Before I say anything else, I must sing the praises of everyone at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital where our son, Nevada, had his tonsillectomy yesterday. His surgery was scheduled for May but a cancellation popped up with less than 24 hours notice and we leaped on it. Now we’re knee deep in Popsicles, pain meds, and Paw Patrol videos, but the kid will be so much better off and we feel lucky/smart to live near such a world-class facility. Today he’s feeling great, as you can see.

We don’t, however, live near many authentic Chinese restaurants, if the email response to my inquiry last week is any indication. A few folks pointed us to the dim sum place Shangri-La in West Bloomfield Twp., which we’ve gone to many times and is wonderful but not nearby. And I’d heard about Everyday in East Lansing but, again, that’s a trip. The most interesting local recommendations were Lan City and Ypbor Yan, both of which I’ve been meaning to try. But that still feels like slim pickings for a city that prides itself on its foodie cred.

Our news lineup has a range of development, political, and crime news, but the clickbait of the week is this crazy story from MLive’s Jordyn Pair about a family that chased down a man they suspect stole their credit card and was going around Briarwood Mall shopping with it. There’s a line in there where the killjoy cops rightly say it’s a lousy and dangerous idea to chase after thieves, but this story is just so satisfying, right down to the instigating event being the death of the family gerbil.

As I head to CVS to stock up on discounted Valentine’s chocolate, I hope your week ahead is sweet, delicious, and inexpensive.

– Steve Friess, editor

MDOT offers website to browse US-23 ideas: Click here to read up on a variety of design options to reduce bottlenecks between M-14 and I-94, including reconfiguring interchanges and adding lanes. Ann Arbor’s city council in October approved a resolution opposing any widening of the highway, and more than 900 people have signed a Change.org petition against such an expansion. Some 80,000 vehicles use the stretch each weekday, and the state is assessing ways to reduce congestion. 

Residents can weigh in on proposed townhomes off Scio Church Rd: Robertson Homes of Bloomfield Hills wants to build seventy-five units on about six acres east of Audubon Dr., according to an invitation to a Zoom meeting on Feb. 22. The developer is also behind the proposed Village of Ann Arbor, which would add 604 townhouses and apartments off Dhu Varren Rd. and Pontiac Tr.

Developer gets OK for long-stalled subdivision: Wellesley Woods, a condo project that never got built because of the Great Recession’s housing downturn, is finally moving ahead after the Pittsfield Twp. planning commission voted 5-1 to provide preliminary approval, MLive reports. Norfolk Homes, brought in by the adjacent Wellesley Gardens Condominium Association that now owns the land following litigation, wants to put thirty-seven duplexes and six single-unit buildings on thirty-two acres west of US-23 along Michigan Ave. 

Ann Arbor opposes DTE incentive fees: In a blistering seven-page filing with the Michigan Public Service Commission, the city objected to a proposal to charge customers $10 per year to create a fund that would incentivize the power company to improve reliability. “Ann Arbor believes it is inappropriate to further reward DTE for delivering literally substandard performance at premium prices,” city attorney Valerie Jackson wrote. Other opponents include attorney general Dana Nessel, the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, and a consortium of environmental groups that include the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.

Bond set at $5M for man accused of kidnapping son: Magistrate Elisha Fink ordered the rare, seven-figure bond for forty-three-year-old Ryan Matthew Johnson in an arraignment that had to be postponed by three days because the suspect “began swearing after the prosecutor spoke,” MLive reports (paywall). Johnson surrendered to police on Feb. 7 after barricading himself and his child in a room at the Victory Inn on Washtenaw Ave. Accused of abducting the boy at gunpoint from his home in Ypsilanti Township, Johnson is charged with first-degree home invasion, assault with a dangerous weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, domestic violence and assault. Police are still seeking a suspected accomplice. 

City resets clock on unarmed crisis response plans: City administrator Milton Dohoney told the Observer’s James Leonard in this month’s issue that a new request for proposals would be issued by the end of January, but as of mid-February that has not happened. Dohoney rejected the one proposal submitted in the last RFP round because the plan from Care-Based Safety would take at least five years to fully ramp up, be available only on limited days and hours, and could send unarmed volunteer responders to dangerous situations. The group responded that limited hours are the norm for such programs, and that it “absolutely would not” use volunteers in such situations.

New police chief starts job on Wednesday: Andre Anderson takes the helm after a swearing-in ceremony scheduled for noon at city hall, according to a press release. Council voted to hire him after a two-part search to replace Michael Cox, who left in July 2022 to be police commissioner in Boston. Anderson most recently was assistant police chief in Tempe, Ariz.

Family chases suspected credit card thief across mall: Julie Kobylarz, her fiance, and their three kids ages two, six, and seven, ran after a man they believe swiped her wallet at a grocery store and a short time later charged $2,000 to her credit card at the Apple store in Briarwood, MLive reports. The details are too wild to recap here – go read all about it – but Kobylarz managed to get her card back, return the ill-gotten iPhones, and, with the help of other shoppers, collar a twenty-six-year-old suspect. He is charged with three felony counts of stealing/retaining a financial transaction device without consent.

AAPS board president files for state rep: Trustee Rima Mohammad, elected in 2022, has filed as a Democrat to run in the 33rd House district, the Sun Times News reports. The district, which includes Saline, parts of Ann Arbor and parts of York, Scio and Pittsfield townships, is now represented by second-term Democratic representative Felicia Brabec. Brabec has not yet filed for re-election but has until April 23 to do so. If she does, this could set up an unusually high-profile Democratic primary.

Ypsi council member faces May 7 recall election: The citizens group Ypsilanti Forward collected enough signatures to force the vote after Desirae Simmons supported the $3.7 million purchase of a building for the public works department, MLive reports. Simmons, elected in 2022, was initially targeted along with councilmember Jennifer Symanns and mayor Nicole Brown, but Symanns resigned and Brown later voted to reverse the purchase. Simmons, who abstained from the reversal vote, says she will fight to keep her position.

In-person presidential primary voting starts Saturday: For the first time, voters will have nine days to cast their ballots prior to the Feb. 27 primaries, but where you go depends on where you live. For hours and locations, check these links if you reside in Ann Arbor, Milan, Ypsilanti Twp. or Bridgewater Twp. Residents of the other twenty-three jurisdictions in Washtenaw County can either vote at the sheriff’s Learning Resource Center at 4135 Washtenaw Ave., or a regional site based on their addresses–see the Michigan Secretary of State’s website to find your polling place. The early voting period ends on Feb. 25. 

Paul Whelan calls reporters from Russian labor camp: The Huron High graduate, arrested for espionage in 2018 and serving a sixteen-year sentence, phoned CNN, the Detroit News, the BBC, and WTOP radio on Christmas Eve to say he’s worried he’s been forgotten by the Biden administration, Jan Schlain writes in this month’s Observer. Whelan’s family worries that his contact with Western news outlets may put him in even greater danger, but the prisoner told the News he fears the U.S. government may “leave me here a third time” if they can arrange the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich, just as it did in earlier deals that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Trevor Reed. The family is asking supporters to write to Whelan so he knows he’s not forgotten.

Gallup Park bridge demolished: The wooden bridge by the boat livery was already due for replacement, but removal of the nearly fifty-year-old structure became urgent when a routine inspection found “significant structural issues that might pose a risk of failure,” according to a city press release. The city says it is “investigating all options, including the potential for a temporary crossing” to allow motorists and pedestrians to cross the river until the new bridge is constructed.

Zingerman’s recalls brownies over walnuts: The Ann Arbor icon issued the warning for its Black Magic Brownies last week after a consumer found a walnut in one, according to an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The presence of the allergen is especially problematic because the Black Magic version is supposed to be nut-free: its packaging tells eaters to “go nuts with no nuts!” No illness has been reported, and the investigation into the source of the walnut is ongoing, according to the FDA’s announcement. The recall includes individual brownies and four-packs labeled lot 356, with sell-by dates of Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. To receive a refund, call (734) 761-7255.

Fraternity suspended over hazing claims: A viral video showing pledges being hit and kicked as part of their initiation for the U-M’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi has prompted disciplinary action from its national organization, ClickonDetroit reports. AEPi, the largest Jewish fraternity in the U.S., says it has halted all activities and plans to reorganize the chapter.

Clements launches crowdfunding campaign to pay for rare poetry book: The special-collections library is trying to raise $42,000 to buy a 1786 edition of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley Peters, who wrote them as an enslaved teenager in Boston in the years before the American Revolution. The thirty-nine poems were first published in London in 1773; the copy now on display at the Clements is from the first American printing. The volume is “widely regarded as the first book of poetry written by an African American woman,” the University Record writes.

Original Cottage Inn sold, closed for renovations: The E. William St. restaurant will become a new location for Coratti’s Pizza Bar and Bocce, the Sun Times News reports. The downtown icon opened in 1948 as one of Ann Arbor’s first pizzerias, and was bought in 1962 by Nick Michos and George Petropoulos. Coratti’s, which has stores in Howell and Milford, aims to reopen in time for graduation weekend.

PizzaPazza opens quietly in Kerrytown: “We didn’t say a word to anybody. We just quietly lit the oven and started baking pizzas,” owner Jeff Condit tells Dave Algase of the eatery’s December debut in this month’s Observer. The brick-and-mortar location, which specializes in Neapolitan-style pies baked in a wood-burning oven, comes after years of success with a PizzaPazza food truck, which is still in operation. 

Bring Your Own Container shops for sale: Owner Emma Hess is looking to pass on the two locations, in Ann Arbor and in Plymouth, to “make a career transition,” according to a Facebook post. Hess opened the store, where shoppers can fill their own containers with eco-friendly soaps and other wares, in 2020 as a pop-up after graduating from U-M and turned it into a brick-and-mortar store in 2021. The Chelsea native, U-M sociology grad, and onetime child actress writes in the post that she is not renewing her lease, which expires in April. MLive reports that Hess is asking for $99,900 for the business and its assets.

Cancer charity gives Mott $213,563 valentine: U Can-cer Vive, a Highland-based non-profit founded by members of the LaFontaine car dealership family, dropped off an oversized check for that amount at the children’s hospital on Wednesday. U Can-cer Vive provides grants for cancer research; this one will support efforts to stop the migration of certain tumor cells that cause diffuse midline glioma, the deadliest form of brain cancer for children.

Literacy Coalition of Washtenaw County seeks to improve awareness: The new alliance of fifteen local groups that focus on improving reading skills will hold a public launch on March 10 in an event from 1 to 5 p.m. at WCC’s Morris Lawrence Building, Concentrate reports. The event, dubbed the Family Literacy Initiative Campaign, will feature leaders from local groups including Washtenaw Literacy and Family Learning Institute talking about the importance of literacy and offering suggestions for how the public can help.

Brick Bash to raise money for Skyline High’s band program: The two-day fundraiser at the school on Feb. 24 and 25 will feature 17,000 square feet of LEGO sculptures for visitors to gawk at, ClickOnDetroit reports. This will be the twentieth annual Bash; previous events have drawn as many as 5,000 attendees, including members of LEGO clubs who travel more than 100 miles to be here. Admission is $5; for hours and other information, click here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Hear Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra music director Earl Lee conduct the A2SO and Eric Lu, a Berlin- and Boston-based pianist, in Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The program also includes “Transcend,” MSU composition professor Zhou Tian’s 2019 tribute to the laborers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, and Ravel’s La valse. Preconcert talk at 7 p.m. 8 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Tickets $15 to $90 in advance here, at the A2SO office, 35 Research Dr., ste. 100, and (if available) at the door. (734) 994–4801. 

Saturday: Listen to U-M physics professor David Gerdes discuss ways to view the total solar eclipse coming on April 8 at his talk, “Totally Awesome: Your Guide to the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2024.” 10:30 a.m., 170 Weiser Hall, 500 Church St., or via livestream. Free. (734) 764–4437.

Sunday: Take in the Martha Graham Dance Company’s performance of Agnes DeMille’s 1942 classic Rodeo, with its iconic score by Aaron Copland reorchestrated for a bluegrass ensemble, as well as a new work by Jamar Roberts set to music by singer-songwriter, composer, and string player Rhiannon Giddens. 7:30 p.m. (Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun.), Power Center. Tickets $46 to $68 in advance ($15 to $23, students) here and by phone, and (if available) at the door. (734) 764–2538.

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

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