Happy New Year! We woke in 2025 to what Paul Simon would call a freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow, and it was a lovely way to begin anew.

Here’s hoping the break has been restful and the holidays were meaningful. For many, it’s not quite over yet, but I’m here anyway to catch you up before work and school reanimate us. There hasn’t been that much news in the fortnight since the last a2view, which I take as a good thing, really.

What we do have is here for you. The county experienced an impressive drop in homicides last year. Days are probably numbered for the print edition of the Ann Arbor News. And MLive has a sweet story of a pair of codependent and resilient plants and a judge forced by age into retirement.

Zero homicides in Ann Arbor in 2024: The ten that occurred countywide were less than half the twenty-three from the year before when the county suffered a violent and deadly summer, MLive reports (paywall). In 2024, six people died by homicide in Ypsilanti Twp., with one death each happening in the city of Ypsilanti, Pittsfield Twp., and Augusta Twp. One week in May saw four. Outgoing sheriff Jerry Clayton cites increased involvement from community members via the Community Violence Intervention Team and Supreme Felons for helping to reduce violent deaths.

Drone helps AAPD collar domestic violence suspect: A forty-year-old Romulus man fled a home on Pauline Blvd. where he is accused of assaulting a twenty-six-year-old Ann Arbor woman, according to an AAPD post on Facebook. Drones from Northfield Twp. police and U-M police were able to detect the suspect’s heat signature; he was arrested in a backyard on Ardmoor Ave. an hour after police were called. The woman declined medical attention for her injuries.

DNA identifies body as long-missing Ypsi man: The body was found in a vacant house in Detroit in December 2023 following a fire, CBS Detroit reports. It took a year, but the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim via DNA as Marquise Burns who was last seen alive in March 2021. Burns had a son who is now four. Crimestoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for info that leads to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information can call 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

Driver found dead in pond at Chelsea mobile home community: A thirty-eight-year-old Jackson man’s body was pulled from his truck at Sylvan Crossing on Dec. 22, three days after his family reported him missing, ClickOnDetroit reports. Police initially searched the area where the missing man’s phone location was last shown but could not find him until an officer noticed an antenna sticking out of the ice of the retention pond. The man may have become disoriented and drove into the frozen pond, police said.

Teacher’s aide accused in bullying of student: Forty-one-year-old Alissa Reese of Manchester, who worked at Saline Middle School, was arraigned in December on a felony charge of stalking a minor, the Sun Times News reports. The school’s administrators were alerted in September that a student was receiving handwritten notes, which continued over the course of three weeks while an investigation took place. Reese, fired in October, was released on a recognizance bond and is due in court next week for a probable cause hearing.

A2 man charged Up North with assault with a circular saw: The forty-five-year-old suspect was arrested in Mackinaw City on Christmas after police responded to a call about a saw attack at a local gas station, 9and10news reports. The man allegedly used a circular saw taped to a wooden two-by-four board, police say, and also tried to run the victim over with a vehicle.

Voters enable Scio Twp. to double firefighting staff: The board of the fast-growing area west of Ann Arbor approved issuing up to $13.24 million in bonds to pay for a second fire station near W. Liberty and S. Wagner roads, MLive reports. Voters approved a twelve-year millage to pay for expanded fire services in November’s election after rejecting two prior proposals. The plan would bring the number of firefighters to twenty-four. 

Towing contracts are outgoing sheriff’s parting gift: Jerry Clayton tells James Leonard in this month’s Observer that he discovered the system was an inefficient, costly mess when he took office sixteen years ago, so he ended the process of towing companies carving up the county into territories. In its place came a bidding system that protected motorists from unnecessary charges and allowed his office the ability to suspend contracts from firms that misbehaved. A new contract with the county’s two providers, Brewer’s and Sakstrup’s, are due to start in March and await new sheriff Alyshia Dyer’s review. Clayton says she’ll find a better, fairer system than he did: “We regulated how much they could charge for this and that. Enough for ’em to make money — they’re all making a ton of money — but they’re not gouging the people” whose cars are towed.

Retiring judge’s legacy includes free clippings of plant pair: Timothy Connors thought his purple shamrock was dead when he brought the soil into his courtroom to use for a jade plant, MLive reports. The shamrock surprisingly resprouted, and the two have been growing robustly in the same pot ever since. The plants, which Connors says are common companions, are now in the trial court lobby where anyone may cut pieces and grow them. The jade represents good luck and resiliency, while the shamrock represents new growth, he says. Connors, seventy, was ineligible to run for his seat again because of his age. Anyone who wants clippings should visit the office of attorney Teresa Killeen on the courthouse’s second floor for a pot and soil.

Media shifts raise prospect of end to print News: The parent company of Ann Arbor’s local paper, Advance Publications, is shutting down one of its New Jersey papers and going all-online for the Star-Ledger and two other Garden State papers at the end of this month. The Observer’s Roger Rapoport writes in this month’s issue that those moves and others elsewhere in the Advance chain last year may portend a similar move for the venerable, once-mighty Ann Arbor News, which fifteen years ago swapped a daily print schedule for two print editions a week along with daily coverage via AnnArbor.com and then MLive. MLive publisher John Hiner didn’t comment on the paper’s future in print, but Rapoport writes that despite increased subscription revenue, falling ad sales don’t auger well for those who love print news.

Court blocks plan for 400-acre gravel pit: Stoneco, a Michigan-based aggregate company owned by the Irish building products firm CRH, sued Sharon Twp. over its refusal to permit it to mine farmland in southwest Washtenaw County near Manchester, the Sun Times News reports. On Monday, retiring county judge Timothy Connors dismissed the lawsuit and upheld the township’s authority to prioritize the preservation of farmland and sustainable land use.

Thomson Reuters buys Ann Arbor tech firm for $600M: SafeSend, founded in 2008, provides programming to automate the final steps of e-filing a tax return. Canada-based Thomson Reuters, which has a large tax-filing technology division, touted its acquisition in a press release: “By integrating SafeSend’s innovative technology with our existing solutions, we’re simplifying tax preparation workflows, and meeting the dynamic demands of businesses we serve to help them thrive in an increasingly complex tax landscape.” Seventy percent of the nation’s top 500 accounting firms use SafeSend software, according to the announcement.

A2-based pot conglomerate expands to New Jersey: C3 Industries last month opened the High Profile Cannabis Shop in Somerdale, its second in the Garden State and thirty-first U.S. retail location, DBusiness reports. C3’s multiple brands including Cloud Cover Cannabis and Galactic Cannabis, and the High Profile retail network. The company, through its subsidiaries, retails cannabis products in six states.

Whitmer appoints two to EMU board: The governor tapped Sean Gray, vice president of small business services at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Jenita Moore, director of community engagement for Whitmer’s office, EMU Today writes. The EMU alums replace board members Eunice Jeffries and Alexander Simpson, whose terms expired at the end of 2024. Gray and Moore began their seven-year terms yesterday.

Gaza protesters sue U-M over free speech rights: A federal lawsuit filed Dec. 22 asserts the university handled arrests and discipline of pro-Palestinan demonstrators more harshly than that of counterprotesters, CBS Detroit reports. U-M “has targeted students, including the Plaintiffs, who they perceive to be leaders among the student movement for Palestine,” the lawsuit says. A U-M spokesperson said the school would “vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”

Eighty-six-year-old must dismantle massive model train array: Jack Stankrauff has spent three decades building out the 209-square-foot town complete with steam engines, a magnetic crane, and cars with tiny passengers, but health issues have forced him and his wife to relocate from their Ypsi house to a retirement home, MLive reports. Stankrauff, who reminisced about getting his first train set in 1948, is an Army veteran and longtime Ford employee at the Milan plant. He and a fellow model train enthusiast took the town apart to sell it for parts in the week leading up to Christmas. “It’s like losing a really nice neighbor,” he says. “I come down here in the afternoon and play with my trains.”

Forsythe Middle School student competes on Food Network: The new season of Kids Baking Championship that begins airing Monday will feature Ella Hayek who is vying against eleven other young bakers for a $25,000 prize. Hayek, who was ten when the season was shot in Los Angeles last summer, said in her Food Network bio: “I’ve been baking since I was six years old, and I’ve been inspired to bake by my grandma, who owns a bunch of different restaurants.” The show airs at 8 p.m. on Mondays and then is available to stream on Tuesdays on Max.

Wendy’s in Ypsi among twelve Michigan closures: The store at 2735 Washtenaw Ave. stopped serving last month and was delisted from the fast-food chain’s website. The company announced in October that it would shutter 140 low-performing sites nationwide, according to CNN. There are still two in Ann Arbor, two in Ypsilanti, one in Chelsea, and one in Saline. 

Forced to move, cupcake maker seeks support: Leslie Tejada just opened Plates Of Joyy in Briarwood in September, but her lease for gave the mall the ability to terminate it for another tenant, so her shop closes this week, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. After the issue went to press Briarwood offered her another location, but Tejada, twenty-one, says she spent $5,000 building out the space near the food pavilion, so she has launched a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of recouping her losses and financing a relocation, either in the mall or elsewhere. “I ask that you give me patience as this is one of the hardest things I have had to face,” she writes.

Earthen Jar to open second location: The family-run vegan Ann Arbor restaurant landed a state grant from the Build MI Community Grant initiative to help with renovations and expansion of a storefront at 406 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsi, MLive writes. Manager Sim Sethi says the new site will offer a buffet similar to what it has in Ann Arbor, but will be takeout-only. 

Kiwanis Club member has perfect attendance over six decades: Dick Benedek, ninety-one, started going to the Ann Arbor chapter’s weekly meetings sixty-two years ago when he was a young attorney, MLive reports. He’s now the group’s “most senior member,” having spent most of his life supporting the nonprofit’s mission of raising money for community projects. Benedek did miss a few Ann Arbor meetings, but he made them up by going to Kiwanis clubs in other cities or taking in an extra one locally if he knew he was going out of town. “I feel good that I’ve lived up to that commitment,” he says.

Peace Neighborhood Center to open Ypsilanti Twp. site this month: The new HUB Community Resource Center at 1515 S. Harris Rd. features a multi-use center to serve residents in need of anti-poverty programs for youths and families, WEMU reports. Of the new location, executive director Bonnie Billups says, “It’s a place where people will be able to come and say, ‘Hey, I need help gathering and getting food for my family,’ or ‘I need help with housing.’” He’s excited about “the ability for us to have all of those resources connected into one spot and to be a bridge, as opposed to ‘Well, I don’t know who can help you,’ you’ll get an answer. If we don’t have an answer, we’ll find an answer at the HUB.”

Busch’s in Saline raises $16K for charity: The grocery’s Season of Sharing Food Drive in November prompted local residents to donate gift cards for families in need during the holiday season and subsequent months, the Sun Times News writes. The money raised goes to Saline Area Social Service to stock up its food pantry.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Don your polyester shirt and ice skate to disco music at Buhr Park Ice Rink’s Frozen Friday, hosted by Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation. Costumes encouraged. 7 to 8:45 p.m., Buhr Park Ice Rink, 2751 Packard. $6 (kids age 17 and under and seniors age 60 and over, $5). Skate rentals available ($3). (734) 794–6234. 

Saturday: For a peaceful start to the new year, try Nature Journaling at U-M Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Learn about the art of observing and describing nature, then take a walk to try it out. Dress for the weather, but if it’s inclement, the session is held in the conservatory. Art supplies and paper provided or bring your own. 2 to 3 p.m., Matthaei front entrance, 1800 N. Dixboro Rd. Free; metered parking. (734) 647–7600. 

Sunday: Laugh at new material written by fifty comics from around Michigan at the Ark’s “Annual Ann Arbor 50 First Jokes.” Both veterans and newbies take turns telling the first joke they’ve written in 2025. 8 p.m., the Ark, 316 S. Main. Tickets $10 in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office (muto.umich.edu), theark.org, and at the door. (734) 761–1451. 

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

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