As I hope you’ve noticed, we’re sprucing up a2view a bit. We’ve streamlined and reorganized the news, eased off the stentorian tone, started highlighting additional aspects of our print edition, and changed the day and time of delivery. There will be more changes to come in 2026 as we plot a broader redesign.

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Your news is here. Our summer intern, Anna McLean, has an excellent investigative piece in the Michigan Daily about questionable workers comp practices at U-M, Ann Arbor remains a venture-capital hotbed, and – brace yourself – the 2026 election cycle is now officially underway.

This was last week’s most-clicked link.

– Steve Friess

Correction: A caption in last week’s a2view gave an incorrect street for this year’s Student Building Industry Program. Pioneer and Skyline students are constructing a home on Pratt Rd. in Scio Twp., not on Platt Rd. in Pittsfield Twp.

SNAP back and forth: The end of the record-breaking federal government shutdown should restore the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to its full force and remove the roller coaster of uncertainty surrounding the program — but Food Gatherers still had lines of cars flocking to their special distribution at Briarwood Mall on Wednesday, the Observer’s Micheline Maynard tells a2view. Michigan was one of several states that resisted Trump administration demands not to distribute full benefits, so food-stamp recipients were up-to-date even before the deal to end the shutdown, and a recipient who wasn’t due for their payments until next week received them early. Food Gatherers will still hold its last two special distributions on Saturday and Wednesday. For additional food assistance resources, residents can dial 211, visit www.mi211.org, contact the Food Bank Council of Michigan, or call the Double Up Food Bucks program hotline at (866) 586–2796.

U-M employees forced back to work too fast, Michigan Daily finds: The Daily’s Anna McLean is out this week with an exposé in which she writes of hundreds of instances where workers hurt on the job were confronted with unpaid leave and baffling bureaucracy that interfered with their access to recovery care. Part of the problem is that the university’s workers compensation program, Work Connections, is under the aegis of its financial risk management division, which one source tells McLean creates “an inherent conflict of interest” because Work Connections is pressured to keep costs down. Read the whole report here.

A2 remains Michigan’s venture capital capital: Eleven of the state’s largest VCs are based here, including six of the top ten, Crain’s Detroit Business reports this week. Topping the list again is Arboretum Ventures, a twenty-three-year-old firm with $1 billion under management that specializes in startups focused on medical and health-related technology and services. Venture Investors Health Fund was the list’s biggest upward mover, climbing four spots to No. 5 with $365 million in assets under management, on the strength of the $2.25 billion sale of HistoSonics in August. See the whole list here.

MDOT weighs kicking overpass protests to curb: Proposed policy changes have alarmed First Amendment advocates and demonstrators who display signs for motorists like the one pictured below, the Michigan Advance writes. The agency wants to require a permit to protest, solicit signatures for petitions, or distribute material on a wide range of sites it manages including rest areas, scenic turnouts, carpool lots, and roadside parks. Protesters routinely appear on the I-94 overpass on Stone School Rd. hoping to draw attention from rush-hour drivers, as happened on Tuesday with a Veteran’s Day action. Folks who wish to weigh in on the proposals have until Nov. 20 to do so via email.

Park 163 now open: Emily Pinsuwan documents the debut of the long-awaited Broadway Park West, seven acres of green space along the Huron River north of the Amtrak station and connecting to the Border to Border Trail via a new pedestrian bridge. The nonprofit Lower Town Riverfront Conservancy was founded to manage the new park built on part of former MichCon land that was remediated following decades of hosting a coal gasification plant and other facilities. The city held a bubble festival in September (pictured above) to celebrate. Read more

Sun Times News saved: Cynthia Furlong Reynolds writes about The Really Useful Information Company (TRUiC) buying the financially struggling weekly paper covering Dexter, Chelsea, Milan, and Saline that a2view links to on the regular. The new owner, who settled the publication’s debts as part of the deal, has ambitions for the outlet. Read more

What She Said: Our advice maven has thoughts on a common problem: how to get Thanksgiving guests to give you a little g-dang peace and quiet! Read more

This profile of ninety-nine-year-old science education pioneer Edith Hurst is just delightful.

At the premiere of a documentary about an infamous 1994 case of racial profiling in Ann Arbor, AAPD chief Andre Anderson officially apologized for the episode. He was flanked by several other regional leaders, none of whom held office at the time of the injustices. Read more and watch the doc here.

That $7 billion OpenAI-Oracle data center will make some landowners rich while creating a host of issues for the neighbors they leave behind. Read more

Meanwhile, several state lawmakers, including Democratic former House speaker Joe Tate, are backing DTE’s bid to avoid hearings — but none of them represent Washtenaw County, much less Saline Twp.

Trinity Health says it is launching a three-year, $60.5 million expansion and renovation of the emergency department at its Ann Arbor hospital. Read more

Not to be outdone, Michigan Medicine opened its new $920 million, twelve-story, 264-room D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion this week. This cool time-lapse video of its construction also provides an explanation of the new hospital’s features.

Eighteen-term GOP congressman from Michigan Fred Upton will keynote U-M’s winter commencement. He’ll also get an honorary degree along with civil rights activist Diane Judith Nash, inventor Robert Langer, and musician Don Was. (Fun fact: Was and I once accidentally left a conference in Vegas with one another’s bag. Hijinks ensued.)

There’s an impressive new piece of public art in Gallup Park. Read more

We’re No. 6! For now, anyway. The U-M men’s basketball team jumps a spot on the AP Top 25 thanks to that Oakland University blowout last week. But then they eked out a super-sloppy one-point overtime win Wednesday against unranked Wake Forest, so we’ll see in a few days how the voters feel about that.

And so it begins. Councilmember Jen Cornell is running for a second term. Fellow first-termer Dharma Akmon, on the other hand, tells a2view she’s not ready to say.

You think navigating downtown high-rise and road construction in your car is tough? Try doing it in an ambulance.

Starting Dec. 1, Ypsi parents can get $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 per month during the first six months of their infant’s life. Find out how. 

I love Joan Jett (and rock and roll), but I’ve tried vegan cheese and it is not the same.

Art gallery opens in former ballet studio: Cluster Museum, a collaborative of local artists, hosts a small commercial gallery with art supplies for sale in addition to providing space for contemporary thematic exhibits, workshops, and author readings, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. The first exhibit, The Dam Broke: A Portrait on Tyranny, featured works that delve into fascism and authoritarianism.

Zingerman’s Roadhouse to shut down for renovations: The venerable Westgate restaurant will close on Jan. 4 for a six-week upgrade to its flooring, lighting, acoustics, bar, and seating, according to a notice on their website. During the work, a limited Roadhouse menu will be available on Sundays and Mondays at Zingerman’s Greyline on N. Ashley.

Hazel Coffee opens on Packard: Located on the ground floor of the new Packard Row apartments, the brick-and-mortar location is the latest move for the husband-and-wife duo Bryan Caragay and Hailey Pilidori Caragay. Both twenty-nine, they launched Hazel as a mobile business out of a converted 1950s Red Dale camper and expanded to a fleet of coffee cars. With their new spot, the Caragays aim to recreate a bit of the café culture they enjoyed while living in Austin, Texas after graduating from CMU. They held a soft opening last week.

EMU to host 1,000-meal giveaway: Volunteers will be handing Thanksgiving meal kits out starting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 20 in the parking lot of the George Gervin GameAbove Center, according to the event’s website. Each car can receive a ham or frozen turkey, local produce, and baked goods — plus four tickets to any upcoming EMU men’s or women’s home basketball game. The university holds the event each year in partnership with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, James Smith and Connie Ruhl-Smith, DTE, Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest, and EMU Credit Union.

Euchre tourneys benefit Haitian children: Card fans can play tournaments at HOMES Campus from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 20, Dec. 4, and Dec. 18, with proceeds from entry fees going to Haitian Christian Outreach.

County Farm Park cleanup event tomorrow: The county’s parks and rec department is looking for volunteers from 9 to noon to remove invasive shrubs by hand or with loppers and saws. Snacks, gloves, and water are provided, but helpers should bring their own water bottles. Sign up here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: See an abridged, ninety-minute edition of “Othello” as performed by PTD Productions/Brevity Shakespeare. It’s updated, too, and set in San Francisco in 1881. Through Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. (Thurs. to Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun. and Wed.), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron St., Ypsi. Tickets $15–20 in advance online or (if available) at the door.

Saturday: Play a wide variety of tabletop games, from board games and role-playing games to battlefield simulations, at the U•Con Annual Gaming Convention. Also, sales and demos. Nov. 14–16, 9 a.m.–1 a.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 9 a.m.–7 p.m. (Sun.), Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest, 1275 S. Huron St., Ypsi. Daily passes $35–$55. Weekend pass: $65–$75 (kids ages 7–12 with an adult, $20; kids 6 & under, free) in advance at ucon-gaming.org or at the door.

Sunday: Be wowed by thousands of gorgeous and strange flowers at the Ann Arbor Orchid Festival, a show and sale with free talks and demos by expert growers. Sat. and Sun, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., U-M Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N. Dixboro Rd. Free.

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

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