This week, my nephew, Chaim Zellis, graduated from high school in a Philadelphia suburb. Chaim has Down syndrome, which makes that sentence especially beautiful and important to me. You can see the graduate here.

Whenever I feel discouraged or frustrated by some aspect of our four-year-old son’s autism, I think about Chaim and his mother. For more than fifteen years, my eldest sister has fought schools, administrators, teachers, coaches, and any other obstacle in Chaim’s way to be included and mainstreamed. And because she did, her son is heading to college.

Watching my sister’s fight at a distance, I never thought it would become ours. Yet now that we’re immersed in a world of therapists and individualized education programs, we have a new appreciation for what she and so many other dedicated and persistent parents have achieved. So far, we’ve found only gracious and enthusiastic support from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti school officials in our quest to ensure that our smart, funny, sometimes difficult kid is taught in a general education classroom.

I do worry that AAPS’s budget problems could interfere with fulfilling our son’s IEP should we send him to one of their schools, but it sounds like the cuts they’ve made are bringing the district back into a stable financial orbit. In other news, Kamala Harris popped by a bookstore in Ypsi! Another Wolverine is Paris-bound for the Olympics! Bob Lutz, the ninety-two-year-old former GM vice chairman, makes pretty impressive scale models of planes and cars! What a time to be alive!

– Steve Friess, editor
with assistance from Miles Anderson.

AAPS says cuts will restore fund balance: Last month, the board cut 141 staff positions among other moves to reduce spending by $20.4 million. That is expected to bring the district’s financial reserves from the current $4.7 million to $16.1 million by June 2025, ClickOnDetroit reports. If true, it would be over the 5 percent threshold that the state monitors.

Nineteen-story apartment tower pitched for South University: The student high-rise would include 149 units with 599 beds, according to developer CRG’s website. Chapter Ann Arbor, as it is named, would replace a vacant mid-block parcel previously approved for a different project, as well as the strip that includes Oasis Mediterranean Grill and Jimmy John’s. CRG and Design firm Lamar Johnson Collaborative are also behind a proposed high-rise called Chapter at Midtown near the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta as well as apartment towers due to open this fall for students at University of Wisconsin in Madison and University of Oregon in Eugene. Chapter Ann Arbor goes before the city’s design review board next month.

U-M pursues plans for Campus Connector: The university held a virtual Industry Day last week to provide prospective vendors an overview of its plan to create an automated transport system between Central, Medical, and North campuses, according to the University Record. Over the summer, U-M will request qualifications from potential partners in the project. The prospective connector would combine bus rapid transit with an automated system running on an elevated guideway.

Breeder offers free bernadoodle puppy to end Wines therapy dog standoff: Julia Moran tells CBS News Detroit she made the offer to halt the drama and get Gracie back with kindergarten teacher Lexi Fata. Fata sued Wines Elementary School and the AAPS for custody of a therapy dog that lived with her for two years, but the school and its PTO say never belonged to her. The principal took possession of the dog after the teacher announced she was moving out of state. Moran, who is concerned that Gracie may be suffering from separation anxiety, says she’ll also provide some therapy-dog training.

VIPs visit black-owned bookstore in Ypsi: Vice president Kamala Harris and actress Octavia Spencer surprised the clerk and the owner of Black Stone when they popped in on Saturday after a fundraiser in Ann Arbor, ClickOnDetroit reports. Owner Carlos Franklin says he and the veep bonded over their shared love of chess. Harris and Spencer were on their way to Detroit to speak at a Democratic Party event. On Instagram, Franklin wrote: “Their presence not only brought attention to the bookstore but also highlighted the importance of supporting local businesses and celebrating literature.”

Juneteenth brings closures: Recognized by Congress in 2021, the holiday on Wednesday June 19 commemorates the date in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned of emancipation. All federal offices will be closed and there will be no USPS mail delivery. Local city and county offices and courts also will close, as will the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the Federal Reserve, and most banks. The Ann Arbor District Library and Ypsilanti District Library will remain open, according to their websites.

City limits use of facial recognition tech by police: Council unanimously directed city administrator Milton Dohoney to work with AAPD on a policy that allows the technology to assist investigations along with other evidence but does not permit it as a sole form of identifying or prosecuting suspects, according to city records. The council called the use of facial-recognition technology in public spaces “an unacceptable mass violation of privacy.” 

Lawsuit asserts U-M cannot ban drones from airspace: The Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators contends that university restrictions violate federal and state laws, according to MLive (paywall). The litigation stems from a directive from U-M police that a planned “fly-in” of drones around the Ann Arbor campus last December would result in law enforcement action, forcing organizers to cancel the event.

​​University Musical Society receives $5M gift, largest ever: U-M alums Eileen Weiser and her husband, Dick Caldarazzo, made the donation to establish the Weiser Caldarazzo Iconic Artists Endowment Fund, according to a press release. Weiser, the former wife of regent Ron Weiser, is an appointee to the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and a former member of the state Board of Education. Caldarazzo played on Michigan’s 1970 Rose Bowl team.

Council recognizes twelve historic homes: The awardees selected by the Historic District Commission include a 1917 Arts and Crafts stucco home at 1617 Cambridge, three houses on Vinewood Blvd., and a Dutch Revival house built in 1914 at 214 Crest Ave. Visit MLive to see pictures and descriptions of the winners.

Flight instructor dies in Manchester accident: Forty-six-year-old Kevin Kreger, a chiropractor from Dearborn, was conducting a lesson Monday with a twenty-two-year-old U-M student when the single-engine Piper went down in a field near Manchester, the Detroit News reports. The student was in critical condition at U-M hospital. Kreger, survived by his wife and two daughters, ages twelve and fourteen, was a star Dearborn High quarterback who led the team to an undefeated and unscored-upon season in the 1990s, Fox 2 writes. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.

Deadly crashes plague local roads: A thirty-nine-year-old Burton man died on Saturday after his car swerved and hit a Dodge Ram truck head-on in Chelsea, MLive reports. The truck’s occupants, a father and daughter from Chelsea, were treated for minor injuries. On Sunday, passenger Terell Douangchantha, an eighteen-year-old from Taylor, perished in a predawn collision with trees along Jackson Ave. in Ann Arbor, ClickOnDetroit reports. Another passenger, a nineteen-year-old from Detroit, was in critical condition at U-M Hospital, according to MLive (paywall) The driver, nineteen-year-old Jovaughn London Smith of Ecorse, is charged with operating while intoxicated causing death and operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.

Victims ID’d in two June 3 road accidents: Eighty-eight-year-old Shirley Mae Winkel of Canton died in a Superior Twp. crash, MLive writes (paywall). Police say Winkel’s eighty-nine-year-old husband was turning at Prospect Ave. and Ford Rd. when their car collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle. Also that day, sixty-four-year-old Maurice Williams of Ypsi died after his bicycle was struck by a car in a crosswalk near Dorset Avenue and US-12 in Ypsilanti Twp.

Ex-coach charged after video shows apparent attack on student: A fourteen-year-old at Ypsi Middle School is seen in surveillance footage being grabbed and held by the neck in an incident superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross called “absolutely unacceptable,” WXYZ Detroit reports. The coach has been fired and banned from school grounds, and ABC News reports he has been charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm by strangulation as well as misdemeanor assault and battery. He has not been publicly identified.The boy says the coach had ordered him to do push-ups as punishment for horsing around in the hallway but he couldn’t because of a hand injury.

Ann Arbor man believed to have drowned in Lake Michigan: Muskegon police say a twenty-one-year-old Ann Arbor resident went under the water off Pere Marquette Park on Saturday and never resurfaced, WZZM-TV reports. A multiagency search was called off on Tuesday and the family has been notified but the swimmer’s name won’t be released until a recovery is completed, police said.

County weighs new travel policy amid controversy: The commission considered but tabled a resolution that would prevent top-level employees from approving reimbursements for their own travel expenses, according to public documents. Commissioners chose to put off voting on the matter at least until next month to debate various details including whether the board or the county administrator ought to be the final arbiter of approving travel, MLive writes. The new policy comes as the county faces criticism for allowing racial equity officer Alize Asberry Payne, now on leave, to travel at least eighty days to conferences and events in 2022 and 2023 on the public dime, including a trip to Germany and multiple four- and five-star hotel stays exceeding $600 a night, according to credit card records.

Concordia to remain open, won’t go independent: The board of the financially troubled Lutheran university announced in a letter last week that it would take steps to cut costs in order to ensure it would stay open past the 2024-25 year. It also determined that the Ann Arbor campus cannot afford to break off from its its sister campus in Mequon, WI.

Priority Waste buying GFL contracts in trash-business shakeup: The transaction, due to close June 30, would make Clinton Twp.-based Priority the largest trash hauler in the state, WWJ reports. Priority is buying seventy-three municipal contracts, encompassing about 500 trucks and 800 employees, and will become the new hauler for Scio Twp. and Superior Twp. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Is the early spring the new normal? Lisa Lava-Kellar ponders that question in this month’s edition of the Observer, noting that birds returned and blooms began earlier than usual. It’s unclear whether that’s the result of climate change, but experts tell Lava-Kellar that the phenomenon has made seasons and weather in general increasingly unpredictable.

Wolverine makes Olympic field hockey team: U-M junior and Dexter High alum Abby Tamer is heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to MLive. Tamer is the only Michigander on the sixteen-player squad. Her father, Chris Tamer, played 11 years in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Atlanta Thrashers, and her mother, Keely Libby, was a U-M field hockey star in the 1990s, according to a profile on the TeamUSA site.

Ultimate car guy reflects at ninety-two: Bob Lutz traces his automotive obsession to age three, when he “could name almost every car on the road,” Jan Schlain writes in this month’s Ann Arborite profile. Lutz went on to shape vehicles that ranged from the first BMW 3 series and Dodge Viper to the Ford Explorer and Chevy Volt. By his own account, his bluntness about what he saw as subpar products and poor decisions contributed to the career churn. In his three books about the car business—Guts, Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, and Icons and Idiots—he recalls offending everyone from a member of BMW’s Quandt family to Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca—who vetoed him as a successor. He’s still creating, but in miniature: Schlain writes that Lutz now builds scale models of cars and planes out of paper stock “using a Swiss Army knife and precision scissors.”

Moon Winks adding a bar: The venerable independent Dixboro cafe is expanding into space next door and hiring staff for Moonwinks Tavern in advance of a June 28 opening, according to a social media post. Owners Patrick and Kevin Cox and Nathan McCardell are the third owners of the cafe, which opened in 2006 and which they bought in 2018. 

Miki, Yotsuba founder buys Galleria Asian Market, opens Korner Kitchen: Restaurateur Ann Lin un-retired when she acquired the grocery last year and then added the eatery in March, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Offering an evolving range of dishes from across Asia to her diverse clientele, Lin says, “I’m learning every day from customers.” 

Sweetwaters on E. Liberty to close on June 23: Franchisee Shelia Qin Li wrote on Facebook that her lease is expiring. The location has been open for a decade. “Stop by to purchase your favorite Sweetwaters swag, retail mugs, coffee, or tea and enjoy the final days that we have together,” Li wrote. The cafe was one of the first businesses to take up occupancy in what was once a mammoth Borders bookstore. 

Ann Arbor Pride seeks volunteers: Planners for the Aug. 3 event are putting out the call for help, according to a social media post. To sign up, click here and choose a shift. They’re looking for greeters, set-up assistance, and folks to clean up. 

UM Credit Union, A2 Symphony collecting instruments: The Play It Forward drive seeks new or used instruments “in any condition” through the end of June for public school music programs in A2 and Ypsi, according to the UMCU website. They can be dropped off at the bank’s State St., Jackson Rd., Plymouth Rd., Bristol Rd., Carpenter Rd., and Huron branches. Monetary donations can be made here. 

Ford donates flooded Mustangs to local schools: The vehicles will be used in automotive education programs at Pioneer High, Huron High, South & West Washtenaw Consortium, and WCC, Autoblog reports. They are all 2023 models and include three GTs and one EcoBoost; each suffered damage during storms last year while parked at a holding lot in New Boston. 

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Dip into the Cinetopia International Film Festival, which runs until June 23 and offers feature-length films and documentaries from recent international festivals. Among the nine films screening today is “Monster” (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2023), 4:15 p.m. at the State Theatre (also screens June 20) , a drama/mystery about a mother trying to find the cause of her son’s sudden strange behavior. Tickets $16 (Michigan Theater members, $13); Four-packs and festival passes available, in advance at marquee-arts.org/cinetopia and at the door.

Saturday: Celebrate the June 19, 1865 announcement of the emancipation from slavery in Texas at the Ann Arbor Branch of the NAACP’s “30th Annual Juneteenth” celebration at Wheeler Park, named in honor of Ann Arbor’s only Black mayor, Albert Wheeler. Entertainment includes live music by jazz saxophonist Michael Williams, vocalist Sheila Rhodes from the Motown/Memphis soul tribute band Salmagundi, and Motown and R&B classics from the Soul Practitioners. Also, kids activities and games, cake walks, food vendors, and more. Preceded at 10 a.m. by a community unity march to the park led by Mayor Christopher Taylor; gather at 9 a.m. in Fuller Park, 1519 Fuller (return transportation provided). Noon–6 p.m., Wheeler Park, N. Fourth Ave. at Depot St. Free. (734) 761–9084.

Sunday (Father’s Day): Bring your comic-loving dad to the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival 2024, which includes meet-and-greets with artists, hands-on workshops, quick draws, & more. Highlights include talks by children’s writers & illustrators, a stop motion animation workshop (noon), a “Draw Along” workshop (12:30 p.m.), and a concert by the Star Wars tribute band Threepios (1:45 p.m.). Sat. and Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., AADL Downtown. Free. (734) 327–4200.

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

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