I rooted for a chilly, creepy Halloween night like the ones I remember from my childhood on Long Island, and we certainly got that. What I didn’t realize was that then the kids’ coats would cover the costumes I had labored over for weeks. (OK, I bought a few things and used some hot glue on Monday night. But I pondered the idea for weeks!)

As promised, here are the photos. Claire was the Bride of Frankenstein, Nevada was Dr. Frankenstein, and I was the monster. And now we have so much candy we don’t need!

It was a pretty full news week. A plethora of interesting development news in Ann Arbor leads our rundown, but there also were two older deaths that are now considered homicides and the triumphant liberation of a stuck raccoon. Oh, and writer David Brooks, most recently seen getting thrashed across the Internet for a viral tweet about his $78 “meal” at a New Jersey airport, should have some interesting newly acquired wisdom to offer when he addresses U-M’s winter graduates next month.

As I try my best to avoid the itch to have another fun-sized Twix, I wish you all a sweet and warm week ahead.

– Steve Friess, editor

City plans rezoning along Washtenaw Ave. and E. Stadium for high-density development: Ann Arbor officials are holding a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 at Pittsfield Elementary School to field questions about their intent to apply the new TC1 category to sixty-three parcels on E. Stadium at Washtenaw and on Washtenaw from Platt to US-23. The “transit corridor” zoning will allow much taller buildings in an effort to provide housing that’s more affordable and sustainable, the city’s website says. This will be the fourth TC-1 zone, joining S. State-Eisenhower, W. Stadium-Maple, and Plymouth Rd.

Court clears way for mobile home park: In 2020, Ann Arbor Twp. planners rejected a 500-unit manufactured-housing development off Warren Rd. on both sides of US-23, but last year, the township board rezoned the property to prevent that. The developers sued, citing a 1975 court order allowing such housing, and now an appeals court has upheld that order as valid, MLive reports (paywall). That clears the path for developers to resubmit their plans. Cynthia Furlong Reynolds wrote about the promise and pitfalls of manufactured housing in the August 2022 Observer. 

Historic group rejects plan to add floors to 157-year-old Main St. building: The three-story Italianate brick structure was built in 1866 and is currently boarded up, but physician-developer Reza Rahmani wants to add two stories to include more apartments above first-floor retail space, MLive writes. The Historic District Commission refused to approve the plan, noting that the additional floors would have doubled the building’s height and require the demolition of all but the facade and side walls.

Bus company argues assault on autistic boy was self-defense: Durham Transportation, which is being sued by the family of a seven-year-old restrained and hit by a bus aide in December 2021, filed a brief asserting that the aide was “exercising reasonable and necessary force” to repel the boy’s “wrongful, unlawful, and violent attacks,” MLive reports. The aide, Rochanda Jefferson, was convicted of fourth-degree child abuse in June and sentenced to thirty-two days in jail in September. Lawyers for Carpenter Elementary Principal Michael Johnson, who was placed on leave, also responded to his part of the litigation by denying any misconduct in the investigation into the incident. In the September issue of the Observer, AAPS trustee Jeff Gaynor called its belated revelation in a lawsuit this summer the ”catalyst” for the hotly contested vote to oust superintendent Jeanice Swift.

Board dispute stalls contract for interim superintendent: The trustees voted 4-3 against the contract for Jazz Parks, the assistant superintendent they elevated on Oct. 11, with some members complaining the process had been rushed, MLive reports. Board member Susan Ward Schmidt complained she’d only seen the final version of the contract hours before the meeting. The board has until Nov. 16, when Swift’s remaining contract expires, to put something formal in place for Parks.

June death deemed homicide by neglect: A September medical examiner’s report ruled that seventy-six-year-old Dennis McDougal, a quadriplegic, suffered from sepsis, pneumonia, medical neglect, malnutrition, and long-bone fractures when he died, MLive reports. Relatives of McDougal, who died at Trinity Health St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital, believe his hired caregiver contributed to his death, police said. Police have asked the county prosecutor to file murder and elder abuse charges, but that decision is still pending.

Husband confesses in decade-old death of wife: The 2012 death of Debbie Lyons-Fenner, fifty, in Lodi Twp. was believed to be caused by a drug overdose until Scott Frederick Fenner, fifty-nine, voluntarily went to police in Green Oak Twp. to say it was an assisted suicide, MLive reports (paywall). Fenner, now charged with open murder, said he was coming clean because he was tortured by the memory of the incident, saying that he suffocated Lyons-Fenner by taping a plastic bag on her head and filling it with helium. Fenner said Lyons-Fenner suffered from physical and mental illnesses and wanted to die.

City parking revenue down, rates going up: A report from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority tallied a $31 million revenue shortfall  from March 2020 to June 2023, including a $6.8 million loss in fiscal 2022-23, after the Covid crisis had largely subsided, MLive reports (paywall). To make up for the gap, the DDA is proposing rate increases from $1.20 an hour for garage parking to $1.80 an hour and from $2.20 for on-street meter parking to $2.60 by July 2026. A DDA spokesperson told the Observer in June that it didn’t expect parking demand to fully recover until fiscal 2025 – by which point, total pandemic losses would top $48 million.

Arbor Hills Landfill stink prompts litigation: Northville Twp. is asking a judge to stop the dump from using a new cell after more than 450 complaints of bad odors have been filed with the state in recent months, the Detroit News reports (paywall). The state has given the landfill owners, Green For Life Environmental, until January to solve the problem, but the township insists that’s not fast enough. Ann Arbor’s trash is trucked to the facility in Salem Twp.

Superior Twp. wins fight with Salem Twp. over utility line: A judge sided with Superior in its effort to prevent the neighboring township from running a sewer line to the Ypsilanti area across six miles of farmland to serve a planned 550-unit development, MLive reports. Salem Twp. may instead use a controversial $35 million state grant to build its own wastewater facility, officials say. 

Council races on Tuesday ballots for five Washtenaw County cities: Seats are up in Milan, Tecumseh, Saline, Manchester and Chelsea, and Milan’s mayor is running for re-election, ClickOnDetroit reports. Voters also will decide on school, fire, and library bonds and millages in Manchester, Manchester Twp., Milan, Scio Twp., and Tecumseh.

Stuck raccoon rescued from dumpster: Ann Arbor firefighters were called to help the Humane Society of Huron Valley in the 3000 block of Whisperwood Dr. to extricate the furry critter that was caught in a rusted-out hole on Sunday, according to an AAFD Facebook post. After the excitement, the post says, the raccoon “went about its day.”

Harbaugh contract talks on ice amid sign-stealing probe: The football coach seemed to be on an express train to becoming the best-paid coach in the Big Ten until news broke that the NCAA is investigating U-M for serious wrongdoing, the Wall Street Journal reports (paywall). Speculation is increasing that Harbaugh might leave for an NFL job after this season, but NFL.com reports that such a move would not necessarily help him sidestep sanctions. 

U-M president urges civility, defends free expression: With campuses around the country convulsed with clashing protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, Santa Ono weighed in via a public letter calling for calm and tolerance. “The university also will not tolerate unequal treatment of students based on their beliefs,” he warned. “Our institution has a deep and ongoing commitment to respecting differing life experiences, perspectives and backgrounds.” He also provided a link to ways to report threats, threatening behavior, or violence. 

New head of the alumni association named: Ayanna McConnell took over permanently last week after serving as acting president and CEO since March, the University Record writes. She first joined the organization in 2011 and rose to vice president for university relations. McConnell attended the U-M but got her undergraduate degree at Cleary University and her master’s at EMU. The alumni association serves 668,000 alumni worldwide.

Food pantries contend with record number of requests for help: The auto industry strikes, fears of a government shutdown, rising food and gas prices, shrinking U.S. Department of Agriculture contributions, and the termination of the Covid-era expansion of food stamps have put unprecedented pressure on Washtenaw County’s fifty-one food pantries, Cynthia Furlong Reynolds writes in this month’s Observer. The statistics are startling: 56,000 individuals made approximately 1 million visits to local sites in the fiscal year ending in June.

Police probing offensive flyers distributed in Chelsea: The flyers, which appeared in mid-October, attack Jewish and LGBTQ+ people over an array of social issues, including abortion, hedge funds, and Covid, MLive reports. Chelsea police say similar incidents have recently occurred in Dexter and Pinckney, too. Several community groups co-signed a letter that condemned the flyers. 

Woman robbed at gunpoint in Ypsilanti Twp.: She was checking on a strange noise in her car outside her apartment in the 9000 block of Huron River Dr. when a man pulled his weapon and took her purse, MLive writes. The woman was not physically injured.

Bank robber gets eight-to-twenty years in prison: Virgil Ross, forty-nine, pleaded no contest in September to a heist at the Chase Bank on S. Main St. in which he took about $2,600, MLive reports (paywall).

Humane Society supports Ypsi rep’s cat declawing ban bill: The measure, pending in the Michigan House, would make the state the third in the nation to outlaw the procedure, Antonio Cooper writes for this month’s Observer. Introduced in May by representative Jimmie Wilson Jr., the bill pits the Humane Society of Huron Valley and other animal advocates against the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association, which says it would interfere with pet owners’ rights. 

Raiders player gives $1M to EMU Athletics: Maxx Crosby, who played for the Eagles from 2015 to 2018, announced the donation this week just before the Las Vegas football team played the Detroit Lions, WXYZ-TV reports. The gift also comes from Crosby’s wife, Rachel, who played soccer at EMU. EMU says it will rename the playing surface at Rynearson Stadium after the couple in recognition of the donation.

David Brooks to address U-M graduates at winter commencement: The New York Times columnist and PBS NewsHour commentator will also receive an honorary degree, along with the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Hass and astrophysicist Thomas Zurbuchen, the Record writes. The ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 17 at Crisler Center.

Fresh Forage to close Nov. 10: The owners of the restaurant, known for its inventive cuisine using locally sourced and seasonal food, announced the news in a letter posted to its Instagram account. “What a bleak world it would be with only chain restaurants,” Andrew wrote. He and Rebecca Sereno tell Dave Algase in this month’s Observer that they’re closing to pursue other interests – she’s an attorney, and he owns Glacier Cannabis in Manchester – and to spend more time with their two young children. On Fresh Forage’s Facebook page, the restaurateurs are offering to sell the business for $300,000. 

Blank Slate opens retail carryout at Scio Twp. production facility: In addition to supplying their popular scoop shops at 300 W. Liberty and in Brighton, the company now offers pints of their all-natural ice creams and non-dairy frozen desserts for takeout at 7879 Jackson Rd., Algase writes in this month’s Observer. Customers can also pick up ice cream cakes, cookies, and brownies they’ve ordered online.

Prime Eatery moves into space vacated by Exotic Cuisine and Bakeries: It’s the second location for the Dearborn-based American cuisine restaurant, MLive reports. The halal fare includes milkshakes, burgers, wraps, and chicken wings, and will be available until midnight on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.

Haunt at the Roxbury collects $3,150 worth of goods for food pantry: The elaborate Halloween array at the home of David and Jamie Jones in Ypsilanti Township required visitors to donate a dry good or hygiene item to the Hope Clinic for admission. The cumulative collection fell short of 2022’s record 2,000-pound haul because a rainstorm knocked out power on Sunday, David Jones tells a2view, but “we had a lot more expensive items like shampoo, soaps and deodorant versus the standard can of beans” this year.

Tickets available for Firemen’s Ball on Nov. 11: The 25th-anniversary party and fundraiser for the Michigan Firehouse Museum and Education Center features “strolling cocktails and hors d’oeuvres” with live music from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets range from $50 to $500 and can be purchased here.

Organizers, donations sought for AAPS Winter Giving effort: The school district has launched a website where people or businesses can buy gift cards, organize a donation drive, or sponsor a school to provide winter clothes and other essentials as the weather gets colder. Groups are asked to fill out this form by Nov. 10, and people interested in donating gift cards should do so here by Dec. 1.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Hear Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha, dubbed a “folkdrone Björkpunk quartet” by Rolling Stone. The band draws on traditional Ukrainian folk music, African grooves, and avant-garde sounds to create music that vacillates between piercingly ethereal and trancelike and rhythmic with ecstatic crescendos. Often costumed in towering black lambswool hats, the band is both visually and sonically striking. 7:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Tickets $17 to $67 (students, $15 to $23) in advance here and (if available) at the door. (734) 764–2538. 

Saturday: See the U-M Music School’s production, set in 1950s America, of Jacques Offenbach’s 1858 operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers).” An irreverent, even cynical treatment of the Greek myth, Offenbach’s version finds Orpheus a humble violin teacher conspiring with Pluto, the god of the Underworld, to rid himself of his wife, Eurydice. The music ranges from parodies of Gluck’s famous Baroque opera Orfeo et Eurydice to an uninhibited can-can. Sung in French with English dialogue. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), and 2 p.m. (Sun), Power Center. Tickets $24 to $30 (students, $13) in advance here. (734) 615–3204. 

Sunday: Dip into the 36th Annual Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival, a two-week event featuring in-person appearances by Jewish writers as well as livestream talks by more than twenty other Jewish authors of everything from cookbooks and children’s books to memoirs and self-help books. Click here for a complete schedule. Today: Benyamin Cohen (7 p.m.) discusses his new book The Einstein Effect: How the World’s Favorite Genius Got into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds.. Nov. 5–19, various times, Jewish Community Center, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr. Free, but preregistration required here. (734) 971–0990. 

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

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