I waited my whole life to participate as a parent in the start of a school year, so this week has been among the most exciting and nerve-wracking. So far, so good. Check out our beautiful schoolboy.

Tis also the season for bashing DTE, but I am grateful they got our power back on within a reasonable amount of time after Tuesday’s storm. It was strange that their map kept saying the outage began at 10:46 a.m. when the lights went out at around 5:30 p.m. But credit where it’s due; DTE has lowered expectations so far that a seven-hour blackout seems like a win. Not everyone is so satisfied, though.

Your news is here, as usual. The Israel-Gaza war is once again impacting U-M, there are more apartment buildings in the pipeline, and a man survived being run over by a train with surprisingly little injury. Good, uh, for him?

– Steve Friess, editor

Groups stew as funds halted by U-M student leaders: Central Student Government president Alifa Chowdhury vetoed its summer budget and plans to veto the fall budget that metes out money to organizations, following through on her promise to do so until U-M divests from companies it says support Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, The New York Times reports. Chowdhury told the Observer in May that she would do so, and regent Sarah Hubbard said at the time that the university would override that effort if it came to pass. The Times says the U-M administration is temporarily funding groups for now, but expects to be reimbursed. Regents have repeatedly said they will not divest.

Palestinian activist bypassed by Dems for regent seat: Democrats nominated incumbent Denise Ilitch and former regent Shauna Ryder Diggs at the party’s state convention last weekend, angering student supporters of Huwaida Arraf, the Michigan Daily writes. Arraf is co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement and Free Gaza Movement and, as a civil rights attorney, represents U-M students facing discipline over an anti-Israel sit-in in November. She received the most votes at the convention, but she came in third because of a weighting formula intended to account for voter preferences statewide, infuriating her supporters. Meanwhile, Republicans benched regent and megadonor Ron Weiser, instead nominating Dearborn-based investment strategist Carl Meyers and fund manager Sevag Vartanian. Both men have run for regent seats unsuccessfully in the past.

Four arrested in pro-Gaza Diag die-in: None of those apprehended in the two-hour demonstration yesterday that was broken up by police were U-M students, a university spokesperson tells the Daily. One was a U-M temp and the other three were unaffiliated. It was the first pro-Palestinian protest of the fall semester organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, a coalition of student groups. 

Harbaugh gave game ball to sign-stealing employee: Connor Stalions quit his job with U-M football last fall after an NCAA probe discovered an elaborate scheme to decipher opponents’ sideline signals. Now, ClickOnDetroit writes, he says in an episode of the Netflix documentary series “Untold,” out this week, that he had been passing information about other teams’ signals as far back as 2018 while still in the Marines, eventually parlaying that into a job with the Wolverines. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh has repeatedly insisted he was unaware of Stalions’ efforts, which included buying tickets to future opponents’ games in order to film the sideline activity, but Stalions says Harbaugh gave him the game ball from the October 2022 victory over Iowa in appreciation of his work.

Former U-M president dies: James Duderstadt, who ran the school from 1988 to 1996, died at eighty-one last week, the University Record reports. Duderstadt is credited with enhancing U-M’s emphasis on science and technology research and teaching, overseeing about $70 million in new construction on North Campus when he was dean of the College of Engineering, and seeking to build “an environment for diversity” through his Michigan Mandate. He also wrote twenty-three books. The main library on North Campus is named for Duderstadt and his wife, Anne, who survives him.

$9.4M approved for Barton Dam remediation: That’s a huge chunk of the $12 million cost expected to fix the crumbling embankment that is leaking and has been cited as a high-hazard dam by the federal government, according to city records. The city will cover the rest of the cost using $2 million in federal stimulus money.

Revised high-rise plan saves Rick’s: Core Spaces is shifting the footprint of a $68 million apartment tower along Church St. near South University in such a way that it is no longer necessary to demolish the building that houses the basement nightclub, MLive writes (paywall). The revisions also add a story to the structure, now expected to top out at twenty stories. 

All-electric apartment building OK’d for Owl Creek: Council approved the plans for a new five-story, 131-unit building in the complex along Nixon Rd. south of M-14, city records show. Developer Bleznak Real Estate Investment Group needed and received a variance to allow buildings up to seventy-five feet tall on the twenty-eight acre site, nearly double the thirty-nine-foot limit. 

The George seeks to add four-story building: It would have fifty-four units and some 1,400 square feet of retail to the complex along Packard St., MLive reports (paywall). New Jersey-based Somerset Development submitted plans to the city this week for the new structure, which would replace an open area in front of the U-shaped building.

Shelter contends with thirty abandoned birds: Twenty-six parakeets and four cockatiels were left on a bench outside the Humane Society of Huron Valley’s Dixboro shelter, according to a press release. The parakeets were in a cardboard cat carrier and the cockatiels in a cage. Another twenty-one birds, including several chickens and ducks, were also surrendered to the shelter this week, a record intake of birds.

City weighs planting its own tree nursery: Council voted unanimously to accept a $1 million federal grant for “city tree canopy projects” and to put that money toward, among other things, a feasibility study for a publicly operated “tree nursery and agricultural demonstration site,” according to city records. The grant will also fund “targeted and equity-focused private property tree planting” and an “urban tree canopy analysis update.” 

Alcohol, elotes at the Big House: Football season kicks off with five home games in a row – and, thanks to a change in state law, a Class C liquor license. And along with concession standbys like chicken tenders, basic burgers, and hotdogs , Michigan Stadium’s senior executive chef tells MLive, a litany of other dishes will be available when fans pour in for Saturday’s kickoff, including corndogs topped with elotes, hot honey chicken tender baskets, and cauliflower rice bowls.

Twenty-year-old survives being dragged, pinned by train: The man fell asleep on the tracks between Huron St. and Miller Ave. and was run over by a slow-moving locomotive before it stopped with him trapped underneath, the Ann Arbor Fire Department wrote on Facebook. AAFD even called in a surgical team that was prepared to amputate his hand if necessary, but managed to liberate him after nearly two hours. “Shockingly, the hand injury was the only major trauma,” the post says. “This was a once in career incident for those involved. Normally, person versus train incidents are fatal.”

Man gets three years probation for fatal shooting of brother: Steven Harris, thirty-two, insisted he is a “changed man” since the 2022 incident in which he killed his brother, Thomas Harris, with a high-powered pellet gun, MLive reports (paywall). Judge Arianna Slay approved the plea agreement in which Harris was released on probation after serving 806 days in jail. His mother said the shooting was a fluke and that Steven was having a mental health incident when it occurred. He pleaded no contest to manslaughter in July.

“This American Life” revisits 1993 Chelsea murder: The public radio program’s Aug. 18 edition featured an eighteen-minute reading of a letter written by Nicole Piasecki, a University of Colorado writing instructor, to her former teacher, Alice Leith. Piasecki described how Leith inspired her as a Chelsea High student – and how she’d struggled with the knowledge that Leith could have saved her father, Chelsea superintendent Joseph Piasecki, by warning that her husband and fellow teacher, Stephen Leith, was on his way to the school with a gun. Stephen Leith killed her father and injured a principal and a teacher. The letter was originally published in 2017 by Hippocampus Magazine.

Dealership must pay $350,000 in wrongful repossession case: Suburban Chevrolet Cadillac of Ann Arbor failed this week to persuade a judge to reduce the judgment it owes to customer Tina McPherson, Jalopnik writes. McPherson bought a 2017 Dodge Durango from the dealership in 2020 only to have it repossessed after she refused to accept a change of terms on her loan because of a belated adverse action notice. The judge wrote in his opinion on the case that the evidence demonstrated the “reprehensibility of the store’s unlawful conduct.”

Veteran journalist recalls 1960 run-in with local police: In an excerpt of his new memoir published in August’s Observer, Ann Arbor native Stephen Cain tells the harrowing tale of being pulled over on Geddes Rd. for crossing railroad tracks before the signal had stopped. Cain writes that he later learned they questioned him for an hour because a woman had reported being kidnapped and raped to avoid getting in trouble with her parents for missing her curfew, and he happened to be in the area at the time of the investigation. Cain retired from the Ann Arbor News in 1998 and was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2017.

County’s racial equity officer resigns after spending scandal: Alize Asberry Payne, who had been on unpaid leave, quit on Aug. 16 after an investigation revealed she’d spent thousands of dollars on travel using her county-issued credit card, MLive reports. Payne was not required to reimburse the county because, county administrator Gregory Dill said: “I was satisfied that while the judgment was not the best, there was no major policy violation.”

West Nile Virus found in local mosquitos: The Washtenaw County Health Department issued an alert about the discovery while noting no human cases have been reported here since 2018. WCHD urged people to use insect repellent and wear protective clothing to avoid being bitten. Most infected people have no symptoms, but some may become ill three to fifteen days after the bite. A quarter of people infected experience mild illness with fever, headache, and body aches, sometimes with a skin rash and swollen lymph glands.

Teen activists pressure schools on sustainability: The Freeman Environmental Youth Council, an AAPS-wide group of high school student leaders, conducted a waste audit at the Huron, Skyline, and Pioneer cafeterias and found that as much as 93 percent of the trash could have been composted or recycled, Ken Garber writes in the September issue of the Observer. The district’s budget problems have curtailed some student- and parent-led efforts including elementary school composting projects, while changes in what the regional recycling companies will take in have resulted in compostable lunch trays ending up in landfills. 

Webster Twp. weighs allowing residents to have livestock: The planning commission in the rural area northwest of A2 unanimously voted last week to set a Sept. 18 hearing date to consider changes after the township forced one owner to give away her chickens and took another to court, MLive writes. The proposal would allow up to five chickens on less than an acre; five chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese as well as one rabbit per acre and two small livestock animals on lots between one and 1.99 acres; and five poultry animals and rabbits per acre, two small livestock animals per acre, and a maximum of two large livestock animals, such as cattle, bison, llamas and pigs, for lots between two to 4.99 acres. Currently, landowners can’t have any farm animals on lots smaller than five acres.

Downtown Ypsi library’s grand reopening scheduled in October: The Michigan Ave. library has been closed since it was hit by a catastrophic flood in the summer of 2023, and its reopening was delayed from August by supply-chain problems that hamstrung the reconstruction. LIbrary director Lisa Hoenig writes that the site could open as soon as late September, with a “Back on the Block” party set for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 12.

Controversial apparel shop opens: Michigan’s first Brandy Melville store in Arbor Hills appears to be off to a solid start with its target audience of young women despite a scathing HBO documentary, Dave Algase writes in August’s Observer. The Europe-based brand has about forty-two stores and 3.1 million Instagram followers, but it took harsh criticism from Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion, including accusations of racism, sexism, sizeism, and worker exploitation within the company.

Food truck serves as teaser for coming restaurant: Level Up, parked at the corner of Washington and S. Main streets, offers “a wood-fired, vegetable-forward menu that uses seasonal ingredients” outside of the space being transformed into Echelon Kitchen + Bar, MLive reports (paywall). The owners say the truck will remain even after the restaurant opens in October to provide “a different, smaller menu.”

Stone & Spoon offering deep discounts ahead of Sunday closure: Owner Jen Eastridge writes on Facebook that she wants to sell off her inventory at a loss rather than move it out as she shuts down the four-year-old downtown Ypsi home and gardening goods store. The shop is also hosting a celebratory “fruity bubbly” toast at 5 p.m. on Sunday for “each and every one of you,” according to another post.

Volunteers sought to fix defaced artwork: Embrace our Differences Michigan is hosting a “painting party” on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Gallup Park to repair five billboard-sized banners that are part of a public display. The art was vandalized over the weekend with messages including “Free Palestine” and “Embrace Revolution.” Artists will be on hand and paint and paintbrushes will be provided.

“Salvation Armani” gets close-up from Freep: Columnist Neal Rubin dubs Ann Arbor’s Salvation Army store “the world’s best thrift shop” in the Detroit Free Press for its unusually high-end merchandise. The 33,000-square-foot emporium on S. State St. is known by bargain hunters for receiving donations of name-brand goods like Coach bags and North Face jackets. 

Tickets on sale for Sept. 11 B2B Trail fundraiser: For $125 per person, attendees of the Barn Raiser party that kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at Frutig Farms can partake in an open bar, live music, and fare from Zingerman’s Roadhouse. Proceeds go to the nonprofit Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative to support the completion of the Border to Border Trail; the group was halfway to its goal of raising $35,000 as of Wednesday. To buy tickets, click here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See the Purple Rose Theatre Company’s “What Springs Forth” before the run ends Saturday. In Carey Crim’s comedy, three middle-aged women embark on a high-end wellness spa retreat only to discover one of them has changed the itinerary to a wilderness survival camp. Adult subject matter and language. 3 p.m. Sat., 8 p.m. (Fri., and Sat.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park, Chelsea. Tickets $30 to $48 in advance at here or by phone, and (if available) at the door. (734) 433–7673.

Saturday: Dress in black for a “moth party,” where local moth experts lead an exercise in attracting and identifying specimens of one of the most successful organisms on Earth, in the Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance’s “Moth Night at Black Pond Woods.” Bring a headlamp or flashlight if you have one and a camp chair if you want one. 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., meet at the Leslie Science Center parking lot, 1831 Traver Rd. Free.

Sunday: Hear the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic (5 p.m.) and see the USA Auto Cross Championship Derby (7 p.m.) and more at the 2024 Saline Community Fair, which runs through Monday. Agricultural and craft exhibits, carnival rides, a euchre tournament. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Thurs. to Sat.), 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Sun.), Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds, 5055 Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. $10 (Thurs. to Sun.); free admission Mon. (Labor Day). Ride armbands $18 to $25. (734) 649–7814.

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

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