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Happy graduation week! By the end of the weekend, thousands of kids will have received U-M and Concordia diplomas before their proud loved ones and be ready to find futures that help them pay down their mountains of student debt. EMU’s grads were honored last Sunday and WCC’s will follow on May 17. We wish them all well and, of course, we’ll be grateful for a little less congestion around campus!
Your news is here. I don’t often include findings from U-M researchers because there are so many of them and they usually don’t quite qualify as local news, but one wild astronomical discovery brought me in from the cold this week. (You’ll get what I mean when you get to the item. Brrr.) I’ll also say that I now listen to the American Academy for the Advancement of Science’s weekly podcast and the frequency with which they go to U-M experts is quite impressive. Consider just these three examples.
– Steve Friess, editor
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The removal of the pro-Palestinian encampment at U-M last spring continues to make news this week, with lawyers for some activists charged with obstructing police demanding attorney general Dana Nessel be replaced with an independent prosecutor and one suspect sent to jail for four days for violating a ban against being on campus for anything other than his classes or work. Credit: Steve Friess.
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Foreign student visas reinstated, for now: The Trump administration restored the legal status of hundreds of students, including twenty-five associated with U-M and two EMU undergrads, in the face of a torrent of litigation, Reuters reports. More than 200 students around the nation had already won court orders temporarily barring their expulsion from the country. U-M’s International Center director Judith Pennywell said despite the seemingly good news for the students, “The situation remains fluid and there are several unknowns.” ICE said in an email to a judge presiding over one such case that the agency is “developing a policy that will provide a framework” for terminating students’ right to study in the U.S.
County commission lawyers up in ICE case: While acknowledging the county has no choice but to provide immigration officials with the I-9 forms they subpoenaed last month, commissioners emailed a statement this week saying they are consulting attorneys on how to proceed with the demand for the documentation behind the county’s ID card program. The heavy-hitting firm they retained, Williams and Connolly LLP, defended then-president Bill Clinton during his impeachment among other notable cases. “The Board’s priority is to uphold our legal obligations while vigorously defending the values that guide our work and service to all members of our community,” the statement said.
Court weighs booting Nessel from Gaza encampment cases: Judge J. Cedric Simpson is expected to rule Monday on whether the attorney general and her office should be replaced by an independent prosecutor in the cases of seven pro-Palestinian demonstrators facing felony charges, MLive reports (paywall). The seven were arrested and charged with obstruction and trespassing when police dispersed the encampment on U-M’s Diag last year. At last week’s hearing on the matter, Simpson seemed dubious that Nessel was conflicted or biased merely because her office offered advice to U-M regarding ending the encampment. In a related case, Simpson sentenced one of the suspects, Henry MacKeen-Shapiro, to four days in jail for violating a term of bail that barred him from being on campus except to attend class or work, the Michigan Daily reports. Nessel’s office had asked for a ten-day jail stint but Simpson decided to shorten that so the student’s parents could see him graduate.
CAN, Avalon Housing loses AmeriCorps funding: Community Action Network announced via email this week the Trump administration had cut it out of the longstanding federal program that helps pay some employees of nonprofits. The organization says it is losing a $45,000 grant and money for stipends for five full-time staffers in the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America Summer Associate program. “This is a blatantly illegal act and litigation will take place but the short, mid, and long-term negative impact is unavoidable!” the email says. CAN is also asking the city council for $100,000 “to help mitigate the ongoing damage to our under-resourced communities.” On Thursday, Avalon Housing said it, too, had lost funding for two AmeriCorps staffers working in outreach to unhoused people. Attorney general Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that Michigan is one of twenty-four states and the District of Columbia suing to restore AmeriCorps funding.
Sheriff’s office confirms ICE arrest near Ypsi courthouse: Local law enforcement was not involved in the effort that saw an unidentified person apprehended, according to an emailed press release. Immigration agents entered the courthouse for five minutes this morning looking for someone but left and picked the individual up “approximately one mile away from the court building,” the statement said. The sheriff’s office confirmed there was some ICE “activity” in Pittsfield and Ypsilanti townships, too, but didn’t have details.
U-M claims immunity in hacking case: The university writes in a court filing that it cannot be sued in the matter of former football coach Matt Weiss under the 11th Amendment’s protections for government entities, the Detroit News reports. Weiss is accused of illegally accessing and downloading personal images and video of thousands of student-athletes over several years in part by using U-M computers. Dozens of the impacted student-athletes are attempting to sue U-M for damages in a class-action lawsuit. An attorney for the litigants responded: “The university’s attempt to sidestep accountability by hiding behind legal technicalities speaks volumes about its priorities – and none of them center student safety or justice.”
Anti-growth remarks by now-pro-growth mayor resurface: Christopher Taylor, whose legacy includes the construction of a forest of high-rises, told council in August 2008 that he opposed the twenty-five-story apartment building proposed then on South University Ave., according to footage available on YouTube via CTN. The future mayor had just won the primary for a Ward 3 council seat, the start of his long tenure in local elected office. Taylor’s argument then – that the development would destroy the character of the neighborhood and usher in traffic, noise, and pollution – would be familiar to anyone who opposes high-rise development today. CTN posted the video from the meeting in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by former councilmember Elizabeth Nelson, a frequent Taylor critic. The project at issue was approved and is now the Landmark, a fourteen-story student-oriented apartment building.
Ypsi runner in rooster suit raising money for addiction center: Mateo Haase, a recovering addict, is donning the bright yellow outfit and running one mile for every $20 donated to Dawn Farm, according to CBS Detroit. Dawn Farm lost $85,000 in federal grant funding last month, prompting Haase’s effort. So far, Haase, who has been a client of the center, has raised more than $3,000 – 150 miles worth. The rooster suit is an homage to the rooster in Dawn Farm’s logo. To support Hayes’ effort, click here and mention him in the memo.
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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell speaks as Scott and Julie Halpert look on at the groundbreaking last month for the planned $13.5 million campus in Superior Twp. for Garrett’s Space. The nonprofit is named for the Halperts’ son who died by suicide in 2017 and provides support to young adults struggling with depression and anxiety. In 2023, Dingell secured a $4 million federal grant to help the Halperts build a residential and outpatient treatment center. Courtesy: Doug Coombe.
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Student accused of illegally voting fails to appear: Judge Simpson issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Chinese national Haoxiang Gao after he did not show up in court last week, Votebeat Michigan reports. Gao, twenty, is accused of lying on his voter registration form and then casting a ballot in the 2024 election; he faces nine years in prison as well as deportation if convicted.
Council told Justice Center needs bulletproof glass: City administrator Milton Dohoney said he’s asking the state for $740,000 for the police-courts building on Huron St. in advance of the completion of a six-story AC Hotel going up across the street, MLive reports (paywall), because “the hotel would have rooms with sight lines directly into the probation and judicial offices.”
Public input sought for Ann St. overhaul: The city, which is planning a $5.5 million revamp of the downtown street next year between N. Fifth Ave. and N. First St., is asking people to respond to an online questionnaire by May 30 to help design the future streetscape. The project will include replacement of a century-old water main, new storm sewers, tree replacements, and a road resurfacing.
Home invasion suspect changed locks on owners: An Ann Arbor couple found themselves locked out in December 2023 when they returned from vacation and their house being occupied by a woman who claimed she’d been willed it by a prior owner, MLive reports. The deceased previous owner’s personal representative says the suspect, Carler Scales, was not in the will and that the house was sold before the owner’s death. Scales, who worked at the assisted living facility where the prior owner died, is alleged to have put in a change of address, obtained a driver’s license, and registered to vote at the home she falsely claimed to own. She is accused of home invasion and three other charges; a psychiatric evaluation is pending and a court hearing is scheduled for May 29.
Garrett’s Space breaks ground after lengthy legal battle: Construction of the nonprofit’s planned seventy-six-acre campus for young adults struggling with anxiety and depression in Superior Twp. is now underway, ClickOnDetroit reports. Founders Julie and Scott Halpert, who named the center after their son who died by suicide in 2017, plan to renovate the existing home there for offices and meeting spaces and add a creativity studio and a 10,000-square-foot residence. A capital campaign has raised $9 million toward a $13.5 million goal. (Julie Halpert is a frequent contributor to the Observer.)
Three Wolverines drafted to NFL in first round: U-M was the only school to have two picks among the first ten when defensive tackle Mason Graham was chosen by Cleveland as the fifth draftee and tight end Colston Loveland was nabbed by Chicago as the tenth overall selection, ClickOnDetroit reports. Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant was the thirteenth overall pick, selected by Miami. Two other Wolverines went in later rounds; cornerback Will Johnson was scooped up by Arizona and Josaiah Stewart by the L.A. Rams.
Local Ukrainians to observe Vyshyvanka Day: The holiday, named for traditional embroidered shirts, is May 15, Eve Silberman reports in this month’s Observer. The Ann Arbor branch of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America is hosting a party at York Food & Drink to celebrate and raise money for paramedics in the war-torn Eastern European nation. “We don’t want people to think Ukraine means war,” chapter president Iryna Bondarenko says. “We want people to see behind it – because there’s a lot of beauty.” For more information, click here.
Michigan prof leads team in coldest-planet finding: Mary Anne Limbach of U-M’s Department of Astronomy co-authored a paper that asserts a planet eighty-one light-years away and six times the size of Jupiter is the chilliest in the known universe, Universe Today reports. WD 1856+534 b, first spotted by the Webb telescope in 2020, revolves around a depleted “white dwarf” star.
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New Sparrow Market owner Ray Campise (right) started helping Jordan Sparrow (left) with produce and dry goods right after he came to town in 2016. Butchers Tom Sparrow and Cristina Pappas are family: he’s Jordan’s uncle, and she’s Campise’s fiancée. Credit: J. Adrian Wylie.
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Boba shop is now Asian-French fusion: The owners of the former Ding Tea on E. William have expanded into the neighboring storefront and opened a franchise of Paris Banh Mi, Dave Algase writes in the April issue of the Observer. The combined space seats seventy-two in a remodeled 3,700-square-foot café. Bubble tea and coffee drinks are still on the menu along with Vietnamese and Korean offerings.
Sparrow Market changes hands: Owner Jordan Sparrow, son of founder Bob Sparrow, has sold it to longtime employee Ray Campise, but Bob’s brother, Tom, remains head of the meat department, Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Campise began working at the market in 2016 and has become close to the family. Bob Sparrow grew the business from a butcher shop to a neighborhood grocery in Kerrytown Market & Shops; it now has a thriving mail-order business serving all fifty states.
Pizza Cat Max closes: The 1980s-themed restaurant and bar at 640 Packard St. is no longer listed on the Toledo-based chain’s website and shows as “permanently closed” on Google, MLive reports. Its brightly colored decor, late hours, vintage video game consoles, and oddball pizza offerings garnered plenty of attention when it opened, but as the Observer’s Algase noted at the time, eight restaurants had come and gone in that space in the past forty years; the ninth lasted just six months.
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“Amazing Race” backs cancer support organization on May 10: The event, which mimics the popular reality competition, involves teams of four solving puzzles and uncovering clues around the region. Tickets, which are available here, are $50 per person and proceeds go to the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor. Admission includes participation in the race, which starts at 4:30 p.m., as well as a post party.
Three honored at WCC Foundation’s May 14 fundraiser: The WCC Foundation Women’s Council Celebration supports the college’s Student Emergency Fund with a luncheon feting U-M College of Engineering equity initiatives director Debby Mitchell Covington, Empowering Services director Mildred Hayman Johnson, and activist Eileen Thacker. Tickets, which are $100 for individuals and $800 for a table of eight, can be purchased here.
Odindi Youth Action Village focuses on West Willow youth: The three-year-old nonprofit serving the neighborhood in Ypsilanti Twp. is the brainchild of Nigerian immigrant Bambo Oluwadare and his son Akin, Concentrate reports. They offer a Storytelling, Action, and Advocacy group, a summer camp program, and Freedom School, an afterschool tutoring program.
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By Jennifer Taylor
Friday: Let local comic Zach Martina make you laugh with his crackling, live-wire delivery and dark, quirky act. Topics range from parenting two daughters to being accidentally invited to a hated former boss’s funeral. 7:15 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.) and 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase, 212 S. Fourth Ave. $20 online and (if available) at the door.
Saturday: Get professional advice about your treasured items from a DuMouchelles auction house appraiser at Dexter Heritage Guild’s Antique Appraisal Fundraiser. Each fifteen-minute appointment includes a verbal appraisal for one to two items. 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Dexter Area Museum, 3443 Inverness St., Dexter. $10 (cash or check) fee per item. Preregistration required by calling (734) 424–9998 before Saturday or (734) 426–2519 on Saturday.
Sunday: Hear live music and take a stroll at Ann Arbor’s “May Music Fest.” Organizers of the original Water Hill Music Fest ended their run, but musicians in the neighborhood still perform on front porches and in driveways on the first Sunday in May. At least nine local bands play genres ranging from traditional Irish music to surf rock. 2 to 6:30 p.m., Water Hill neighborhood north of Miller bounded by Brooks, Sunset, and the train tracks. Free.
See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events.
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