Gay couples of a certain vintage have an anniversary problem. When Miles and I started dating on Oct. 1, 2004, it seemed unlikely we’d ever be able to legally marry. That was the year, after all, that thirteen states — including Michigan, though we lived in Nevada then — passed laws or constitutional amendments to ban recognition of same-sex marriage. It looked like our first date would always be the most significant marker of our lives together.

Then, on March 18, 2007, we got “gay married.” We had a rabbi and a chuppah, our parents gave speeches, and, as you do in Vegas,  we handed out commemorative poker chips. We gained no rights that day, but it was a heckuva party. Two years later, Nevada created “domestic partnerships” and we did that, too, but I couldn’t tell you the date because it was about as romantic as filling out a DMV form. So far as I remember, our new rights were limited to such things as qualifying for the couples rate at the gym.

Finally, on Oct. 25, 2015, after eleven years together, we got it all. Under the massive oaks in the backyard of the Wallace House, home to the Knight Wallace Fellowships that brought us to Ann Arbor in 2011, federal judge Judy Levy married us for “real” and, we felt sure at the time, for good. As part of the triumphant ceremony, our closest friend chose to read from Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which months earlier had legalized true marriage for us all.

So, yeah, we just had our tenth legal wedding anniversary — and we very nearly overlooked it. It nagged at me that day as to why the date seemed significant; when it dawned on me during supper, I gave my husband a hug and kiss and then got the kids more pears. Not that we’d have done much differently; we’d had a wonderful Saturday together at a trunk-and-treat and visiting with their grandparents.

Later, though, I felt sad. Today, a much different U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to take up a case to reverse Obergefell. We know there are at least three justices down to unmarry us, so even if they don’t get to five votes this time to reopen the matter, the anti-gay gang will never stop trying. MAGA friends insist overturning Obergefell will never happen, but they also said that about Roe v. Wade and here we are.

There must be thousands of same-sex couples celebrating their tenth anniversaries this year, given how suddenly marriage equality came to much of the nation. We should all appreciate that milestone — even if other anniversaries are more precious and this one was arbitrarily possible for the first time that year — because it can be just as arbitrarily taken away.

Your news is here. The U-M football team won’t be playing in Germany next year, but Bryce Underwood is still getting rich. SNAP recipients got a reprieve but remain on edge. The CTE ballot measure passed but Lima Twp. voters stamped out the prospect of legal pot sales in their midst.

This was last week’s most-clicked link. (It’s now behind a paywall, though.)

— Steve Friess, editor

CTE FTW: By a comfortable 55-45 margin, county voters approved a 1 mill property tax increase so the Washtenaw Intermediate School District can pour $25 million a year into public school career and technical education programs like AAPS’s student homebuilding program. In a statement, WISD says students should start seeing new and expanded offerings as soon as the 2026–27 academic year. In the City of Ann Arbor’s thirty-five precincts, the measure passed 59-41, but there were some pockets of resistance. Precinct 16, the leafy, ultra-rich Angell area bounded by Washtenaw Ave., Geddes Rd. and Hogback Rd, voted 58-42 against the measure. (Aside: The same precinct went 89-11 for Kamala Harris in 2024, among the city’s widest margins.) Much of rural Washtenaw also opposed it, although one of the most concentrated areas of support, with 68 percent voting yes, were the two precincts that comprise the city of Chelsea. See how your precinct voted here.

SNAP to it, judge says: Local food banks continue to see a rush despite twin court rulings requiring the Trump administration to use an emergency fund provided by Congress to keep payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program flowing. Some SNAP recipients have already missed credits, and the USDA had said they can expect only partial and delayed payments — but then a federal judge yesterday ordered the agency to pay the benefits in full and catch up on any that were missed by today. Despite that, the situation remains uncertain to many, so food pantries continue to ask for more community help. Food Gatherers, in fact, has scheduled four emergency distribution events at Briarwood Mall over the coming two weeks. Plus, Mama Pizza, Detroit Filling Station, Palm Palace, the Ypsilanti Farmers Market, Saline Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders, Issa’s Pizza, and Argus Farm Stop are among local businesses and organizations with special offerings of help. Click on those links for details, and here are comprehensive lists of local food pantries and opportunities for free holiday meals.

DTE wants lightning-fast OK for OpenAI spread: Just as the hype started dying down around the purported economic boom that might come with the 2.2 million-square-foot server farm planned for the purveyors of ChatGPT in Saline Twp., along comes the power company asking to skip public hearings into the environmental and consumer implications of the development. DTE wants the public to accept its pledge that the massive data center won’t cause any increase in costs or rates for customers because OpenAI “needs to get shovels in the ground by the beginning of the new year.” Not so fast, opponents say. Meanwhile, Bridge Michigan subtly questions Gretchen Whitmer’s declaration of the project as “the largest economic project in Michigan history” by noting that the 2022 announcement of a $7 billion investment by GM promised to create nearly ten times the number of jobs.

What (hoop) dreams May come: The No. 7-ranked men’s basketball Wolverines launched the season with an all-time U-M first-half record of sixty-nine points over Oakland University en route to a 128–78 drubbing. Even the coach’s son, who is on the team mainly to help with practices, scored. To get in the zone, especially if your expectations and interest in the football season is understandably diminishing, check out my Hour Detroit profile of second-year head coach Dusty May (pictured below at a practice session). Also, for a blast of unbridled optimism about the coming season, click here.

Sports for sale…: As if there wasn’t already enough money sloshing around in college athletics, a court ruling this summer gave universities the ability to directly give student-athletes salaries or payments — and Micheline Maynard has some stunning details in this month’s Observer about how that’s all worked out. On top of that, the sponsorship game is wild — QB Bryce Underwood (pictured above) is making around $3 million a year while a volleyball star is charging $100 for an Instagram post. Read more

…and game-day parking rates are up, too: Maynard reports that other aspects of Michigan’s Football Industrial Complex are getting more costly, too. Prices to park in driveways and yards in Burns Park and other nearby neighborhoods will run you at least $40 these days for home games. The SpotHero-like game-day platform ​​Park N Party says spots around The Big House for The Game against Ohio State this year start at $70. Read more

Weird dates, long waits, and early midcentury modernism: Our interactive monthly real estate map showing all sales within the AAPS boundaries is online along with tidbits of interest distilled from the data and other observations. What does it really mean when a house allegedly was built in 1901? Find out

Dreams do come true. The $6 million Barton-Bandemer Tunnel (pictured above) is now open, which means train tracks and busy streets no longer impede a key point of the B2B Trail.

Michigan football won’t deprive A2 businesses of a home game by going on a German junket next fall after all. The finances for that adventure were evidently nicht gut.

Lima Twp. voters were decidedly not high on that pot referendum.

Parents are petitioning AAPS for a full-day smartphone ban. Disclosure: I just signed it.

It might snow this weekend? Really?

The feds charged three more Chinese nationals in the biological material smuggling case tied to a U-M lab. Read more

Here’s what you can do to keep your rotting pumpkins out of the landfill.

An infamous 1994 case of racial profiling in Ann Arbor launched to find a serial rapist is the subject of a new documentary that debuts at Michigan Theater on Sunday. Read more

Will all that money pouring into the Bryant neighborhood to make it more sustainable also make it less affordable? Probably.

Huron High’s boys soccer team fell 1–0 in a heartbreaking overtime shootout to Observer publisher Patricia Garcia’s alma mater, Portage Central, in the state championship game.

Ypsi renters wanted for a tenant’s-rights committee. Apply here.

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer and Bloomfield Hills native Chad Smith wants to “give it away” in the form of a scholarship named for his parents to support U-M School of Music, Theatre, & Dance freshmen.

Earthen Jar arrives in Ypsi: The longtime downtown vegetarian Indian restaurant had a soft opening last month, the Eastern Echo reports. Earthen Jar’s owners have shown remarkable resilience, given in 2023 they considered closing the Ann Arbor restaurant following five break-ins and a fire.

West End Grill to close Dec. 23 for revamp: The thirty-year-old downtown restaurant announced on Facebook it will shut down at the end of the year for “a transformation that will carry our legacy forward into the next thirty years of dining in Ann Arbor.” When one townie asked after a particular design element of the W. Liberty St. eatery, she was promised “The Peacock is here to stay!”

Lamp Post Plaza slated for sale, not demo: Co-owner Ron Marten tells Dave Algase in this month’s Observer the sixty-three-year-old, three-building shopping center anchored by Trader Joe’s “is not getting bulldozed.” They’re just selling it. Also, TJ’s is not moving, although the chain has been eyeing other locations, a rep says. The shopping center is popular for its stores — and extremely unpopular among a2view readers for its parking lot.

Tickets available for Sunday’s T. Wall Foundation “friend-raiser”: The nonprofit, which puts on events and activities for students with special needs, holds its annual gathering at Knight’s Steakhouse from 2 to 5 p.m. For $150 per person, guests get light hors d’oeuvres and listen to “engaging keynote speakers.” Buy tickets here.

Benefit concert to support Washtenaw Literacy: Local folk-rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Mike Green will perform his original music at the Gladwin Center on Nov. 14 on behalf of the nonprofit, which provides free tutoring for adults learning to read. The 7 p.m. show costs $25 per seat. Preregistration is required here.

Volunteers needed to give caregivers a break: Catholic Charities of Washtenaw County is looking for people willing to commit to two to four hours per week of helping the family of a homebound senior who requires full-time care with non-medical support, companionship, and socialization. To learn more, click here or call (734) 971–9781, ext. 511.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Hear singer-songwriter and guitarist Boz Scaggs, whose distinctive tenor voice undergirds a music far more interesting than the bland “soft rock” label sometimes affixed to it. Age twelve and up. 7:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Tickets $36 to $97 (students $15 to $20) in advance here, by phone, and (if available) at the door.

Saturday: Listen to Syracuse University physics professor Scott Watson’s talk, “How Old Is the Universe: That Is, What Time Is It?” in which he discusses how time might emerge from the fabric of the universe itself. 10:30 a.m., 170 Weiser Hall, 500 Church. Also via livestream at bit.ly/saturdayphysics. Free.

Sunday: Dip into the A2 Community Bookfest, the largest one-day book festival in Michigan, at the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown branch. The event also features talks, book signings, crafts for kids, and book sale tables. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., AADL Downtown. Free.

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

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