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I’m so glad so many of you were as amused, delighted, and slightly horrified by last week’s a2view opening about how my family stumbled over an Ann Arbor item in the newsreel of a 1955 edition of Mickey Mouse Club. It spotlighted a program of bringing animals to cheer up sick and injured children at University Hospital that, at least from a 2026 lens, seemed bizarre and risky.
To answer some of the questions and comments:
● Folks have asked if Jane Dibble, who appears in the video snuggling Mortimer the Mouse as a three-year-old patient, became the late Jane Dibble Ferris, a beloved longtime Eberwhite Elementary teacher and lifelong townie. From what I gather based on her age, yes. Such a bummer I can’t ask her what she remembers.
● It was a grave omission not to link to the YouTube of the Mickey Mouse–Donald Duck earworm of a theme, so here you go.
● Did you know a coatimundi is not a rodent? OK, a few of you did. I did not when I slandered the species. (Is “rodent” a species? Oh, I see it’s not. Sorry, I went to journalism school.) Sure looks like one. It’s in the raccoon family. Rodents, it so happens, are defined by their gnawing behavior.
Also, Mickey Mouse Club wasn’t the only media to cover the hospital’s program. As Michigan Medicine publicist Kara Gavin notes, Life did a big spread in November 1956. It’s discussed in an ongoing museum exhibit dedicated to the 175th anniversary of medicine and medical research at U-M. And, of course, the hospital system still hosts animal therapy programs – but primarily, that means specially trained dogs rather than wandering ostriches and other critters.
Fun stuff, but now we’ve got to get on with the news. That threatening incident at Haisley is having reverberations, Washtenaw County says ICE can’t enter its buildings without warrants, a hot new A2 restaurant is up for a major honor, and the new U-M president’s contract is … impressive.
This was last week’s most-clicked link, which goes to show me that you really do want Sherrone Moore news.
– Steve Friess, editor
P.S. If you’re reading this early enough, here’s your reminder that editor-in-chief Brooke Black will be at Argus on Liberty this morning (Friday, January 23) from 8 to 10 a.m. It’s the first stop on her “listening tour” to meet community members, learn what they feel are the most important issues facing Ann Arbor, and shape the Observer’s future coverage.
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Despite the very upbeat narration, then-three-year-old Jane Dibble of Ann Arbor did not look thrilled about the mouse roaming her University Hospital bed in a 1955 episode of Mickey Mouse Club.
Screengrab via Disney+
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1. School grapples with terroristic threat: An eighteen-year-old from the Haisley Elementary neighborhood is accused of taping “a note with threatening language on a classroom window” last week, according to a letter to the community from superintendent Jazz Parks. The specifics of the threatening note were not disclosed; Ann Arbor police say the teen was charged with making terroristic threats, a felony, and making school threats, a misdemeanor. Police and Community Mental Health “developed an immediate plan to get the person coordinated resources,” according to a press release. “He is currently receiving treatment at a medical facility.” Meanwhile, parents are considering the incident a “near miss” that raises questions about how prepared AAPS is for a more serious attack. To address the concerns, “local, state, and federal leaders will share updates, answer moderated questions, and outline next steps” at a 6:30 p.m. town hall on Monday, January 26, at the 2|42 Community Center. Click here for more information; preregistration is required.
2. County declares its buildings “ICE-free zones”: The commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to refuse entry to immigration enforcement agents without a judicial warrant or court order in a resolution that also opposes ICE agents’ use of face coverings during law enforcement activities. The Movement for Immigrant Rights Action and county commissioner Yousef Rabhi drafted the resolution, MLive reports. In related news, some U-M students walked out of class to protest ICE. Read more
3. SCOTUS may thwart Trump on Lisa Cook: The Federal Reserve governor and longtime Ann Arbor resident challenged the ability of the president to fire her without any due process – and this week even high-court conservatives like Samuel Alito seemed troubled during oral arguments, experts say. “The justices seemed to be debating how to rule in Cook’s favor, rather than whether to do so,” Politico writes. Trump began targeting Cook, a Democratic appointee and the first Black woman on the board, last year by accusing her of committing mortgage fraud in 2021 involving a home equity loan she took out on her A2 residence within weeks of getting a mortgage for a condo in Atlanta. Documents obtained by Reuters indicate the claims may be meritless. Read more
4. Just how messy was the Moore era? It’s hard to know who is piling on and who is adding useful detail to the spectacular downfall of the indicted former U-M football head coach, but wide receiver Anthony Simpson, who transferred here a year ago from University of Massachusetts, posted on social media that players blackmailed Moore for playing time with information about his not-very-stealthy alleged affair with a subordinate. Simpson, who entered the transfer portal this week, says this explains why he lost playing time despite a stellar 2023–24 season. Read more about that, and click here if you’re curious how U-M has fared in the transfer portal amid these very weird circumstances. Moore appeared at a probable cause hearing on Thursday where his attorney argued the charges should be tossed because the arrest warrant was based on alleged misinformation.
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Tree removal “in the name of sustainability”: A neighbor near the construction site for the AAFD’s net-zero Fire Station 4 grouses to Antonio Cooper about the destruction of nine trees in Scheffler Park. Fire chief Mike Kennedy says there’s a plan behind this temporary disorder and the trees will be replaced. Read more
Who’s at fault when sports events go wrong? It’s not uncommon for races and runs to pass through multiple towns, but Della DiPietro writes in this month’s Observer that organizers only usually need permits in one place, and nothing in the law requires notifications to other jurisdictions. This becomes a problem when things go wrong, as it did last fall when a cyclist was hit in Dexter Twp. by a pickup truck during the Rode To Hell gravel bike race. Read more
Poet Tree Town: U-M writing lecturer Ryan McCarty offers “The Block Wakes Up in a Lock Down,” a poem about how the controversial recent thirty-hour standoff between police and a sword-wielding neighbor impacted him.
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Psst. Wanna buy this train depot? Read more
It’s super-duper cold today, so here’s where to go if you need shelter.
A U-M brainiac, teed off about getting a parking citation, built this brilliant app that tracks where and when the city issues tickets. So it’s not my imagination that nobody ever gets ticketed outside the Y, huh? Good to know! Read more
Anti-ICE activists want to stop the feds from using Willow Run Airport for flying detainees to detention centers in Louisiana, Texas, and elsewhere. Read more
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell wonders if the FCC will ever fulfill its promise to Bridgewater Twp., “the only remaining community in Washtenaw County where [Rural Digital Opportunity Fund]-funded broadband deployment remains largely incomplete.”
The sheriff released dashboard camera footage from the fatal officer-involved shooting of an unarmed motorist in Ypsi earlier this month. Read more
Incoming U-M president Kent Syverud will receive a base salary of $2 million, the highest of any university president in the nation. And his contract is laden, of course, with incentives for more. Read here
Hey, while we’re thinking about it, let’s check in on how University of Florida is doing in its seemingly endless search following the Santa Ono debacle. Oh, geez. Not great.
U-M has created a special fund for researchers “whose federal grant proposals received strong peer-review evaluations” but were either rejected or stalled amid the Trump administration’s cuts. Read more
Faced with alarmed, angry residents wanting answers to why that thirty-hour police standoff went so far off the rails, Ypsi City Council postponed a vote on whether to condemn how law enforcement handled it, at least until an investigation into the response is completed. Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $9,000 for suspect Ruben Peeler’s legal defense.
Cynthia Harrison is and Dharma Akmon is not running for re-election to council. Akmon is endorsing AADL trustee Aidan Sova, while Harrison braces for a Democratic primary against Rebecca Arends.
You don’t often read feel-good stories about new emergency shelters, so here you go.
Saline Area Schools is fifth and AAPS is ninth highest among Michigan school districts with the highest percentages of 2017–18 graduates earning four-year college degrees within six years. Both were over 60 percent. Ypsilanti Community Schools was the lowest in the county at 24.5 percent. Read more
More than three years after the fire, the new Johnny’s Speakeasy is taking shape thanks to public support. Read more
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Credit: Steve Friess
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Mercedes-Benz, BMW migrate: The luxury car dealerships are the first to take up occupancy in the all-electric, net-zero buildings being constructed by Lithia Motors on twenty-one acres up the street from Auto Mall Dr. on Jackson Rd., Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Jaguar/Land Rover, whose nearest dealership is in Novi, has also been identified as a possibility for the planned unit development.
Echelon Kitchen + Bar up for James Beard honor: The fine-dining restaurant on Main St. was tapped as a semifinalist in the national category for Best New Restaurant, Eater Detroit writes. Echelon, known for “offering locavores a dynamic menu of farm-to-table, wood-fired cuisine,” as Algase wrote in February 2025, is the only Michigan restaurant among thirty semifinalists in the category.
Local GameStop closes: The troubled video game retailer closed its location on Eisenhower Pkwy. earlier this month, MLive reports. GameStop’s store on Ellsworth Rd. in Ypsi remains open. In a March 2025 regulatory filing,GameStop said it would close a “significant number” of stores, but the company has yet to say how many or release a list of closures.
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Drag Bingo raises money for Alzheimer’s Association: Join Jadein Black and other local queens on Saturday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tap Room in Ypsi. Tickets are $23.18 and include three games. For more information, click here.
North Star Lounge hosts immigration justice benefit: A multinational lineup of artists are slated to perform Latin music on January 31 to support the National Immigration Justice Center. The show runs 8:30 to 9:45 p.m. To buy tickets, which cost $10, click here.
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By Jennifer Taylor
Friday: At “Friday Night AI: Deepfakes, AI, and the Future of Trust,” hear U-M AI Lab faculty discuss the implications of recent advances that have made it easier to generate convincing synthetic audio and video. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., AADL Downtown. Free.
Saturday: Watch the U-M Women’s Gymnastics team take on Iowa in pursuit of their twenty-eighth Big Ten title. 3:45 p.m., Crisler Center. Tickets from $8 in advance at and at the gate.
Sunday: Hear West Virginia–based storyteller Bil Lepp spin humorously outrageous tall tales about everyday life. A Charleston Gazette reviewer described Lepp, five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars Contest, as “a cross between Dr. Seuss and film noir.” 7:30 p.m., The Ark, 316 S. Main. Tickets $29 in advance online or $25 (if available) at the door.
See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events.
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