Ever wonder how or why something goes viral? I don’t have any particular insight but I do have a weird little story for you.

On Sunday, I shopped at Kroger on Carpenter Rd. They had a deal – three packages of strawberries for $10 – but the dollar sign was in the wrong place on the largest sign. It read $3/10. I snapped a photo and posted it to Facebook with this message: “If I took ten up and said I get them for $3, would Kroger have to honor that? I mean god knows what I’d do with so many strawberries but…”

I didn’t realize my Facebook entries automatically repost on Threads, Meta’s Twitter substitute. I rarely use Threads (or Twitter/X for that matter), so imagine my surprise when I start getting clobbered by notifications about it. As of Wednesday, that post about a grocery store in Ypsilanti Twp. had 1.9 million views and more than 3,000 likes.

Everyone and their brother wanted to tell me why Kroger would or would not honor the erroneous price, and/or what I could do with ten containers of strawberries. Attorneys and Kroger employees weighed in. Someone posted a sign from another Kroger with a missing decimal point to make avocados $99 a pound. Math geeks noted the real price as presented in my photo could also either be 30 cents per package or $3 for ten strawberries. Several hundred people seem irked that I haven’t “updated” the, uh, saga because they want to know what happened.

Nothing happened! There is no update! I just posted a sign to amuse my Facebook friends! And that gave me, somehow, this stupidest moment of my social media life. In the seventeen years since my first tweet, I’ve posted tens of thousands of messages that included important breaking news, very personal disclosures, and plenty of jokes. And yet Kroger’s Great Strawberry Price Fiasco apparently takes the cake. Or the smoothie. Or whatever someone might do with so much fruit and a small freezer. Go figure.

Your news is here. U-M is finding race-neutral ways to continue some of the programs previously housed in its shuttered DEI office, FBI raids appear to have targeted pro-Palestinian activists, and U-M’s Olympic medalist gymnasts are now also national champs.

– Steve Friess, editor 

U-M pivots from DEI to “access and opportunity”: Less than a month after shutting down its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in an effort to avoid losing federal funds amid the Trump administration’s crackdown, president Santa Ono this week announced a suite of initiatives led by a new vice provost for “access and opportunity.” The steps include an expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee to include housing and fees for nursing and education majors as well as social work master’s candidates; a new program that provides personalized assistance to faculty and staff with disabilities; and the expansion of Wolverine Pathways, a free college prep program, from Detroit, Ypsilanti, Grand Rapids, and Southfield to five sites in rural Michigan.

Five Democratic regents write “in defense of our institutional independence”: In an essay published in the Michigan Daily endorsing Ono’s pivot to access and opportunity, they argue that the loss of the university’s freedom “to determine who teaches, what is taught and who is admitted” would be worse in the long run than the loss of federal research funding threatened by the Trump administration. Pointing to Harvard and Princeton as examples of top-tier schools vocally resisting the president, they write: “When government officials make unlawful or unconstitutional demands, we must be prepared to assert our rights: publicly, clearly and in court if necessary.” The three Republican regents did not co-sign the op-ed, nor did board chair Kathy White, who is a Democrat.

Faculty Senate calls on U-M to create “mutual defense compact”: The Daily writes that the U-M body overwhelming approved a motion in favor of resisting Trump’s attacks through the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Also endorsed by faculty senates from Rutgers, Indiana, Nebraska, and MSU, the resolution calls for creation of a shared fund that would make legal counsel, experts, and public affairs offices available to any member school facing political or legal action by the federal government. The move is symbolic: the resolutions are not binding, and so far, neither the alliance or any of its member schools has come out in favor of the concept.

FBI raids pro-Palestinian activists’ homes in Ann Arbor, Ypsi, Canton: Attorney general Dana Nessel’s office confirmed that law enforcement executed search warrants Wednesday as part of an investigation into “multijurisdictional acts of vandalism,” WXYZ reports.  Four people were detained and then released at the raid in the 200 block of N. Summit St. in Ypsilanti. The location of the Ann Arbor raid was not disclosed. Police have been investigating several incidents, including pro-Palestinian graffiti and obscenities sprayed on regent Jordan Acker’s Southfield law firm, antisemitic tagging of his car and a smashed window at his Huntington Woods home, and vandalism at the Ann Arbor home of U-M provost Laurie McCauley. On Instagram, Tahrir Coalition, a consortium of U-M student groups opposed to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, wrote that raids took place at the “residences of Umich Pro-Palestinian Activists.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations’s Michigan chapter posted as well, stating that they were “alarmed by this escalating, disproportionate law enforcement response, and we are actively monitoring for civil rights violations.” 

City, DTE ink novel ten-year heating franchise deal: The new agreement with Ann Arbor commits the power company to support the city’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, according to a press release. The city says this is the first time in the nation such a “heating franchise” has climate goals. It obligates DTE to work with Ann Arbor to “develop two-year work plans over the course of the 10-year franchise to specify activities that will be undertaken to advance stated climate goals.” 

A2 to shrink early voting period to five days for special elections: Lower turnout for off-year and non-November elections prompted council to shorten the period, according to city records. Polling hours have not been set, but the ordinance passed this week dictates that voting will be available at city hall and three AADL branches from July 30 to Aug. 3 ahead of the Aug. 5 special election that will determine the future of the “Library Lot” on S. Fifth Ave. State law requires nine days of early voting for major elections; cities can decide whether and how to offer it for local and special elections. 

Council allows pinball arcades beyond campus area: The vote to allow the entertainment venues to open anywhere other entertainment venues are allowed was unanimous, according to city records. The change will allow Pinball Pete’s to relocate to Liberty St. when its current site on South University is demolished to make way for a high-rise apartment building. The ordinance also removes a limitation that theaters could have a maximum of 600 seats.

Push launched to seek subsidized dorm laundry: “We believe everyone deserves to have the ability to feel as clean as they wish and to have the autonomy to choose personal hygiene for themselves,” writes the Coalition for Laundry Ease of Access Now! and the ResStaff Allied Organization, according to the Daily. The groups want U-M to foot the bill for using the washers and dryers in residence halls, as is the case at MSU, Western Michigan, and Ohio State. At $1.50 per cycle on each machine, the cost of laundry can average as much as $200 per year, according to a Central Student Government report.

U-M football may set NFL draft record tonight: Observers say four Wolverines could be selected in the first round, which would be an all-time high for the program, MLive reports. Defensive tackle Mason Graham, cornerback Will Johnson, and tight end Colston Loveland appear to be first-round locks, and defensive tackle Kenneth Grant is considered possible. Three Wolverines have been selected in the first round twice, in 1995 and 2001. The draft, televised and streamed on ESPN and ABC, starts at 8 p.m.

Men’s gymnastics crowned national champs: The squad, led by Olympians Fred Richard and Paul Juda, edged out Stanford on Saturday night to claim its first NCAA title since 2014, MGoBlue writes. Richard, a junior, and Juda, a graduate student, also took first and second places respectively for overall individual performance. The duo helped Team USA take the bronze medal at the Summer Games in Paris last summer. Amid Saturday’s celebration, Juda proposed to his girlfriend, People reports.

City weighs retractable bollards for twenty-one downtown intersections: They would add a layer of safety from vehicle attacks for fairs and other special events, city administrator Milton Dohoney told council this week, MLive reports (paywall). Dohoney pointed to a car rampage that killed fourteen people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day in pitching the idea, which he estimates would cost $6 million, to council. They would help control access to sections of Ashley, Liberty, Main, Maynard, State and Washington streets and South University Ave.

Former daycare owner faces abuse charges: Michelle Keeler Lovasz, who lost her child care license in February, was arraigned last month in connection with an infant in her care who suffered a brain bleed, MLive reports (paywall). Lovasz, sixty-one, had operated a daycare center out of her home since 2019. Her attorney says his client denies responsibility and noted: “There are reasons outside of abuse why injuries of the kind involved here can occur.”

Woman dies in Ypsi car crash: Three other people were hospitalized after a minivan collided with an SUV at the intersection of Harriet and Hamilton streets early Friday, WXYZ reports. No information about the victims was released.

Station to be named for first female firefighter: Mindy Kerr, hired in 1980, will be honored when the new $12.4 million Fire Station 4 opens on Huron Pkwy. next year, according to an AAFD post on Facebook. Kerr retired in 2005. The department notes the new station will be the first to be gender-inclusive when built. Twenty-one other women have served as AAFD firefighters since Kerr broke the barrier.

Suspensions trending up in AAPS: The school district projects 884 incidents by the close of this academic year, up sharply from 683 last year and 575 in the 2022-23 year, according to data released this week. Students with disabilities account for a slight majority of these incidents, which also disproportionately impact students of color and students from economically disadvantaged homes. 

Superior Twp. seeks to further restrict development north of Geddes Rd.: The township board voted 5-1 on the first reading this week of a measure to prohibit the expansion of sewer and water services outside a designated “Urban Service District,” MLive reports (paywall). That’s always been Superior’s policy, but ordinance would make it harder to seek exceptions for individual homes, and township attorney Fred Lucas says none would “be made for new and large developments.” Trustees said they are responding to public concerns about losing the township’s bucolic character. 

New U-M clinic in Ypsi opens on June 2: Patients of the Ypsilanti Health Center on Arnet St. will begin seeing their providers at the larger, renovated center at 300 W. Michigan Ave., according to a letter from Michigan Medicine this week. The building, formerly home to EMU’s business school, underwent a $40 million overhaul. It boasts triple the space, better access to mass transit, and a wider range of medical specialists and imaging technology. 

Michigan Medicine faces gender-based pay disparity lawsuit: The lead plaintiff, physician’s assistant Christine Oldenburg-McGee, alleges the health system and university were aware of a $9,000 pay gap between men and women PAs, Michigan Public reports. Oldenburg-McGee, the former head of the PA union, filed the suit on behalf of female PAs who worked for Michigan Medicine since 2022.

First-gen students fight for their places at Michigan: From pressure to succeed to honor their family’s sacrifices to feeling out of place on a campus where most students’ families are at least upper-middle-class, sociologists Dwight Lang and Sylvia Wanner Lang reflect in this month’s Observer on the often-overlooked experience. Today, of the U-M’s 34,454 undergrads, more than 4,000 are first-generation college students, and the university saw a 24.5 percent increase in first-gen applicants this year. That’s a big change from 2009, when the five founders of the First Generation College Students @ Michigan (FGCS@M) were told by a staffer in the registrar’s office that the university did not track the number of first-gens because the term carried a “negative stigma.” LSA dean Rosario Ceballo, herself a first-gen, is supportive of increased visibility for the population. “The first-gen identity can be an invisible, even lonely identity, but when we publicly proclaim our first-gen identity we help each other recognize the pride, courage, and resilience in being first-gen,” she says.

Utensils in kid-friendly shapes build following: Ann Arbor-based Constructive Eating was founded in 2007 when frustrated parents Jackie and Carter Malcolm thought their picky three-year-old might eat better if his fork looked like a forklift, Anita LeBlanc writes in this month’s Observer. They’ve since added dinosaur and garden-fairy sets as well as themed plates and placemats. The business has four full-time employees and twenty to twenty-four part-timers, most high school and college students, and sells its wares online and at local stores Kitchen Loft, Mudpuddles, My Urban Toddler, and The Little Seedling.

Mix closes next week: The women’s artwear and accessories boutique, in Nickels Arcade since 2014, will shut down at the end of the month, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Co-owner Theresa Durand says even special events like Small Business Saturday or a visit from congresswoman Debbie Dingell haven’t helped because “everybody’s buying everything online.” Durand says the remaining merchandise is on sale at deep discounts.

Mallek’s Service Station rebuilt and rebranded: The gas station at the Dexter-Jackson fork is now the Ann Arbor Party Center Station, Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Owner Ihsan “Tony” Karim bought the wedge-shaped property, gutted it, and relocated his existing party store into the space. Karim still sells gas, but sandwiches, deli products, and coffee now complement its full line of beer, wine, liquor, sodas, energy drinks, and other neighborhood conveniences, including a Bitcoin machine. The Observer’s Antonio Cooper wrote in January 2024 about the mystery of the longstanding but then-vacant filling station.

Ypsi weed dispensary shutters after losing permit: The Patient Station closed in early April after the city shut it down, MLive reports. The business, which opened as a medical dispensary in 2014, was operating unpermitted since Dec. 31, a city spokesperson says.

Kiwanis thrift sale generated $2M last year: The revenue from the Scio Twp. shop broke records for the nonprofit and allowed them to issue more than 100 grants to other groups, MLive reports. Beneficiaries include Food Gatherers, Meals on Wheels, Ozone House and Jewish Family Services. The figure is especially impressive considering the store is open just ten hours a week.

“Twinkie Run” to benefit Active Against ALS is May 4: The 5K kicks off at Gallup Park at 9 a.m. to raise funds for research into the neurodegenerative disease. The “cream”-filled yellow sponge cake snack will be passed out along the route. Registration costs $35 for participants thirteen and older until the day before the event; race-day registration is $45. Kids under thirteen run free. Register or donate here.

Tickets on sale for Ozone House’s landmark anniversary fete: The nonprofit, which battles youth homelessness, is celebrating its fifty-fifth anniversary with a fundraiser at WCC from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 13. Tickets range from $125 for individuals to $1,000 for a table of eight and includes dinner, a cocktail reception, a drink ticket, and a commemorative gift. For more information, click here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Catch “Swarmed: Gaming and the Social Internet’s Impact on Culture and Identity,” a panel discussion featuring Chicago journalist-turned-oral historian David Wolinsky and other experts. The talk will delve into “gamergate,” the notorious 2014-15 online harassment campaign that targeted women, minorities, and progressives. 6 to 7 p.m., Ann Arbor District Library downtown. Free. (734) 327–4200.

Saturday: Join U-M science students for twenty-minute family-oriented demonstrations for ages five & up. “How to Become a Fossil” (11:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.) explores how fossils form and what they can tell us. “All About Owls” (1:30 p.m.) uses museum specimens to learn about owls’ unique adaptations and how they’re related to dinosaurs. 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. weekly on Sat. and Sun., U-M Museum of Natural History, 1105 N. University. Free.

Sunday: Trot along with around 1,000 runners at Burns Park Elementary School’s 47th Annual Burns Park Run, with a choice of a 5K or 10K chip-timed race along tree-lined streets, as well as a half-mile kid-popular “fun run” ($5) around the park. Proceeds benefit Burns Park PTO programs. 8:30 a.m. (5K), 8:40 a.m. (10K), and 9:45 a.m. (fun run), Burns Park, 1700 Wells. $35 (5K) & $40 (10K) in advance at burnsparkrun.org or (if available) at the race. 

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

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