I confess I had big doubts about Dusty May. The hype around the first-year Michigan basketball coach seemed a bit excessive given his slim resume. He became a hot commodity in 2023 when he led Florida Atlantic University, five years into his first head coach gig, to the Final Four. Then, in 2024, FAU lost in the first round. One Cinderella season can be a fluke.

I’m a fan now. He’s the first first-year coach in Big Ten history to win the conference championship. The team and the town really like him. After a few unpleasant years under Juwan Howard, May brought some calm and a lot of success back to Crisler. It’ll be exciting to see how far Michigan can go this year.

There’s quite a lot of news here, including a very active week from the city council, a triumph for Saline High’s swim team, and a commencement speaker selection that Mets and Red Sox fans will hate. But the most intriguing item to me this week is the settlement over chalking car tires; I missed the memo where doing that is now considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Who knew?

– Steve Friess, editor

U-M faces federal probe over diversity effort: The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights informed Michigan and forty-four other schools that they are being investigated for “race-exclusionary” policies, Bridge Michigan reports. The schools have partnered with the PhD Project, a national organization founded in 1994 as a means to help diversify the pool of business professionals, including academic faculty.

Ypsi Community High offers remote learning to immigrant students: Principal Chelsea Harris-Hugan tells Concentrate that “you can feel the anxiety that’s there” around the school where English is a second language for a third of the students. Since President Trump changed ICE policy to allow raids at schools and churches, visits to the school’s social worker for stress and anxiety are up; so is use of the YCHS food pantry. Harris-Hugan says she’s told ESL students they can attend school virtually so that “even if they are sent back to their countries [of origin], you’re still able, if you have wifi access and a computer, to complete your schooling online.”

Provost’s home vandalized with pro-Palestine messages: Laurie McCauley’s house in Ann Arbor Hills was spraypainted with “Free Palestine,” “Divest,” and “No Honor in Genocide” overnight Saturday, ClickOnDetroit reports. It’s unclear whether McCauley or her family were home at the time. An object was also thrown through the bedroom window. The incident is the latest in a string of anti-Israel attacks that also included the vandalizing of regent Jordan Acker’s law office in Southfield and home in Huntington Woods with similar messages. Anyone with information or video from the 2000 block of Londonderry Rd. can call AAPD at (734) 794-6920 or submit a tip via email at tips@a2gov.org or through AAPD’s silent witness site.

AAPS hosts open houses on major school projects: Lakewood, Lawton, Wines, and King Elementary all are due to be replaced as part of the $1 billion voter-approved bond issue, and Burns Park Elementary will get a major renovation. The district is providing opportunities for parents and neighbors to learn about the process and what to expect through meetings held at the respective schools. The schedule includes 6:30 p.m. meetings for Lawton tonight, for Wines on April 1, for Burns Park on April 3, and for King on April 9. Lakewood’s meeting was held on Tuesday.

City plan would expand downtown A2 boundaries: Its proposed new comprehensive plan would replace the current downtown zones with a “mixed-use hub” category that would cover a larger area and allow taller buildings, paving the way for more high-rise development, MLive reports (paywall). The new boundaries would take in additional neighborhood blocks south of William St. between Main and Division and from South U. down to Hill St. east of Washtenaw Ave.

Bicentennial Park splashpad moves ahead: Weeks after city administrator Milton Dohoney said the planned projects at the site formerly known as Southeast Area Park were some $450,000 short, council approved a $1.27 million contract with Michigan Recreational Construction to begin the work, according to city records. A first phase, including the splashpad, new playground equipment and restroom renovations, will be paid from a state grant and contributions from U-M and the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. The second phase, which includes construction of concrete curbs and sidewalks, seeding of the bioretention basin, and installation of shade sails, will be bid out “after funding is available.” Council also approved a $533,990 contract with E.T. MacKenzie Co. for upgrades to the parking lot, pavement, fencing, and stormwater facilities at Allmendinger Park paid for out of the Parks and Recreation Department’s budget.

City advances plan for homes amid landmark trees: Council gave a unanimous go-ahead to staff to negotiate an agreement with Robertson Brothers Homes to build thirty-five ranch-style detached condos on eight acres at 2857 Packard Rd., according to city records. The site has been controversial because it boasts thirteen landmark trees, and council instructed staff this week to strike a deal to protect those trees. That would be in keeping with a 2019 legal settlement with another builder and property owner Robert Weber, who had planned to put a fifty-one-home subdivision on the land. They sued the city over council’s rejection of that proposal and reached a settlement to allow the development while saving the landmark trees and sixty-two others, but the project never moved forward, MLive reports (paywall).

Council OKs new affordable apartments: The thirty-nine-unit, four-story building, the third phase of Hickory Way Apartments at 1146 S. Maple Rd., will provide housing for people earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, according to city records. Council unanimously approved a zoning change necessary for nonprofit Avalon Housing to build the project.

City settles lawsuit over chalking tires: AAPD officially stopped the practice of marking cars to keep track of how long they’d been parked at metered spots in 2019 when a federal appeals court ruled in a case involving the city of Saginaw that it was a violation of the Fourth Amendment, according to city records. In 2022, motorist Sean Yannotti refused to pay a ticket after he said his tires were marked and filed a class action lawsuit against the city. Council approved a settlement this week in which anyone who claims their cars were marked can receive $1 plus interest and agreed to create a settlement claim process.

Boil water advisory lifted: A pair of water main breaks along Plymouth Rd. between Green Rd. and Huron Pkwy. on Monday prompted a call for north side residents from Traver Rd. to US-23 to sterilize their water before use, the city said in a press release. The advisory was lifted Wednesday, but the city suggests residents and businesses flush pipes by running cold water faucets for five minutes.

Scio Twp. trustees take $500 raise, reject big boost for supervisor: A compensation committee had recommended that newly elected supervisor Jillian Kerry receive an 86 percent salary bump to $82,500 a year, but the board voted 5-2 against that, MLive reports (paywall). The trustees did accept the committee’s other recommendations, including a raise for themselves to $10,500 a year, as well as raises for the township’s clerk and treasurer. Kerry argued the supervisor’s workload has grown along with the township’s population, but trustee Kathy Knol said she could see “no rationale to justify the 86 percent increase” because the duties remain the same.

Pontiac Tr. bridge closed until June: Roadwork is shutting down the span, which crosses US-23 and M-14, between Warren to Dhu Varren roads, MDOT says. Elsewhere, Miller Ave. between Newport Rd. and Seventh St. will close Monday until July to install a water main, stormwater drains, road curbs and pavement, according to the city. 

Derek Jeter tapped for U-M commencement speaker: The Hall of Fame baseball player is also getting an honorary doctorate at the May 3 ceremony, the University Record writes. Victory Automotive Group CEO Jeffrey E. Cappo, astrophysicist and former National Science Foundation director France A. Córdova, and medical researcher Victor J. Dzau also will receive honorary degrees, and Dzau will give the commencement address to the Rackham Graduate School.

U-M men’s, women’s basketball teams head to NCAA Tournament: The men, who won the Big Ten tournament on Sunday by defeating Wisconsin, received No. 5 seed and face No. 12-seeded University of California at San Diego tonight at 10 p.m. in the first round. The women’s team received a No. 6 seed and will play No. 11-seeded Iowa State at 11:30 a.m.Friday, MGoBlue writes. In an emotional moment, star center Vladislav Goldin reunited with his parents, who flew to Detroit this week to see him wrap up the regular season. Goldin hadn’t seen them in person since he left in Russia five years ago to attend an American prep school. He played for Dusty May for three seasons at FAU before following the coach to Ann Arbor, ClickOnDetroit reports.

Court rejects murder charge in 1989 case: Washtenaw County District Court Judge Karl Barr stunned survivors of Beverly Wivell by ruling the prosecution had not presented enough evidence to bind sixty-nine-year-old Buster Robbins over for trial in the long-unsolved homicide, ClickOnDetroit writes. Robbins was charged with the crime last year after DNA evidence found his semen in Wivell, who was raped, shot to death, and left in in a roadway in Superior Twp. more than thirty years ago. Robbins remains held without bond, however, while Barr allows prosecutors to appeal his ruling.

Man who dumped body gets two years probation: Fareed Hajjar, fifty-eight, admitted he left Brazilian national Suzan Christian Barbosa Ferreira, forty-two, along Earhart Rd. in Northfield Twp. in June, MLive reports (paywall). Police have not released a cause of death for the woman. She was last seen entering Hajjar’s home in Dearborn; Ferreira and another woman were there as escorts, Hajjar says, and he panicked instead of calling for help when Ferreira died. Washtenaw County Judge Patrick Conlin sentenced Hajjar two years’ probation and 150 hours. “You are not defined by the mistake or the choice that you made,” Conlin said at the hearing.

Doctor pleads guilty to child porn charges: Ann Arbor anesthesiologist Joel Adelsberg, thirty-six, admitted he used a social media app to knowingly distribute pornographic images of a young girl and an adult woman, ClickonDetroit reports. He was indicted in federal court in 2023 and investigators later found “at least” 106 videos and forty-nine images of child pornography across four different cell phones in 2024. In a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty for one count of distribution of child pornography and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Fund drive launched for family that lost home to fire: Myesha Johnson’s two-year-old woke her in the middle of the night to alert her to the flames at their mobile home on Ridge Rd. in Ypsilanti Twp., WXYZ-TV reports. Johnson and her two children got out, but she was badly burned and the family dog died. As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe campaign had raised $5,500 of the $7,500 goal.

Human remains found in shuttered funeral home: Detroit Metro Times writes that an “urban explorer” in the defunct O’Neil Swanson Funeral Home at 1106 E. Michigan Ave. in Ypsi found cremains dating back to 1999 and the floor covered in “ooze from body decomposition.” In 2021, the state issued the funeral home a cease-and-desist order and charged O’Neil Swanson with improper disposal of dead bodies. A judge dismissed those charges, and Swanson sued attorney general Dana Nessel for $25 million for “malicious prosecution.” The explorer reported that the building was secured days after Metro Times asked the state about it.

Fewer downed power lines in 2024: A report from the Ann Arbor Fire Department shows a 75 percent drop in the city, from 488 in 2023 to 120 last year. The high number in 2023 was an anomaly caused by back-to-back ice storms. Overall, calls for fire department service were up 6 percent. Though the number of structure fires dropped by 25 percent, the city saw its first fire-related death since 2019 at a public housing high-rise.

Fast-growing software consultancy moves into former Duo office: Atomic Object, which opened its Ann Arbor office in 2013 with four staffers, is now up to forty-five, prompting a relocation to 123 N. Ashley St., Concentrate reports. The company, founded in Grand Rapids in 2001, also has offices in Chicago and Raleigh-Durham, NC. 

Three picked for Eastern Echo Hall of Fame: Kim Kozlowski, Joe Misiewicz, and Kristy Montee are set to be inducted at a gala in Ypsi on March 27, the EMU student paper reports. Kozlowski, a twenty-five-year veteran of the Detroit News who covers higher education, wrote for the Echo from 1989 to 1991. Misiewicz, a longtime journalism educator who is also in halls of fame of the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters, Indiana Public Broadcast Stations, and Central Michigan, worked for the Echo in the 1960s. Montee, a longtime reporter and editor and half of the writing duo behind a bestselling series of mystery novels, was at the Echo from 1969 to 1972.

Saline High boys swim team wins state championship: The squad topped Pioneer High last weekend at the Holland Aquatic Center to end Pioneer’s run of four state championships in Division 1, the Saline Post writes. Saline last won the title in 2013 at the end of its own four-title streak.

Skyline senior returning to National Youth Orchestra: Violinist Minji Kim, eighteen, is one of ninety-five teens from across the U.S. selected for the Carnegie Hall-run program, according to the venue’s announcement. She’s one of two Michiganders, along with bassoonist Alec Jachalke of Dansville, who will practice for two weeks at the State University of New York at Purchase before going on tour overseas. Kim was also selected in 2024.

Graphic designer by day, Irish fiddler by night: Cynthia Furlong Reynolds regales Observer readers this month with an Ann Arborite profile of Marty Somberg, who often leads the Sunday night musical ruckus at Conor O’Neill’s Irish Pub when he’s not doing creative work at Somberg Design. Somberg, a Detroit native, came to Ann Arbor via EMU’s graphic design program in 1982 after years of trying to make it in various bands with his brother, Lenny. They came close, opening for Neil Young, Arlo Guthrie, Tiny Tim, Ricky Nelson, the Clara Ward Gospel Singers, and Judy Collins, but it never quite happened for them. “I have no regrets about my circuitous path—it certainly wasn’t conventional, but I’ve been able to follow my passions or muse or whatever you might call it,” Somberg says.

Korean fried chicken outpost opens: Bonchon, a fast-casual franchise in Woodland Plaza on S. Main, is owned by Gaby Coleman, who discovered the eatery in New York where she had been working as a financial services professional, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. It’s the third Bonchon in Michigan and the fourth new Korean restaurant in Ann Arbor since 2022 as various cuisines from the Asian peninsula surge in popularity. 

Mammoth book sale returns March 26-29: The first of three JLC’s Low Cost Community Book Sale events scheduled for 2025 takes place from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day in Building A at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Thousands of used books, games, DVDs, and more are on sale. Teachers get one free book and 10 percent off their purchases. 

Wicked Mary’s reopens as Chick N’ Seafood Spot: The building on Packard has served southeast-siders as a takeout joint for chicken and seafood for half a century, Algase writes. Its latest iteration is operated by Wided and Anis Naghmouchi of Ann Arbor, who bought the business in November. It’s the couple’s first restaurant.

Show on Tuesday to support International Pride Orchestra: The 6 p.m. performance of the Ann Arbor-based wind quartet OUT Ensemble at the Kerrytown Concert House aims to raise money for the San Francisco-based LGBTQ+ orchestra’s Pride Celebration Concert at WorldPride in 2025 this summer in Washington D.C. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Tickets on sale for Fresh Start Breakfast: The April 10 benefit for SafeHouse Center, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, will be held at 8 a.m. at Washtenaw Golf Club. Individual tickets are $40 each, and a table for ten is $380. Click here for information and to buy seats.

$125,000 raised at annual U-M Congressional Breakfast: About 350 people attended the event at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to support the Samuel L. Chappell Family Scholarship, the University Record writes. Senator Elissa Slotkin gave the keynote address; ten members of Congress attended including eight from Michigan as well the state’s senior senator, Gary Peters. The Chappell scholarships assist U-M students from the nation’s capital.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See a cougar, a wolf hybrid, a kangaroo, and other animals off leash at the Creature Conservancy’s “Creatures Unleashed.” For age 18 and up only. 7 to 9 p.m., Creature Conservancy, 4950 Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. $25 in advance only at thecreatureconservancy.org. (734) 929–9324.

Saturday: Take in the epic 1938 film “Alexander Nevsky” with a live performance of Prokofiev’s score by the UMS Choral Union and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. The film depicts the invasion of Russia in the 13th century by knights of the Holy Roman Empire, and their defeat by Prince Alexander. 7:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Tickets $17 to $67 (students, $15 to $20) in advance at ums.org and (if available) at the door. (734) 764–2538. 

Sunday: Catch the “51st Annual Dance for Mother Earth Ann Arbor Powwow” a gathering of Native Americans from throughout the Great Lakes region with social dancing, dance demonstrations, and dance contests accompanied by drumming. Grand entries both days at noon. Sale of crafts and food. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Sat.) and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sun.), Skyline High School, 2552 N. Maple. $10 per day; $5 to $15 weekend pass; kids age 5 and under and U-M students, free. Tickets in advance at powwow.umich.edu and at the door. 

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

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