Today, the nation paused to remember Jimmy Carter. The post office and other federal offices are closed as is the stock market to observe a day of mourning.

I interviewed Carter in 2006, during my Vegas era, when his son, Jack, was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Nevada. It took quite a lot of nagging the campaign to make that happen; the 39th president told me, with characteristic candor, that he would be making calls and knocking on doors all day and night, but Jack worried he might be “a distraction and a political liability.”

Carter spent a lot of his post-presidency being treated as a political liability. So it is really lovely today to see the genuine outpouring of affection and admiration for a man whose innate dignity, generosity, and kindness set an example for the world. This meme, which I’ve seen a lot on social media this week, feels especially apt at the moment.

Your news is here. After celebrating the low (ten) homicide total across the county in 2024, we’re off to a grim start with a double murder on New Year’s Day. It’s a very sad story that gets worse with every new detail unearthed by MLive about the main suspect’s history.

– Steve Friess, editor

Landlords barred from “junk fees”: Council unanimously approved final passage of an ordinance aimed at curbing a practice of charging thousands of dollars for slots on waitlists for apartments in Ann Arbor, according to city records. Instead, the city now caps application fees at $50 and makes that refundable if the prospective renter is not offered a lease within sixty days. 

Council delays vote on cost study for DTE takeover: City leaders put off a decision as to whether to approve a $1.7 million contract with NewGen Strategies and Solutions LLC on a study examining the costs of Ann Arbor buying or seizing the local energy grid, MLive reports (paywall). The delay was requested by the citizens group Ann Arbor for Public Power, which argued in a press release that as currently designed, the study “will only create public confusion over costs.” Voters could be asked to approve a takeover effort as soon as next year.

Ex-councilmember gets $50K settlement from city: Zachary Ackerman received the payment in October as compensation for being misled that he would get a job with the housing commission, MLive reports. He was denied the job after city administrator Milton Dohoney learned that he would be working entirely remotely. Ackerman, who had moved to California, left another job expecting to take the city role but ended up unemployed; Dohoney said that “the city’s practice does not permit full-time positions that allow a fully remote work schedule.” 

Top student leaders impeached: After seven days of hearings over the course of a month, U-M’s Central Student Judiciary found student government president Alifa Chowdhury and vice president Elias Atkinson guilty of dereliction of duty and removed them from office, the New York Times writes. Chowdhury and Atkinson were elected in March on the Shut It Down ticket, promising not to fund student activities until U-M divested its endowment from companies they said profited from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. In doing so, however, the CSJ found they had failed to execute their obligations. Student assembly speaker Mario Thaqi, an LSA senior, will finish the presidential term.

Big Ten expansion doubled U-M football’s carbon emissions: That’s according to a study by grad students Paige Greenberg and Molly Russell of the Center for Sustainable Systems, based on the cross-country air travel required to play new conference members on the West Coast. Average emissions for their opponents coming to Ann Arbor also doubled, Greenberg and Russell found.

U-M begins search for next med school dean: The University Record writes that president Santa Ono has appointed a seventeen-member committee to seek a successor for Marschall Runge, who will retire in June after more than nine years in the role. Runge also has been executive vice president for medical affairs and Michigan Medicine CEO since March 2015, but those roles will be assumed in July by David Miller, president of U-M Health and executive vice dean of clinical affairs at the Medical School. Miller and provost Laurie McCauley are chairing the search committee.

Dingell announces $8.5M in federal science grants: The A2 congresswoman issued a press release detailing a variety of National Science Foundation projects at U-M that include studies of ocean wave energy, mathematical patterns and algorithms, hippocampal microcircuit dynamics, quantum photonic integration, and more.

New city flags for sale: A large one goes for $65 and a smaller one for $10 and are available at city hall after council approved the prices on Monday, according to city records. Ann Arborite Dennis Scherdt designed the new blue, green, and white flag, which won a contest during the city’s bicentennial last year.

Two dead, three charged in foster home horror: Police accuse Shuvonne Vinson, forty-two, and two accomplices of fatally shooting fifty-year-old Jennifer Bernhard and Bernhard’s father, seventy-four-year-old Stevie Ray Smith, and wounding Bernhard’s husband, Jeffrey, then fleeing with Vinson’s four-year-old daughter and the Bernhards’ nine-year-old daughter, ClickOnDetroit reports. Jeffrey Bernhard managed to reach a neighbor’s home to call for help; he is now hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. Vinson lost custody of her daughter after reaching a plea bargain on sixteen felony charges stemming from a December 2023 incident in Detroit, and the Bernhards were the child’s foster parents, MLive reports. The two girls were found in the Ypsilanti Twp. home of Vinson’s mother, who last year applied unsuccessfully for custody of the child. Vinson was defiant at her arraignment, saying Jennifer Bernhard “deserved to die.” Vinson and her codefendants, Gregory Dwight Callhan, thirty-seven, and Keith Lamar Finley, sixty, all face life in prison if convicted. A GoFundMe campaign to support the Bernhard family has raised more than $100,000 so far.

Pedestrian killed in Carpenter Rd. crash: Hanin Mohammed Soby, twenty-six, of Ann Arbor was crossing south of Packard Rd. against a red do-not-cross sign and was struck by two vehicles on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post by the Pittsfield Twp. police. The vehicles had the right-of-way and were not speeding; the occupants of the cars were not injured, and both drivers remained at the scene of the accident. 

New sheriff names her team: Alyshia Dyer’s No. 2 will be undersheriff Matthew Harshberger who most recently served as director of public safety for Pittsfield Twp., according to a press release. Sergeant Eugene Rush takes over as director of community engagement, the post held by Derrick Jackson, who lost to Dyer in the Democratic primary in August. Jackson last month was appointed the county’s new racial equity officer. Dyer’s team also includes Kurt Schiappacasse as commander of corrections, Gary Lowe as commander of law enforcement services, and Ann Arbor city councilmember Cynthia Harrison as director of innovation. 

County protects 45 acres along Saline River: The land’s longtime family owners sold the frontage in Saline Twp. to the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission for $1.3 million, MLive writes. The new nature area, which sits across from the Leslee Niethammer Preserve, will open to the public this spring “We have cherished our good fortune of living on such a beautiful parcel,” family member Eric Grossman says. “This transfer to Washtenaw County Park’s care will protect the property for generations to come.” 

Scio Twp. could get 1,000 more rental units: The fast-growing region west of Ann Arbor started welcoming residents last year to the 456-unit Woodview Commons on ninety acres south of Jackson Rd., Cynthia Furlong Reynolds writes in this month’s Observer. Coming years could see the completion of 145 attached villas and eighty-two detached duplexes in a 105-acre senior complex called Encore at Heritage Woods and a fourteen-structure, 120-unit apartment complex called Crossroads at Liberty and Wagner. There’s also a nascent plan afoot to redevelop the vacant Goodrich/Quality 16 site into as many as 270 apartments. But Scio isn’t following Ann Arbor in seeking density everywhere. Trustee Kathy Knol points out that it has limited wastewater treatment capacity, and “everyone here is on board to balance the preservation of our semirural nature while allowing for some high-density development.”

Ypsi goes electric-first for city vehicles: Council changed directed staff to prioritize purchasing electric cars, trucks, and heavy machinery, MLive reports. If all-electric is not viable, staff must look into hybrids before going with diesel or gasoline-powered vehicles. 

Ann Arbor’s Sheila Ford Hamp extolled as ‘genius’ for Lions’ rise: The seventy-two-year-old great-granddaughter of Henry Ford took control of the long-suffering NFL franchise from her mother in 2020, and on her watch it’s now favored to play in this year’s Super Bowl, the Detroit Free Press writes. The role as the team’s controlling owner fulfills a lifelong dream of hers to work in the NFL. In September, Sports Illustrated put Hamp on its list of the fifty most influential people in sports.

A trip through Moni Strouss’s century: The ninety-nine-year-old resident of All Seasons senior living tells Cynthia Furlong Reynolds about her life as a supporter of progressive causes in the Observer’s Ann Arborite profile for January. Strouss recalls the traumas of the Great Depression and World War II, followed by her marriage to a supply corps officer who brought her to Midland for a Dow Chemical job. His career took them around the world and eventually to Ann Arbor, where she has lived for the past forty years. Her husband of sixty years died in 2008, and she lost two of their four sons to a hereditary heart condition. “I’ve had great losses and sadness,” she says. “But I’ve also had a wonderful life.”

York Food & Drink reimagined: A new wine bar and listening room centered around vinyl records—and two neighboring buildings dedicated for private events—are the latest evolution for the business that previously was known as Big Ten Market, Big Ten Party Store, and Morgan & York, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. In the back of the building, the retail wine selection is now shelved along the walls to create seating for Vinyl & Wine, where turntables spin records from a broad range of eras and genres while patrons relax and imbibe. 

Party City marks down merch ahead of Feb. 28 closure: The national chain, which has a location in Ann Arbor’s Oak Valley Plaza, plans to shutter its 748 stores across North America, the New York Times reports. The chain’s troubles have been ongoing for years; it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 and came out in August 2024 having canceled nearly $1 billion in debt. Fox Business reports the chain plans next month to auction the leases to its 695 locations in the U.S.

Asian fusion restaurant to replace Jim Brady’s: The storefront at 209 S. Main St., vacant since January 2023, will open as Tabe, MLive reports. A new offering from the Asian-focused 168 Group, Tabe is due to open in time for the Lunar New Year in February and will offer Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Filipino flavors.

The Ark seeks volunteers to staff 300+ shows throughout year: According to the venue’s front of house manager, the ranks of helpers the nonprofit relies on have been thinned by the pandemic. Volunteers help with concessions, ticket taking, ushering and more. To find out more, visit the music club’s webpage.

County Farm Park restoration days coming up: The public is invited to help beautify Britton Woods by using loppers and saws to demolish invasive shrubs from 1 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 25 or Feb. 7. The efforts help support spring wildflowers and open up views through the woods. Snacks, gloves, and water provided; bring your own water bottle. Must be at least fourteen years old. For ages fourteen and fifteen, a parent/guardian must volunteer with child. For ages sixteen and seventeen, a parent/guardian must sign a permission slip. Registration is required here. For questions or cancellations, email here.

Laundry assistance needed for warming centers: Volunteers can sign up to pick up blankets from the site at St. Mary Student Parish Ann Arbor at 331 Thompson St. in Ann Arbor or at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse and either wash them at home or at a laundromat. The sign-up sites, linked above, offer several days this month to offer to help as well as detailed instructions.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See Encore Musical Theatre Company’s production of “Annie,” the Tony-winning 1976 musical comedy inspired by the Little Orphan Annie comic strip set in Depression-era New York. Songs include “Tomorrow” and “It’s a Hard-Knock Life.” Closes Sunday. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs. To Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sat. and Sun.) Encore, 7714 Ann Arbor St., Dexter. Tickets $43.50 to $60.50 (12 and under $31.50) in advance at theencoretheatre.org or at the door. (734) 268–6200. 

Saturday: Join a Family Folk Dance at Pittsfield Union Grange. Drake Meadow calls dances suitable for children and adults to live music by Susie Lorand, Josh Burdick, and Donna Baird. All ages welcome. No experience necessary. Bring clean shoes. 2 to 4 p.m., Pittsfield Grange, 3337 Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. $15/family or $6/person (Grange members, free) at the door. (734) 274–0773. 

Sunday: Hear the U-M Life Sciences Orchestra’s 25th Anniversary Concert. Nicholas Bromilow conducts this ensemble of musicians from the U-M medical and life sciences staff in a program featuring Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 – the last he completed, sometimes called “the apocalyptic symphony” – as well as Quinn Mason’s Toast of the Town. Preceded at 3:15 p.m. by a lecture in the lower lobby. 4 to 6:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Free, no tickets required. (734) 936–ARTS. 

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

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