Last week, I asked you folks for recommendations of bookshops, and I definitely got quite a variety!

Bethany Osborne suggested Third Mind Books for its “fascinating inventory (‘Beat’ related), ”regular readings, open-mic poetry events and movie nights.” Cathy Halloran pointed me west to Serendipity Books in Chelsea, which she says has “a nice children’s section and the staff are full of eclectic recommendations.” And Merry Neff noted that Kiwanis Thrift Sale on Jackson Rd. has a “well-ordered and well-stocked” collection. To that, I’ll add that I find Once Upon A Child to have some great pickings for kiddie lit.

Before you go stocking up on more things to read, though, take a look at this week’s news. Concordia’s problems seem more dire all the time, there are some big job changes coming in higher education, and Ann Arbor is about to get yet another national TV close-up. 

Finally, it’s bittersweet to read that the final nail is now in the coffin of Braun Court. That story came just before the anniversary of the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, a moment that prompted a joyous celebration outside the Jim Toy Community Center. It’s hard to imagine that by the time that decision is ten years old, the whole area will be gone.

– Steve Friess, editor
with help from Miles Anderson.

Concordia to cut most in-person academic programs: The Ann Arbor campus of the Lutheran university is reducing its fifty-three degree areas to just nine starting July 1 in another effort to shore up its troubled financial situation, according to an online post from Leah Dvorak, vice president for academics. For the 2025-26 academic year, the only in-person undergraduate subjects will be nursing, diagnostic medical sonography, radiology technology, and three versions of rehabilitation science; the graduate programs will offer occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant degrees. Some other disciplines, including various education degrees and the MBA program, will be available virtually. The move comes days after Concordia also announced it would halt all competitive athletic programs after the 2024-25 school year.

Regent votes against U-M budget to protest handling of antisemitism: Mark Bernstein was the lone dissenter as the board approved a $2.9 billion plan for the coming fiscal year that includes tuition increases of 2.9% for in-state undergrads and 4.9% for out-of-state undergrads, the Michigan Daily reports. Bernstein, who is Jewish, said he voted no because he is distressed by the administration’s response to complaints of antisemitic harassment among students amid the tumult of protests related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. President Santa Ono responded to the criticism from Bernstein and other regents by promising to foster a university “that values diversity of thought and provides our students and every member of the community with a forum to challenge one another in a cordial and open dialogue.” Earlier this month, the federal government criticized U-M for its handling of harassment complaints from Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian students.

Muslim group sues Lodi Twp. over mosque denial: The Ann Arbor-based Masjid Al-Farook wants to build on Ellsworth Rd., but the township rejected the application in March because the site is outside its zoning district for religious buildings, MetroTimes writes. In its lawsuit, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations asserts zoning laws are an unconstitutional infringement on religious liberty because there is no place within the zoned area to put the mosque.

Final Braun Court holdout sells to developers: Sandi Smith and wife Linda Lombardini tell MLive they’re under contract with Wickfield Properties, which plans to replace the existing buildings with a seven-story, thirty-seven-unit condo complex. The couple have had their Trillium Real Estate office there since 2008, but the rest of the businesses have closed or been sold. By fall, Smith says they’ll relocate their office to a space on N. Main St. overlooking Argo Pond. “The businesses, the energy that created that community … that is gone,” Smith says of Braun Court.

Main St. mystery – solved?: Cynthia Furlong Reynolds writes in the June issue of the Observer about the peculiar case of The Brady Apartments, the conversion of the former DTE office building at 414 S. Main to high-end apartments. The manager at the Jagged Fork restaurant on the ground floor described plenty of activity on the upper floors, but the city hadn’t heard from the developers since last October and the Observer’s calls to the developers, leasing agents, and contractors went unanswered for months. This week, though, a rental agent is taking calls and scheduling tours, and applicants can browse eleven floor plans ranging from a 401-square-foot studio starting at $1,995 up to two-bedroom, two-bath 1,182-square-foot units starting at $3,995. A leasing agent tells a2view the apartments will be available for move-in after Aug. 15.

LSA names new dean: Rosario Ceballo, a dean at Georgetown University since 2022, was hired last week by the regents to lead U-M’s largest college, the University Record writes. Ceballo, a U-M alum who taught in the psychology department for twenty-six years before leaving for Georgetown, begins a five-year term on July 1. Current dean Anne Curzan will return to teaching. 

EMU president to step down in 2026: James Smith plans to complete his contract and leave after ten years, EMU Today writes. He is the longest-serving university president in Michigan and has overseen several capital projects and led the largest fundraising campaign in university history. Regent chair Chad Newton said Smith’s “presidency has been transformational.”

GMA airs live from downtown Wednesday, prompting road closures: ABC’s morning show will be spotlighting local businesses and taking note of A2’s bicentennial during a segment expected to broadcast around 8:15 a.m., from the intersection of Ashley and Liberty streets, Main Street Ann Arbor executive director Ashley Schafer writes in an e-mailed press release. Spectators are urged to arrive by 7:15 a.m. and wear maize or blue. Janice Sigler, owner of Blank Slate Creamery, told radio host Lucy Ann Lance that a GMA camera crew visited the ice cream shop to film footage in advance. The intersection will be closed all day Tuesday and on Wednesday until the GMA set is removed.

Human bone unearthed at U-M dorm construction site: It’s unknown how long, if ever, it could be before state forensics experts can learn more about who it might have belonged to, MLive reports. The bone was found on June 17 during excavation at S. Fifth Ave. and John St., for a new Michigan Marching Band practice field. The band’s former site on Elbel Field is soon to be home to a $631 million student housing complex. A university police spokesperson said it was “literally right underneath where the railroad tracks used to be” during the eighty-seven-year tenure of Fingerle Lumber.

Coach charged in middle school choking incident: Thirty-year-old Joshua Smith faces charges of assault with felony intent to do great bodily harm and misdemeanor assault and battery after video showed him attacking a fourteen-year-old student in the hall at Ypsi Middle School, ClickOnDetroit reports. Smith was fired after the video went viral.

Sixty-five-year-old man killed in car-tree crash: Jerry Havranek of Hamburg perished in the single-vehicle accident on Saturday night at the intersection of Huron River Dr. and Foster Rd. MLive reports. That was also the site of a fatal motorcycle crash in May. He is survived by his mother, sister, and brother, among others, according to his online obituary.

Ypsi City Council rejects resolution to lower police priority of drug offenses: The measure would have made arresting addicts in drug-treatment programs found in possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia the lowest priority for law enforcement, WEMU reports. Council was deadlocked 3-3, so the measure failed. Supporters argued it would give people in treatment confidence they could take part without fear of arrest. Police chief Kirk Moore opposed it as unnecessary because police already don’t make such arrests.

Scio Twp. trustee charged in computer case: Jillian Kerry faces a count of felony invasion of privacy and disorderly conduct involving electronic communications related to an incident in November 2023 in which email was sent from supervisor Will Hathaway’s account that he did not send, the Sun-Times News reports. Kerry, who is running for the Democratic nomination for township supervisor, has said the incident was an accident and that she didn’t realize she was logged in as Hathaway on a shared device. Hathaway is not running for re-election.

Lyme disease outbreak may be worse than data shows: The county recorded 192 cases in in 2023, and that could be an undercount, Antonio Cooper writes in the June edition of the Observer. The total includes no Black residents and just three Latinx residents, a disparity that concerns the Washtenaw County Health Department. The bacteria that cause Lyme disease are transmitted by ticks, and this month is peak tick season, officials warn. Ticks have to be attached for thirty-six to forty-eight hours to transmit the disease, so frequent checks and prompt removal can help prevent it.

U-M lands $21.2M in NSF grants: The federal money goes to more than three dozen projects including $3.8 million for research at the Great Lakes Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health, according to a press release from congresswoman Debbie Dingell’s office. Other grants include $94,686 for a study of corals off the Galapagos islands, $499,998 to research stress in wild Capuchin monkeys, and $550,000 for work on psychological and neural approaches to conflict resolution.

A2 native Hobbs Kessler makes Team USA for Paris: The twenty-one-year-old track star, who missed the team in the pandemic-delayed 2021 Summer Games, landed a berth in the 1500-meter race by finishing the trials with a personal best time of 3:31.53, according to the Team USA website. Kessler was a Skyline High phenom who holds the North American under-twenty record for the 1,500-meter.

Vote by tomorrow on Bicentennial Park mural: The city’s Bicentennial Murals Committee has narrowed the competition for the basketball court painting to three options and is seeking public input, ClickonDetroit writes. Click here to vote by Friday.

Cafe and cocktail bar coming to Foundry Lofts: StoneFruit Social, which is on the ground floor of the student high-rise at Huron and Division, is the brainchild of Youngstown-based entrepreneur Josh Langenheim, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Langenheim has several StoneFruit stores in his home region and added this one in Ann Arbor as well as one coming to the inside of a Meijer in Niles, MI.

Plant Based Coney opens in Depot Town: The vegan restaurant replaces Ollie Food and Spirits, which closed during the pandemic, Fox2Detroit writes. The menu is 100 percent vegan and includes Coney dogs, grilled cheeses, ice cream, and more.

Acai bowl restaurant now serving A2: Samba Bowls opened downtown in early June offering “authentic” Brazilian fare, MLive writes (paywall). Owners Lucas and Jamille Chamon moved to Michigan from Brazil and missed the type of acai bowls they would get back home, so they decided to open their own restaurant.

Spelling bee to benefit actual bees: Sidetrack Bar and Grill hosts a competition Friday night to raise money for Ypsi’s annual September celebration of pollinators, the Rumble of the Bumble. Participants pay $25 at the door to compete for a $100 prize in the Buzzed Bee, which starts at 8 p.m. A $5 donation at the door is requested from spectators. 

Shelter Association of Washtenaw County to add beds for women: The organization is growing from fifteen to twenty-three women’s beds amid a seven-month wait for a bed at the shelter, WEMU reports. The work is due to be finished in July. Fundraising to pay for it continues.

SafeHouse Center gets $342K to reduce gun-related domestic violence: The nonprofit will use the federal money to hold workshops about Michigan’s Extreme Risk Protection Order, the “red-flag law” that allows courts to temporarily restrict access to firearms for people deemed a risk to themselves or others, MLive writes (paywall). SafeHouse will work with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office on the program.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Laugh it up with comedian Adam Sokol at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase. The Royal Oak native is known for an idiosyncratic, witty act. Alcohol served. 7:15 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.) and 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), 212 S. Fourth Ave. $20 at aacomedy.com and (if available) at the door. (734) 996–9080.

Saturday: Get your Fourth of July fix early at Robin Hills Farm’s “Fireworks on the Farm,” which includes agricultural presentations, lawn games, food trucks, and more. Fireworks display at dusk. The Ann Arbor Civic Band, directed by J. Nick Smith, performs at 5 and 8 p.m. and the Depot Town Big Band plays at 6:30 p.m. 3–11 p.m., Robin Hills Farm, 20390 M-52, Chelsea. $20 to park; free entry. Bring lawn chairs and blankets. (248) 246–0532. 

Sunday: Enjoy the finale of “Top of the Park,” with live music on two stages, a KidZone activity tent, food concessions, beer and wine for sale, and more. On the O&W Grove Stage: an ensemble led by the popular Chelsea roots-oriented singer-songwriter Rochelle Clark (5 p.m.) followed by the Dick Siegel Trio (6 p.m.). On the Rackham Stage: Lady Sunshine & the X Band (7 p.m.) followed by the traditional festival closer, George Bedard & the Kingpins (8:30 p.m.). The music is followed at 10 p.m. by a screening of Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s 2023 Oscar-winning comedy. 5 p.m. to midnight. Free admission. 

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

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