigned on a single charge of open murder last week in connection with the death of sixty-six-year-old Donna Marie Johnson, MLive reports (paywall). She was found dead by a relative at her home on Duncan Ave. in Ypsilanti Township. No cause of death has been disclosed.

Brothers accused in sexual assault near Big House: Nineteen-year-old Jarrell Childs is charged with larceny, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and other felonies connected to an attack on a thirty-nine-year-old woman who was walking to her car after halftime at a U-M football game on Nov. 4, WXYZ-TV reports. His thirteen-year-old brother was also charged in the assault. 

Bomb-threat suspect cleared: A California man who police said they believed was connected to the emailed threat on April 7 at the Marriott Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti Twp. is no longer a suspect, the Detroit News reports. The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department says it continues to investigate the threat sent to organizers of the Motor City Furry Con that was taking place at the hotel that morning.

Former Michigan football star arrested on OWI: For the second time this year, a Wolverines staffer has been suspended indefinitely following charges of operating a car while under the influence. ESPN reports that one-time U-M quarterback Denard Robinson, an assistant director of player personnel since 2022, was arrested following a single-car crash at E. Eisenhower Pkwy. and S. State St. early Monday morning. In March, defensive line coach Greg Scruggs was arrested on the same charge and resigned five days later. Robinson’s charges are pending the results of toxicology tests.

NCAA puts Wolverines on probation for pandemic-era recruiting violations: The team and five staffers agreed to accept three years’ probation, a fine, and restrictions to its recruiting operations, CBS Sports reports. The violations involve illicit recruiting and coaching during the Covid-19 dead period. Then-head coach Jim Harbaugh served a voluntary three-game suspension for the offenses last fall and has since returned to the NFL. 

Farming grows in Washtenaw County despite national decline: The uptick in the number of farms here is at least partly because of the popularity of buying and eating locally grown produce and meat, Concentrate reports. Between 2017 and 2022, Washtenaw County added fifty-nine new farms, the most of any Michigan county. One big reason is that people in the Ann Arbor area are willing to pay significantly higher prices for organically and locally grown foods, says Kristen Muehlhauser of Whitmore Lake-based Raindance Organic Farm.

Foundation behind historic downtown cinemas rebrands: The entity formerly known as Michigan Theater Foundation is now Marquee Arts, it announced on social media. On its website, the nonprofit that owns the Michigan and State theaters writes that the new moniker “heralds a new chapter in the organization’s storied history.” 

Jay Platt appreciates life in a “book town”: The longtime owner of the West Side Book Shop tells the Observer’s Jeff Mortimer how he and a partner came to open their store nearly fifty years ago as this month’s Ann Arborite subject. He recalls the humble beginnings of the annual Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair, which he co-founded and still runs, and how a GoFundMe campaign helped save the shop in the doldrums of the pandemic.

Asian grocery opens in Beekman on Broadway: Orange Market carries a mix of Asian and American groceries, daily necessities, grab-and-go food and beverages, and a selection of beer and wine, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. It occupies a ground floor berth at Beekman, which eventually will have 736 units in three buildings. The grocery is owned by Esther Kim and Jane Kim, who also own Plate Sushi & Chicken across Broadway, and Plate chef Donghoon Jang.

New LGBTQ+ bar coming this summer: Uplift is moving into the first floor of 210 First St. as a bar, dining, and event space, co-founder Saharsh Hajela tells PrideSource. The city has lacked any dedicated queer nightlife spaces since Aut Bar closed in 2020, although some bars have held regular LGBTQ+ nights or events. 

Kerrytown watering hole to close: Owner Eric Farrell of The Bar at 327 Braun Court announced the decision to shut down after more than twelve years on May 11 last weekend via Facebook. “There may be some very limited offerings in the month of May, but come experience the weird with us,” he wrote. Farrell will be focusing on his ice cream company, Cold Comfort, and plans to sell out of Beara Bakes, a bakery moving into the former Go! Ice Cream space in Ypsi. Farrell wrote on Facebook that “the last 18 months have been the most challenging of my life in a myriad of ways. From the Sisyphean task of trying to get the kitchen built out, the murder of a friend who was like a sister to me, and my aging mother who is in the depths of dementia. It has been a struggle.”

United Way gives $450,000 to fourteen local causes: The Southeast Michigan fundraising giant dispensed the money on grants of between $15,000 to $40,000 depending on the focus of the group, ClickOnDetroit writes. The recipients included Food Gatherers, SOS Community Services, A Servant’s Heart, the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative, and Mexiquenese Unidos de Michigan, among others

Ann Arbor Derby Day Soiree benefits grief support group: The May 4 event, in which attendees watch and celebrate the Kentucky Derby broadcast, is expected to raise $420,000 for Ele’s Place, a center that provides help for grieving children and teenagers. The event at Revel Run in Chelsea includes a live and silent auction, Southern-inspired cuisine, and a dance party. Tickets start at $275 and can be purchased here.

Silent auction open for Ann Arbor Summer Festival benefit: The online auction includes U-M and Lions tickets, bottles of wine, and a pet photography package, among other goodies. It’s a prelude to a May 17 party at the Rabbit Hole to support the nonprofit AASF season; tickets to that 18-and-over event are $83 per person and can be found here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See U-M students perform “A Little Night Music,” Stephen Sondheim’s Tony–winning 1973 musical comedy adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night. The story concerns three mismatched couples discovering their true desires during a weekend in the country. The waltz-filled score includes “Send in the Clowns,” “A Weekend in the Country” and “Later.” 8 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.), and 2 p.m. (Sun.), Power Center. Tickets $29 to $35 (students, $13) in advance at tickets.smtd.umich.edu or at the door. (734) 764–0583. 

Saturday: Enjoy Chelsea District Library’s “Annual Midwest Literary Walk,” readings by three writers at different Chelsea locations starting with New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast (1 p.m., Main St. Church, 320 N. Main St.), author of more than a dozen books, including her graphic memoir of life with aging parents, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, and her latest, I Must Be Dreaming, which explores the mystery of dreams. Also appearing are novelist and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, 121 E. Middle St.), author of more than twenty books that often focus on the experiences of South Asian immigrants, and 2023 Michigan Notable Book Award novelist and memoirist Wade Rouse (4 p.m., Chelsea First United Methodist Church, 128 Park St.), also known by his pen name, Viola Shipman. 1–5 p.m. Chelsea. Free. midwestliterarywalk.org.

Sunday: Celebrate the environment at the inaugural Refugia Festival at Nichols Arboretum, a two-day event featuring live music by the Bridge Bassoon Duo, local singer-songwriter Joe Reilly, U-M piano grad student Justin Snyder, and more. Also, a guided sound walk, a chance to participate in a project to collect sounds, and a workshop in nontraditional musical scores. Food vendors. 12:30 to 7 p.m. (Sat.) and 12:30 to 7:15 p.m. (Sun.), Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden entrance, 1610 Washington Heights. Tickets $40 for both days, $25 per day in advance and at the door. Students pay what you can, kids under 12, free. More information and schedule at refugiafestival.com/2024-festival. 

See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events. 

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