It’s a busy week so I won’t waste too much of your time up top here. We went to see the peonies at the Arb and they’re beautiful but a bit battered by the weather. They’re also peaking really early this year, so get out there this week before they’re done for the summer before the summer even starts. If you can’t, though, enjoy these spectacular pictures by photojournalist Peter Matthews.

I’ve two special calls for action this week. First, there’s an AAPS kid whose drawing is in the running to become an official Google Doodle. Go here by Tuesday, click on the “Grades 4-5” category, scroll down to the Michigan entry, and support him. And, second, if you’re in Kerrytown this weekend, stop by the lemonade stand outside Sparrow’s Market to buy a drink in support of research into childhood cancer. We cover a lot of charitable activities in a2view, of course, but for some reason the sweetness of this one really touched me. If you can’t stop by, click here to donate. 

With that, I give you the week’s news. The custody battle over a school therapy dog continues, MDOT has given up on widening US-23, Jim Harbaugh set another Ann Arbor record on his way out of town, and the city is about to put out fancy new public toilets. Also, go see the peonies!

– Steve Friess, editor, with assistance from Miles Anderson.

MDOT won’t widen US-23: Trains Not Lanes, a group formed to oppose expanding the highway, celebrated the decision on its site last week. The group also applauded plans to add space for pedestrians and bicyclists on bridges as they’re replaced and MDOT’s commitment to study the possibility of bus-only lanes as step “in a direction that will be more sustainable, accessible, and equitable for future generations of Michiganders.”

Regent says board may overrule student leaders on funding: The Shut It Down party won the presidency, vice-presidency, and almost half of the open seats in U-M’s student government this spring on a platform of refusing to dispense some $1.2 million to student organizations until the university divests from companies connected to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. While the leaders reiterated that plan to Steve Friess in the June issue of the Observer, board chair Sarah Hubbard said the regents can hand out the money themselves if necessary. 

A2 voters to decide on supplemental energy utility: If approved in November, MLive writes, the SEU would make new investments in local renewable energy to supplement DTE’s output. Mayor Christopher Taylor said the SEU would be an opt-in model, with subscribers sharing renewable energy with neighbors in micro-grids and buying additional power from entirely renewable sources “that will withstand a storm, energy without random outages, all with no new taxes” beyond 2022’s $150 million climate action millage.

U-M study predicts solar panels will boost future home values: The researchers found that as global temperatures rise, rooftop photovoltaic arrays can add as much as 19 percent to a house’s price by the end of this century, the Michigan Daily reports. The study estimates that climate change could increase the energy needed to cool homes by between 40 and 100 percent – making solar panels that much more valuable.

Summer ban on gas leaf blowers starts Saturday: The city ordinance passed last December prohibits their use from June through September, according to WEMU. They will be permitted between October and May through 2027. Beginning in 2028, only electric leaf blowers will be allowed at any time.

Carshare program launches for affordable housing residents: The Affordable Mobility Platform will make electric vehicles available to renters, staff and neighbors at Avalon Housing’s Carrot Way Apartments and the city’s Baker Commons for $5 an hour, ClickOnDetroit reports. Two other affordable housing complexes, Hickory Creek and Miller Manor, are due to be added this summer. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the pilot program launches with fifty vehicles spread across cities in eight states, as well as EV charging stations at the apartment complexes. 

City garage parking on Sundays still free, but tickets required: Motorists will have to take tickets starting this Sunday to get the mechanical arms to go up for entry, but they won’t be charged, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority says. Lost ticket charges will be waived for the first four months; in October, though, parkers without tickets will be charged for 24 hours of parking, as they are during the week. 

Road closures in two sections of Platt Rd.: MDOT last week closed the road between Waterfowl Blvd. and US-12 until Aug. 2 for maintenance, and Ann Arbor is closing it from Washtenaw Ave. to S. Huron Pkwy. for a week starting Monday for repaving. Also, Ann St. between N. Main and N. Fourth Ave. and N. Fourth Ave. from E. Huron to Catherine streets will close at 5 p.m. tomorrow and reopen at 8 p.m. on Saturday for the African American Downtown Festival.

City to spend $19M making parks accessible: Council gave final approval to its Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan to remove physical barriers to park access, according to city documents. The thirty-year plan’s first projects include paving several paths in the Barton Nature Area and a paved path to the swings at Fuller Park, according to CBSNews Detroit.

A2 to install eight public bathrooms with bicentennial logo: The blue-and-white potties, from Throne Labs, will start popping up around town this week to relieve the demand for places to go, the city says. They will be located at the Delonis Center, the Farmers Market, Liberty Plaza, West Park, Riverside Park, the 100 block of E. Washington St. and at Veterans Memorial Park. Users must scan a QR code or download a smart-phone app for access, or get access cards at Larcom City Hall or the Delonis Center. The city, U-M, and the DDA are spending a combined $500,000 on this one-year pilot project.

Five finalists vying for winning A2 flag design: The city wants residents to vote their favorites online here by June 28, although the results will be advisory and the actual decision will be made by a panel of judges led by mayor Christopher Taylor. The group will forward their selection to council for approval. Four of the contenders prominently feature a longstanding Ann Arbor symbol, the oak tree.

Last chance to vote for AAPS student’s Google Doodle: Lawton Elementary student Ellis Richardson is one of fifty-five kids in the running for a national prize in the search engine’s annual contest, ClickonDetroit reports. Google is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, and Richardson’s entry, entitled “2050s Utopia,” responds to the contest prompt to draw something inspired by the student’s hopes for the world twenty-five years from now. On the voting site, Richardson wrote that he illustrated the letters to “represent rebuilding the environment, enough clean water for everyone, world hunger being solved, enough housing, renewable energy, and electric cars which would solve traffic pollution.” To vote for him, click here and look for the Michigan entry under the 4-5 Group. Voting closes Tuesday, June 4.

Nichols Arboretum peonies reach peak bloom: The U-M garden of more than 10,000 flowers is at over 50 percent bloom, CBS News Detroit writes. This year’s bloom came much earlier than the typical mid-June event, so visitors are urged to visit between now and early June as the window to see them is short. 

Father alleges son killed grandmother after cult radicalization: Twenty-nine-year-old Ronald Savoy Fleming was charged with open murder last week after seventy-three-year-old Theadra Fleming’s body was found in a shallow grave in her backyard. Fleming’s father says the family “chased” his son to Tampa recently to extricate him from a cult and that he had heard about other members of this cult coming back home to kill relatives, Fox 2 Detroit reports. 

Police seek help to ID metal-pipe assailant: An attacker clubbed a man in the back outside the Wolverine State Brewing Co. on W. Stadium last week in an apparently random incident, according to a Facebook post from the Ann Arbor Police Department. The post includes this photo of a suspect, a white man with glasses in a blue button-down shirt and jeans. Anyone with information can call (734) 794-6939 or email tip@a2gov.org. 

Two injured in shooting at Ypsilanti Twp. barbershop: Two unidentified men got into a fight with a twenty-seven-year-old man who fled into the shop, according to MLive. The men then hit the man over the head with a weapon and fled the scene while firing several rounds. A thirty-seven-year-old man in the barbershop was struck in the leg. No suspects are in custody.

Nail salon hit by SUV reopens: A seventy-eight-year-old customer drove her vehicle through the front of Bebe’s Nails & Spa on E. Stadium on Saturday, MLive reports. About thirty customers and employees were there at the time; some suffered cuts from flying glass. Police say the woman told them her car accelerated when she went to park it. The business reopened Tuesday.

Ypsi to dip into reserves to balance budget: City council expects next week to vote to use $3.6 million of its backup funds to avoid having to make any further cuts, WEMU reports. Councilmember Patrick McLean says one of the big costs is a series of studies of how to remediate a polluted thirty-eight-acre plot of city-owned property on Water St. so it can be redeveloped. A 2016 Mlive article recapped the sad history of the city’s $30 million investment in the site just east of downtown.

PTO says therapy dog belongs to school: Gracie is not the property of the teacher who had cared for and lived with her, the group wrote in a public letter of support for principal David DeYoung’s decision to take possession of her in early May. Outgoing teacher Lexi Fata, who is moving to New Jersey, is suing the school over the Bernedoodle, asserting there’s no written agreement that gives Wines Elementary or AAPS ownership. The PTO says it spent $15,000 for the dog’s training and expenses with the expectation that Gracie would permanently be available to students at the school. Fata has raised more than $16,000 toward legal expenses via a crowdfunding campaign.

Campus Theatre marquee may return to Ann Arbor: The sign hasn’t been seen lit up since the mid-1980s, but it’s expected to go up inside the new Pinball Pete’s location expected to open in 2026 or later, MLive reports (paywall). Co-owner Ted Arnold says he’s had the marquee in storage since the 1990s when his arcade moved to a South U minimall on the theater’s former site. Arnold plans to refurbish it and use it as decor for the arcade’s new home on E. Liberty when the minimall is demolished to make way for a student high rise.

Free borrowing for Native and Indigenous people at U-M libraries: Members of those communities who are not already affiliated with the university will be allowed to take out books among other benefits, according to a press release. Normally, a library card for non-affiliated people costs $250 a year. Native and Indigenous people now can ask for one at no charge at Hatcher Graduate Library.

EMU receives $6.5M for golf teams: That brings GameAbove’s giving to Eastern Michigan’s golf program to $14M, EMU Today writes. The latest donation supports various aspects of the men’s and women’s golf programs, including player development, equipment, travel, and operational expenses. 

Skyline High crew quintet wins team’s eighth national title: Violet Knyal, Sydney Harwick, Mariam Ismail, Jessica Fang, and Thea Yocum took the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s top prize in the women’s junior quad event on Saturday in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, according to the team’s Facebook page. Coach Kit Bennett, who was profiled by James Leonard in the Observer in May 2023, tells a2view this is the eighth national title for the team since he founded it in 2009. The full team of some eighty-five rowers won the state championship this year, too; Pioneer placed third overall and Huron 11th, according to the AAPS District News. 

Harbaugh’s mansion sells for $3.9M, a new record: The price for the former U-M head football coach’s 10,000-square-foot home at 1125 Arlington Blvd. is the most ever recorded for a residence in the Ann Arbor School District, Realtor Sue Maguire tells Steve Friess for the Observer’s Home Sales Map. New owners Alliance Franchise Brands CEO Michael Marcantonio and his wife Maggie Marcantonio, owner of the Washtenaw Veterinary Hospital, spent big for the  six-bedroom, nine-bathroom abode with a regulation-sized squash court among other amenities. The previous record holder, 2225 Belmont, went for $3.5 million in March 2022.

Iggy’s Eggies opens downtown: The Detroit-based breakfast joint replacing Salad’s Up on E. Liberty St. began serving customers last weekend, according to a Facebook post. The business, founded by U-M alum Eli Boyer, started as a walk-up window in Detroit in 2018.

Vintage clothing shop on the move: The Get Up, which started in a small upstairs space on S. State St., is relocating to a berth on S. Fourth Ave., the owners said in a TikTok video they also posted on Facebook. The new shop, which is more than double the size, is expected to open in July. Until then, the owners wrote, the inventory at the State St. location is on sale.

Misty Handmade Boutique, Aroma Indian Cuisine close: Dave Algase reports on the shuttering of both businesses in this month’s Observer.  Misty, which sold handcrafted wares from local artisans, closed after one year on Zeeb Rd. The owner said she’ll continue selling online via Facebook. Aroma, on W. Liberty, closed after three years without explanation. The restaurant’s Farmington Hills location has yet to reopen after a 2021 fire, and phone lines for both locations are disconnected.

Buy lemonade on Saturday to fight childhood cancer: Volunteers will be outside Sparrow Market in Kerrytown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. as part of an national, annual fundraiser for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. The local version, which aims to raise $8,000, is being organized in honor of four-year-old Charlotte, who has neuroblastoma, and twelve-year-old Harper, who has a brain tumor. Both girls’ fathers are Ann Arbor police officers. Anyone can donate online here.

Cops, firefighters face off Sunday in charity hockey game: AAPD and AAFD personnel play in the annual “Battle of the Badges” at U-M’s Ice Cube to raise money for the Ann Arbor Police Benevolent Association, according to a post on the AAPD’s Facebook page. Admission is free but donations are encouraged. The game starts at 4 p.m.

Hope Clinic offers free sleep studies for uninsured patients: The Ypsi-based free medical provider is partnering with Michigan Medicine to help diagnose sleep apnea and other sleep-related disorders, Concentrate reports. The studies are conducted at home; if needed, patients can receive free CPAP machines. For more information, click here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See “Death of a Driver,” the Michigan premiere of Will Snider’s 2019 two-character drama about an American engineer and a Kenyan taxi driver who strike up a friendship and embark on a project to change rural Kenya. 8 p.m. (Thurs. to Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun.), Theatre Nova, 410 W. Huron St. Tickets $28 (kids under 17, $10) in advance at theatrenova.org/current-show and (if available) at the door. (734) 635–8450.

Saturday: Start off the summer festival season at the 27th Annual Ann Arbor African American Downtown Festival held in the historic Black business district. It includes kids activities from the Hands-On Museum and U-M Children’s Center as well as balloon animals and a magic show. On the main stage, headliner Danny Clay performs a Luther Vandross tribute. Also, saxophonist Aaron McAfee, gospel singer Anthony McKinney, R&B singer Lay’na Michelle, and funk & soul band Shake Steady, all from the Detroit area. Vendors. 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., N. Fourth Ave. and E. Ann. Free.

Sunday: Pace yourself in the 50th Annual Dexter–Ann Arbor Run. The region’s highest-profile race draws thousands and includes a half-marathon, a 5K run and fitness walk (all 8:30 a.m.), and a 10K run (7:15 a.m.). All routes conclude on Main St. between Miller and Ann. Entry fees for individuals: $50 (5K), $65 (10K), and $95 (half-marathon) in advance only at dxa2.com before 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, email director@dxa2.com or call (419) 356–4881. 

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

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