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I love the occasional snow day, and we moved here from Las Vegas specifically for the seasons, but this winter has been rough on parents of school-age kids. AAPS closed last Friday for the extreme cold and Monday for snow. Add two other snow days so far this year and we’re closing in fast on using up the six “Act of God Days” built into the school calendar under state law. After that, they somehow have to make up instructional days or ask the state superintendent for waivers. Some districts around the state are already in that predicament.
To make matters more challenging for me, our daughter’s preK class at Mitchell was out all last week anyway because the heat broke in that wing of the aged, blessedly soon-to-be-replaced school. Now there’s more extreme cold in the forecast, so I’m on edge.
So, what did we do? Well, besides me falling pathetically behind on my work, we baked (and ate) a lot and went to several libraries we hadn’t visited yet. We hadn’t been to AADL’s Pittsfield branch, for instance, and honestly it could use some sprucing up in the kids department. Southfield, we discovered quite by accident, has a veritable palace worthy of the drive. Also, whenever a shutdown seems imminent, I head to my nearby Ypsi library to check out one of the really cool activity kits they have. Here’s Claire and some of her “friends” in her “rocket with a patio” built from parts in one such STEM-focused set.
Your news is here, some of it late-breaking, and it is dominated by cold and ICE. Also, AAPS teachers don’t have a contract, Briarwood Mall is making a remarkable comeback, and brace yourself for a world in which Michigan high school athletes can cash in on their name, image, and likeness.
This is last week’s most-clicked link.
– Steve Friess, editor
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Look! A mid-century modern igloo in the Woodbury Gardens complex!
Credit: Sam Homan
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Credit: Tabi Walters
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1. Fear, fury, grief grip region over immigration arrests: On the same day that civic and faith leaders hosted a gathering of hundreds to mourn the deadly shootings by ICE agents of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, Ypsilanti Community Schools superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross sent a districtwide letter expressing outrage after “confirmation that several parents in our community were taken into custody while off school grounds.” While Sheriff Alyshia Dyer added on Facebook that “it appears that parents connected to local schools were targeted at a bus stop in Ypsilanti during student drop-off times,” Bridge Michigan reported Thursday that ICE denies such targeting. On Wednesday, Ann Arbor Public Schools superintendent Jazz Parks sent a community-wide email calling the YCS situation “deeply troubling” and noting that in response, AAPS had removed its bus routes from its website. Such tactics and incidents were much on the minds of those attending an outdoor vigil on Monday night and the interfaith gathering at New Hope Baptist Church on Tuesday that featured addresses by congresswoman Debbie Dingell, (above), mayor Christopher Taylor, and many others. The Observer’s Kaleb Brown writes in our February issue about the widespread anger and fear over local ICE activities, and Tabitha Walters produced this video from the interfaith vigil.
2. Three AAPS schools close today over staffing shortage: AAPS union president Fred Klein tells a2view the closure at Haisley Elementary is a protest against the release on bail today (January 30) of the nineteen-year-old suspect in the threat against teachers two weeks ago. Klein did not provide an explanation at the time this newsletter was published as to why Community High and A2STEAM also closed “due to a very high number of staff absences reported this morning.” Notably, the Haisley notice indicated the mass call-outs occurred last night. Today anti-ICE advocates have also declared a “national shutdown” today, encouraging folks to not go to work or school, so it is possible that is prompting the staff shortages. MLive has new, chilling details about the contents of the Haisley threat and the suspect. Read more
3. U-M sophomore apparently freezes to death: Nineteen-year-old Lucas Mattson left an off-campus fraternity party on Hill St. in a T-shirt and jeans amid subzero temperatures early Thursday and was found a block away midday Saturday, police say. Mattson, who hailed from Juneau, AK, was not reported missing for fifteen hours, and he was found twenty hours after that. The death shocked the U-M community and prompted interim president Domenico Grasso to issue a statement announcing that high-level administrators will “retrace the events that occurred this weekend. We want to better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.” A GoFundMe campaign launched by Mattson’s aunt to defray the family’s funeral and travel costs has raised more than $67,000.
4. City enacts controversial on-street parking ban: For the first time since council passed an ordinance rearranging parking rules during snow emergencies, residents were told to remove their vehicles starting at 8 p.m. Sunday. The ban ended twenty-four hours later after the streets were plowed. Residents could park for free at Olson Park, Gallup Park, Bicentennial Park, or at the Ann and Ashley and Forest Avenue parking structures, the Michigan Daily reports. On Facebook, best-selling author John U. Bacon reposted a message his wife sent to the city noting that they “do not have a driveway and have no other access to a driveway [and] the nearest parking structure is six blocks away. It is not reasonable to expect anyone to walk that far in snowy sub-zero degree weather.” The city said in advance it would not ticket or tow anyone’s vehicles since it was the first time the policy was in effect. In somewhat related news, Washtenaw County Road Commission director Adam Lape tells WEMU that, unlike other parts of Michigan, they should have enough salt for the rest of the winter.
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AAPS teacher contracts expire: A new round of negotiations between the district and the union began this week after the previous agreement lapsed on January 1, Brooke Black writes. It’s the first time since 1994 that the teachers are working without an active contract. The district has been beset by fiscal challenges in recent years and was delayed in starting negotiations because the state legislature didn’t finalize its budgets until October. Union president Fred Klein calls the situation – a lack of meaningful raises for decades while the district has demanded concessions in times of crisis and increased health insurance costs – “unsustainable.” Read more
The resurgence of Briarwood Mall: Dave Algase takes note of the fact that the once-troubled fifty-two-year-old shopping center is enjoying a renaissance as the mixed-use residential development nears completion. “Once-vacant storefronts are rapidly filling,” he writes. Read more
Renee Baumunk party era ends: In this month’s My Town feature, Anita LeBlanc writes about the history of Ann Arbor’s themed, women-only Wild Women parties, first in her 1925 brick Colonial on Kimberley Rd., and later at her home in Ypsi. Baumunk decided to stop last year after throwing twenty-five events. Read more
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Courtesy: Renee Baumunk
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Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald served as U-M’s defensive coordinator in 2021.
Courtesy: Michigan Athletics
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If you want a reason to care about Super Bowl LX, the Seattle Seahawks have three coaches and four players who spent time as Wolverines, including their thirty-eight-year-old, second-year head coach Mike Macdonald (above). The Patriots’ Maize and Blue contingent consists of just one ex-player. Worse, New England’s head coach was a Buckeye. Read more
Speaking of U-M football, the fall schedule is out. Three things to note: (1) Isn’t it nice not to have to remember which games the head coach will be suspended for? (2) There will be no opening game in Germany (but we knew that), and (3) Why no Northwestern game?
Think all the money sloshing around in college sports is ruining it? Just wait until high school athletes start landing endorsement deals. That’s really coming.
Perhaps this Pioneer High sophomore, the nation’s fastest cross-country runner, will benefit from that.
Unsurprisingly, attendees at a town hall last night were unhappy and suspicious of everything related to the mammoth planned U-M-Los Alamos computing center planned for Ypsilanti Twp. Read more
The ACLU is suing the Ypsilanti Twp. clerk over voter-roll purges. Read more
New details emerging about the threat against Haisley Elementary are chilling. Read more
A far-right influencer hosted a public debate event on the Diag. How’d it go? Well, there were Nazi salutes, if that tells you anything. Read more
U-M researchers have developed sensors to warn drivers and airplane pilots about ice-related hazards. It’s concerning that we don’t have this yet, but cool. Read more and watch this.
The Stone Foundation gave $5 million to the U-M Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics founded in 2019. Read more
Washtenaw County has added more warming centers as the extreme cold persists. Here’s the current list.
The folks who want the city to dump DTE will launch a petition drive for a ballot question tomorrow. Read more
The family of an unarmed motorist shot to death by Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies earlier this month is suing. Read more
Embattled Scio Twp. supervisor Jillian Kerry got some good news. Read more
Believe it or not, the planning commission does occasionally vote against zoning requests for new residential construction. Read more
A Minnesota-based developer unveiled plans for a twelve-story, 343-unit affordable housing apartment building on W. Liberty. Read more
Washtenaw County is planning a bicentennial celebration. Read more
New energy-efficiency and sustainability requirements kicked in this month for rental properties in the city. Read more
The mystery of the weird foam seeping up around Eighth St. has been solved. Read more
A U-M student from Myanmar’s limbo featured prominently in an Associated Press report about Trump’s travel bans. Read more
Ann Arbor’s Hobbs Kessler set another world record. The Observer wrote about him in 2021 when he was a Skyline High standout. Read more
Figure skater Evan Bates (below), also a local, seems ready for the Winter Games, which start next week in Italy. It’ll be his fifth Olympics, a record for American skaters. Read more
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Circle K to close on February 16: The convenience store and filling station at E. Clark and N. Prospect roads is one of the only places for folks living north of there in Superior Twp. for sundries in the middle of the night. “Circle K Corporate has made this decision,” reads a note on the door from the store manager. “You all will be missed.” The chain still has locations in Ann Arbor and Pittsfield Twp.
Tiki bar to open under Echelon: Fresh off becoming a James Beard semi-finalist, the new upscale restaurant on S. Main is planning to launch Hunã Bar in the basement in February, according to its website. “Each cocktail tells a story – balancing nostalgia and innovation, island spice and theatrical flair. Chef Joseph VanWagner’s island-inspired pu-pu’s pair perfectly with the mood – vibrant, shareable, and full of discovery,” the site says. “Hunã isn’t just a bar. It’s a mood, a mystery, a portal.”
Makeshift Gallery moves, Value City to close: Those are among the changes noted in Dave Algase’s roundup in the January Observer. The three-year-old artist-run consignment gallery will move to Liberty Square and become Alley Gallery. Value City, which is still holding its liquidation sale, is closing nine of its Michigan locations as part of its parent company’s bankruptcy reorganization. Read more
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Courtesy: John Hilton and Eve Silberman
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Crowdfunding campaign launched to support single mom: Former Observer editor-in-chief John Hilton and his wife, writer Eve Silberman, are raising money for Ashley (above), a lifelong friend undergoing abdominal surgery that will prevent her from working as a self-employed house cleaner. Ashley is “among the millions of Americans whose finances can’t withstand days, much less weeks, of unemployment,” the couple write. Donate here
Employers, mentors sought for SummerWorks: The organization is looking for companies willing to take on sixteen to twenty-four year olds for ten-week paid internships. SummerWorks, a collaboration between U-M, Michigan Works! Southeast, Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development, and Ann Arbor SPARK, usually facilitates between eighty and 100 job placements each year. They’ll hold informational sessions, which can be attended in person or remotely, on February 11 and March 11. Interns are paid between $15 and $17 per hour and guaranteed twenty hours a week. Read more
C.S. Mott observes American Heart Month in February: The children’s hospital isn’t doing its annual gala this year, but “the campaign itself is very much ongoing,” according to a fundraising email. Opportunities to help include sponsoring a Super Bowl party for heart patients, launching an online fundraiser, and buying merch. Cash gifts will be doubled by the Van Hooser family during February. Read more
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By Jennifer Taylor
Friday: Laugh at the sharp writing and sassy delivery of Louisiana-born lesbian stand-up comic Jen Kober, whose acting credits include The Righteous Gemstones, Hacks, and American Horror Story. 7:15 p.m. (Fri.–Sat.) and 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), 212 S. Fourth Ave. $22 online and (if available) at the door. (734) 996–9080.
Saturday: Catch the closing night of the Ark’s 49th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Tonight’s headliner is Amos Lee, a Philadelphia-based veteran Americana roots-rock singer-songwriter whose bluesy and misleadingly simple sound has been compared to that of John Prine and Norah Jones. 7:30 p.m. (Fri.) and 7 p.m. (Sat.), Hill Auditorium. Tickets start at $57 and are available in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office, online, and at the door.
Sunday: At Critter House Open Hours, view Leslie Science & Nature Center birds of prey as well as frogs, turtles, snakes, and other species native to Michigan. Noon to 3 p.m., LSNC, 1831 Traver. $5 suggested donation. (734) 997–1553.
See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events.
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