Last week, I predicted a long, hot summer of protests over Gaza and/or school district cuts. A few days later, the AAPS board accepted a budget reduction plan and U-M cleared the Diag of the anti-Israel encampment. And just like that, the high-profile pressure points for both issues vanished. There will be more marches and vigils in support of Palestinians and against the loss of teachers and some some programs. Once made, none of these decisions will be easily reversed.

There is an increase this week in violent crime items as often happens when the weather gets warmer. We’re aware that some subscribers don’t like reading about such mayhem, and for that reason we won’t lead with it unless it’s something so horrific or tragic as to trump all other topics. But, of course, if something isn’t of interest to you, scroll on by.

I’m looking forward to the long holiday weekend with plans to take the kids to one of the Memorial Day parades we have listed in our Things To Do section. I’ve got an autistic kid who loves loud noises and bright lights, so he’ll love that. Go figure! It’s a spectrum!

– Steve Friess, editor

Police evict pro-Palestinian encampment, arrest four: At the same time around 6 a.m. on Tuesday that the Diag was being cleared by a phalanx of officers deploying pepper spray, U-M president Santa Ono issued a lengthy statement defending the move. Ono said the protesters refused to make modifications to satisfy a fire safety inspection and that this was “only the latest in a series of troubling events” that included last week’s pre-dawn visits to the homes of at least three regents. Tahrir Coalition, a consortium of student groups opposed to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, said on social media that Ono’s claims regarding fire safety were “not only disingenuous but included outright lies” because “the fire marshal never came to the encampment.” Four students were detained by police and released later in the day, the Michigan Daily reports. The demonstrators are demanding U-M divest from companies associated with the Israeli military, but the regents repeatedly have said they won’t do so. “The student intifada will never be defeated,” the Tahrir Coalition wrote in response to the events. The encampment began on April 22 and is the latest to be removed by police action. 

Four charged in Nov. 17 campus building takeover: Five days before the encampment’s removal, the Washtenaw County prosecutor’s office announced it had filed criminal charges against three U-M alumni and one student who are accused of assaulting police during a pro-Palestinian occupation of the Ruthven Building. Thirty-six other students were referred to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution for discipline related to that incident, the Daily reports. The Tahrir Coalition posted a statement condemning the charges. 

AAPS trustees approve $20.4M in cuts: In a 6-1 vote, the school board OK’d superintendent Jazz Parks’s plan to lay off 141 employees including ninety-four teachers, Bridge Michigan reports. The district also is offering incentives for longtime teachers to retire, and twenty-three had accepted the offer as of Tuesday. The vote came after another protest outside the meeting venue where dozens of speakers urged the district to cut more at administrators. Trustee Ernesto Querijero cast the lone dissenting vote.

Saline schools’ gender-inclusion emails go viral: Kara Davis, executive director of teaching and learning, told instructors and volunteers at the historic Weber-Blaess one-room school to stop sorting visiting classes into groups of boys and girls, the Saline Post writes. While that practice accurately reflects the era when the schoolhouse operated, Davis wrote, “I want to ensure we aren’t replicating harmful practices on students of today to model what happened historically.” That note hit social media in a post viewed more than 1.8 million times and was picked up by commentators on Fox News. Saline superintendent Steve Laatsch supported Davis in an email to district staff: “Lining up or grouping students by gender does not offer an important educational purpose, and can create harm for some of our students.” That, too, drew criticism and mockery from anti-LGBTQ commentators.

Alcohol sales to start at Big House this fall: Attendees with proper ID will be allowed to buy two drinks at a time when the new football season starts on Aug. 31, the University Record writes. U-M regents approved the change after being satisfied with the outcome of allowing alcohol sales at Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena during this year’s basketball and hockey seasons. “There have been no reported behavioral issues related to drunken behavior or medical responses related to alcohol​ at either venue since the implementation,” according to the Record.

$18M renovation to ease overcrowded U-M emergency department:   The work will add twenty-six “incremental private observation rooms,” the Record writes. Michigan Medicine had been sending some patients to a jointly operated unit at Trinity Health Ann Arbor, but Trinity is also seeing higher patient volumes and has asked for the space back. The emergency department at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital also is being expanded, the Record reported in March. Both projects are expected to be completed next spring.

U-M buys, sells real estate: The regents approved the purchase of two apartment buildings for a total of $31.6 million, according to the Record. U-M only wanted the Carriage House at 1224 Washtenaw Ct., but to get it, had to also buy Geddes Hill at 1700 Geddes. The university has not indicated its plans for the Carriage House; Geddes Hill will be sold.

Los Alamos National Laboratory awards $15M for fusion-related research: The five-year joint effort between the U.S. Department of Energy facility and the U-M Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering is aimed at developing advanced computing technology such as artificial intelligence and modeling techniques, the Record writes. The initial focus will be to create a viable application for nuclear fusion in producing clean energy.

Regents OK $70M in solar arrays: The contract with Houston-based Radial Power calls for installing panels on all three campuses and at athletic facilities, the Record writes. When completed in three years, U-M says the arrays collectively will produce enough electricity to power 3,000 homes. The Ann Arbor campus will get an estimated twenty megawatts of power, with another five megawatts each at the Flint and Dearborn campuses. 

$1M in pot taxes to go to social services: Council adopted a new city budget this week that puts $500,000 toward its Rising Hope for Housing program, up from $400,000 last year, MLive reports (paywall). Eviction-prevention efforts and services for low-income youth will each get $250,000.

Ypsi limits marijuana joints: Council approved the measure 6-1 amid concerns from existing licensees that the city is oversaturated with recreational cannabis retailers, MLive reports (paywall). Originally the plan was to restrict the number to thirteen, but council increased the cap to fourteen because one application was already in process and the city’s lawyers feared litigation.

Huron River closed to water traffic at Gallup Park to place bridge beams: The entrance along Fuller Rd. is also closed until Saturday, according to the city. All river traffic must exit at the closure, but the Gallup Park Livery remains open for stillwater boating. The city is replacing the one-lane bridge that it demolished amid concerns about its structural integrity.

Low-flying helicopters overhead next week: ITC Michigan will conduct aerial inspections of electric transmission lines across the Lower Peninsula,  starting Tuesday to Thursday over Washtenaw and five other southeast Michigan counties, according to a press release. Crews on the choppers will look for damaged or worn equipment and vegetation hazards near high-voltage lines. “This is normal procedure, so there is no cause for alarm if a low-flying helicopter is sighted near transmission lines,” the release advised.

Grandson arrested after body found buried in backyard: Twenty-nine-year-old Ronald Fleming faces one count of open murder in the death of his seventy-three-year-old grandmother, whose corpse was found in a shallow grave behind her home, MLive reports. Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies found Fleming at the home on W. Warner St. in Ypsilanti Twp. when they made a welfare check requested by other relatives. The woman’s name and cause of death have not been released.

Man pleads guilty to a decade-old sexual assault: Thirty-three-year-old Rapheal Delmonte Holman faces up to two years in prison for his role in a 2013 attack in Ypsi in which he and another man were alleged to have raped a woman in her home while she was unconscious, MLive writes. A rape kit taken at the time but not processed until 2016 found DNA from both Holman and thirty-four-year-old Douglas Ulysses Johnson, who were charged in 2023 on multiple counts of sexual assault. Johnson will appear in court next month. 

Three hospitalized in school bus crash: A high school student, a bus driver, and a bus monitor all were hurt Tuesday, although the letter to parents from Ypsilanti Community Schools superintendent Alena Zachary-Ross offered no details about how the collision occurred or the extent of the injuries. Zachary-Ross also reported a second, unrelated accident the same day in which a bus carrying children from Ford Early Learning Center was rear-ended. Nobody was injured in that crash.

One dead, one injured in shooting: Police say multiple people were arguing Monday night on Russell Ct. in Ypsilanti Twp. when one pulled out a gun and fired it, ClickonDetroit reports. A man died at the scene and a woman was shot in the leg. A suspect fled and has not been located. The names of the victims have not been released.

Ypsilanti Township man dies in motorcycle crash: Forty-three-year-old Jason AtLee collided with a car on May 13, MLive writes (paywall). AtLee grew up in Chelsea and had worked for nearly twenty years for Zingerman’s Mail Order. An investigation into the accident is ongoing. 

Gunfire hits two apartments on Valencia Cir.: There were no injuries, and police believe the incident was not random, according to an AAPD Facebook post. Anyone with information can call (734) 794-6920 or email tips@a2gov.org.

Car theft ring busted by police: Six men are accused of stealing an estimated $8 million in vehicles from new-vehicle storage lots in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, ClickonDetroit writes. More than 200 police officers were involved in serving eight arrest warrants;  two suspects remain at large. The stolen vehicles were sold for below market value and involved in a number of different crimes across the state. All six suspects arrested are from the metro Detroit area.

Police warn of officer impersonation scam: The Ann Arbor Police Department has received reports of callers falsely claiming to be cops and asking for money or gift cards,  the AAPD wrote on Facebook. Community members have reported that the caller ID has been “spoofed” to show the actual AAPD phone number. The department says it never calls the public for donations or funds. Anyone who has received a suspicious call should hang up and call the police at (734) 794-6920.

Elder financial abusers are often family: Cynthia Furlong Reynolds delves in this month’s Observer into heartbreaking cases where relatives have helped themselves to the assets of trusting older people. In one case, an ex-daughter-in-law moved in with an elderly woman and eventually took as much as $150,000 at the behest of online scammers. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, grown children are the most common abusers, but theft can also occur in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as by financial advisors. Experts advise anyone who suspects a relative is being exploited to amass documentation and call the police.

AAPS sued by teacher over custody of dog: Lexi Fata contends in a 135-page court filing that Wines Elementary principal David DeYoung stole Gracie, a Bernedoodle that the school was trying to train into a therapy dog, according to documents accompanying a GoFundMe campaign to pay Fata’s legal bills. Fata says Gracie lived with her for two years but that DeYoung seized the animal in late April after Fata announced she is moving to New Jersey at the end of the school year. AAPS sent a letter to Fata’s attorney asserting the dog is school district property. “I wake up every day hoping that today will be the day we finally get her back. I can’t imagine how confused and distressed she is,” Fata writes on the GoFundMe site, where she’s received more than $14,000 in donations.

Stray pig in Detroit safe to Washtenaw animal sanctuary: Now named Frank, the abandoned potbellied pig was loose in the city last week, Fox2Detroit reports. He was wrangled by animal control and rehomed to Sasha Farms, an animal sanctuary in Manchester.  

Study finds county is home to 20,000 Jews: That figure is significantly higher than the previous estimate of 8,000, the Jewish News reports. Commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, the study found 11,000 Jewish households, including 3,900 children, although just 20 percent belonged to a synagogue or congregation. One in five said they had experienced antisemitism in the previous year, 58 percent reported feeling “some level of emotional attachment” to Israel, and one in six said they struggled financially, among other findings.

New owners restore rare, storied Kahn-designed house: After buying the mansion at 1601 Cambridge Rd.  for $1.425 million last fall, attorney Noah Hurwitz and Realtor Lizzie Hurwitz got to work at projects such as rewiring original lighting fixtures and returning them to their original places after decades in the attic, Steve Friess reports in this month’s Observer. The home is one of just six Ann Arbor residences designed by Albert Kahn, and the Hurwitzes are only the fourth owners since it was built 112 years ago for Louis Strauss, the first Jewish chair of U-M’s English Department, and his heiress wife, Elsa. From 1944 to 1988 it was occupied by the family of Camp Al-Gon-Quian founder Herbert Twining, and then by the Copi real estate family. Distinctive features include  a gleaming former fuse box in the center hall, call buttons around the house once used to summon help from the kitchen, and four fireplaces, three adorned with Pewabic tile.

Culver’s expected to open in Ypsilanti Twp.: UPH Ypsilanti LLC is buying 1410 Huron St. for $806,513 for the purpose of opening a new outlet of the fast-food franchise, MLive reports. Township attorney Doug Winters says he understands the company has a “very, very aggressive timeline” and hopes to open the restaurant within nine months. It would be the third Culver’s in the county, after locations in Scio Twp. and in Chelsea. 

Minority-owned pot shop reopens: The county’s only Black- and female-owned cannabis business is back, this time known as Feel State at Huron View, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. It opened in 2017 as Huron View Provisioning Center but closed last summer amid legal problems. It’s owned by Christina Montague, a former county commissioner and retired AAPS social worker, and is in the same Packard St. storefront as its previous incarnation.

Metaphysical shop to close, move online: Evenstar’s Chalice plans to shut down this summer after seven years on N. Huron St. in Ypsi, the Eastern Echo reports. The store sells handmade and unusual goods, many from local artists and vendors, and offers private tarot readings and Reiki sessions. In an email to customers and supporters, the owners said they also vacated a gathering space on Packard Rd. on May 11. “We plan to continue with our online store evenstarschalice.com and we may do some pop-up vending events,” they wrote.

Author John U. Bacon featured at Big Hearts for Seniors fundraiser: The best-selling writer is headlining the May 30 event to support multiple U-M senior programs, including the Housing Bureau for Seniors, Meals on Wheels, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Bacon told ClickonDetroit he’ll talk about his own experience having his eighty-nine-year-old mother living in a memory care facility and having recently lost his father at ninety-one. Click here to buy tickets or browse an online silent auction that opens today.  

Groundcover News seeks entries for visual arts contest: The twice-monthly street newspaper seeks submissions “from homeless, formerly homeless, and low-income artists only” by June 3, according to a press release. Winners will be announced Aug. 9 in four categories, drawing, painting, open/mixed media, and photography, with a $250 prize for jury-selected winners and $200 for winners by popular vote. Submissions will be displayed from July 24 to Aug. 14 at the Makeshift Gallery, 407 E. Liberty. For more information, email  lindsay@groundcovernews.com or call (734) 263-2098.

Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley marks 10,000th project with $10,000 donation match: The nonprofit’s milestone effort involved repairing the roof and furnace for a seventy-four-year-old woman in the West Willow neighborhood in Ypsilanti Twp., according to an email announcement. To celebrate, the Friedman Family Fund is matching the next $10,000 in gifts. To donate, click here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Be wowed by Cirque Italia’s family-friendly show, ​​“Water Circus Gold,” which involves contortionists, aerialists, jugglers, acrobats, and a 35,000-gallon tank of water. Also, face painting and other kids activities. Concessions (cash only). No pets. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs. and Fri.); 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. (Sat.); and 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. (Sun.), under a tent in the old Sears parking lot, Briarwood Mall, 100 Briarwood Cir. Tickets $15 to $60 in advance (recommended) via cirqueitalia.com or at the gate. (941) 704–8572. 

Saturday: Pop by Ann Arbor’s 200th Birthday Celebration, emceed by WLBY radio host Lucy Ann Lance. Events include short speeches on “What the Bicentennial Means to Me” by local dignitaries and live music from the Ralph McKee Blues Band, along with an A2 trivia contest and the kickoff of self-guided smartphone A2 SmartTours (aadl.org/a2st). Refreshments. 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Liberty Plaza, E. Liberty at S. Division. Free. E-mail info@a2bicentennial.org for more information. 

Sunday: Buy some greenery at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market’s annual Flower Day, which also includes food trucks, live music, kids activities, gardening advice from master gardeners, and more. Runs concurrently with the Artisan Market. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Farmers Market, Kerrytown. Free admission. (734) 794–6255. 

Monday (Memorial Day): Attend a parade near you, all starting at 10 a.m. Chelsea’s kicks off from the downtown municipal parking lot on Main St., Dexter’s starts at Ann Arbor St. and Inverness, and Saline’s launches at Harris and US-12. In Ann Arbor, observers can attend the Glacier Highlands parade, the city’s oldest neighborhood parade. The six-block jaunt begins at Greenbrier Park. 

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

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