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As usual, you folks did not disappoint! I received so many interesting recommendations for dishes to make for my mom, who can’t have gluten, dairy, or black pepper, that I decided to just put them all in this somewhat messy Google Doc for all to enjoy.
Of those, I’m making these three this week:
● Roasted Fall Vegetable Salad from AllRecipes suggested by Bria Reiniger. I’ll be subbing pumpkin and delicata squash for butternut squash because my gourd-collecting autistic six-year-old’s current holdings include several of those and none of the other right now.
● Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Casserole from Meaningful Eats suggested by Celeste Kanpurwala. I’m subbing oat milk for coconut milk per Mom’s preference and topping it with mini-marshamallows instead of candied pecans as a throwback to my childhood. Also, pecans are expensive.
● Cranberries with Cherries, Marsala, and Rosemary, an original recipe from U-M mechanical engineer Ellen Arruda. I’m subbing brandy plus dry white wine for marsala because, as a non-drinker, I can’t bear to buy yet another bottle of alcohol for the few cups I need. (That’s how I ended up with the brandy and wine, actually.)
I also want to shout out two locally created sites I didn’t know about but where I found other cool ideas for future meals, Valerie’s Recipes and Ann Arbor Vegan Kitchen.
Here’s hoping everyone has a lovely, tasty holiday — and that you remember those who spent the start of this month in a particular panic about their access to food. Just because the SNAP drama is over (for now) doesn’t mean everyone who is hungry has what they need. Give to Food Gatherers if you can.
Your news is here. City staff endured a bumpy reception to ideas they pitched last week for reducing traffic deaths; the nation’s biggest concert venue will once again host The Game on Saturday; and controversy continues to surround Skyline High’s volleyball squad regarding a possible trans player even though the season is over.
Also, Observer contributor (and former a2view editor) Micheline Maynard is working on a piece for a future issue on Main Street. Can you take a moment for a this quick poll to help her out? We’d be grateful.
This was last week’s most-clicked link. (It’s a gift link that’ll be behind the MLive paywall again tomorrow.)
— Steve Friess, editor
Clarification: Last week, we noted that Kim Barnes Arico is the winningest women’s basketball coach in U-M history. Reader Paul Ward writes in to point out that she’s actually U-M’s winningest basketball coach, period, having last year surpassed former men’s head coach John Beilein’s record.
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Sunday night’s sunset over Superior Twp.
Credit: Steve Friess
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1. City traffic-deaths pitch hits a wall: Ann Arbor promised in 2021 it would eliminate serious injuries and deaths from traffic accidents by the end of 2025, aka next month, and instead the number of incidents so far this year has hit an eleven-year high. On November 19, Transportation Commission members eagerly awaited a year-end report and some promised new ideas, but transportation engineer Cynthia Redinger failed to impress. Her two big “asks” were for the commission’s support in a budget request to council for a driver-education campaign and to push for legal permission to set up red-light cameras and other “automated enforcement” techniques. Crashes In Ann Arbor author and safety advocate Peter Houk was especially dismayed, telling Redinger, “We have been trying unsuccessfully for a very long time to change driver behavior through driver education and messaging, and what we need to do is change our facilities to encourage drivers to interact in them the way we want them to. … We’re not going to get there by asking them nicely.” Council member Dharma Akmon tells a2view she’s also disappointed; she’s been pushing for quick-build traffic-slowing fixes like the recent redesign of Pauline Ave. Persuading Lansing lawmakers to reverse the current ban on automated enforcement — if it were likely to succeed, which she doubts — is not a fast-moving solution, she says. Watch the key part of the meeting here.
2. U-M big underdog again to beat Ohio State: In football, that is. (Michigan’s No. 2-ranked hockey team crushed the Buckeyes in two games last weekend, 5–2 and 8–1, the latter good for the rivalry’s 100th win.) ESPN gives the U-M a 21.8 percent shot at upsetting the perfect, dominating, No. 1-ranked Buckeyes. Lest we despair, though, consider:
- 2021: Ohio State was an 8-point favorite. Michigan wins 42–27.
- 2022: Ohio State was an 8.5-point favorite. Michigan wins 45–23.
- 2023: Ohio State was a 3-point favorite. Michigan wins 30–24.
- 2024: Ohio State was a 19.5-point favorite. Michigan wins 13–10.
If OSU does lose again, the Brown Jug has a signature drink on offer to dejected fans.
3. GOP lawmakers step into Skyline High trans athlete controversy: The girls’ volleyball team lost against Byron Center in the playoffs to end their season, but questions persist both about whether a trans athlete played for the Eagles and why a writer from a conservative website spent the better part of several months breathlessly covering this question. The Michigan Advance reports that “every female Republican member of Michigan’s House sent a letter on Tuesday to the Michigan High School Athletics Association, or MHSAA” demanding an answer to whether a trans player was on the team. The state allows trans high school athletes to play on the team of their chosen gender with a waiver from MHSAA; it’s unclear if Skyline has one or whether such information about minors is public information. Meanwhile, local talker Lucy Ann Lance co-hosted a segment rife with misinformation about transgender people with an anti-trans “expert” who took as truth the claim by the writer (who is known for “trolling women’s sports figures about trans women”) that he was harassed by Skyline High administrators. In the chat, Lance mocked the notion that trans people are happier after their transitions even though there is research — and the personal experience of just about anyone who knows a trans person — to show that most definitely are.
4. WCHD corrects CDC misinfo on autism: The county health department issued an extraordinary statement on its social media channels asserting that decades of research found no link between the developmental disorder and childhood vaccinations. The message counters the widely condemned decision by the Centers for Disease Control to claim last week on its website that studies have “not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” In response, the WCHD writes: “Vaccines are one of the most important public health innovations ever — right up there with clean drinking water. Additionally, there is no single, root cause of autism. Autism is a natural part of human diversity and autistic people deserve respect and support.”
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Learning Lag: Although they declined in 2024–25, AAPS students’ third-grade M-STEP scores remain higher than the Michigan average, and are among the highest in Washtenaw County, even as they continued to fall. Three elementaries, Angell, King, and Wines, even ranked in the top 1 percent statewide. Yet the comparison is tainted by the fact that Michigan’s overall scores are among the nation’s lowest. Read more
Last Call on CLUP: With the public comment period closing on January 5 in advance of a city council vote early next year, Charlotte Trumble traces the controversial history of Ann Arbor’s proposed Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The opposition group Ann Arbor Neighborhood Network continues to worry about the potential impact on residential neighborhoods of more permissive multifamily housing, whereas supporters of Neighbors for More Neighbors see the changes as encouraging more housing affordability and sustainability. Read more
What She Said: Our resident advice maven offers thoughts on how to “balance fun time with downtime” during the holiday season. Read more
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Mitchell Elementary students this week signed their names to a steel beam that will be affixed to the replacement school rising across the field during a topping off ceremony set for December 2. It’s the first of several new schools being built or renovated as part of a $1 billion voter-approved plan. The new Mitchell is due to open in fall of 2027. Credit: Steve Friess
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The new rebates to help with the transition to electric leaf blowers make sense but can anyone tell me why are they’re offering to help homeowners buy rakes, too? Read more
A condo intended as affordable housing evidently is owned by someone living in Maryland, which is against the rules. Now the city is exercising its ability to buy it back for up to $150,000 so it can sell it to someone who needs it. Read more
The Greenhills School is alive with the sound of expansion. Read more
AAPS weighed a new cell phone policy for students at a Friday meeting after more than 700 people (including me) signed a petition to ban them from class. Whatever they do, it won’t happen this school year. Read more
TV screenwriter-director Gordon Smith, appearing on last week’s episode of the official podcast for Apple TV’s new post-apocalyptic drama Pluribus, disclosed something fun: He’s a U-M alum. In fact, he says, he bonded with another alum, guest actress and Younger star Miriam Shor, over all things Wolverine.
Jake Tapper was here.
Secretary of state Jocelyn Benson’s husband promises to recuse himself from state work related to the Oracle-OpenAI data center if she is elected governor next year. He’s an exec with Stephen Ross’s Related Companies, which is shepherding the facility’s construction. Read more
A bunch of Ypsi businesses want to create a “social district” in Depot Town which would basically mean legalizing the open carry of alcohol. It sounded like a recipe for trouble to me, but my boss tells me there are lots of them across the state.
The ongoing work of restoring a long-neglected Black cemetery and using technology to figure out the locations of overgrown graves is endlessly fascinating.
Yumna Dagher, a recent U-M grad, is the thirty-third Wolverine ever to win a Rhodes Scholarship. I’d love to tell you what she plans to study at Oxford next year, but it goes way over my head so you’ll have to click here to try to figure it out.
The FDA this month approved a pill developed by two U-M researchers to treat acute myeloid leukemia. That’s fantastic, but one day someone must explain how drugs are named, because neither the scientific name, ziftomenib, nor the brand name, Komzifti, mean anything to consumers.
Congrats to the Pioneer High girls swim and dive team (below) on their sixth straight state championship. Read more
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Courtesy: AAPS
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Value City Furniture to close: The Ann Arbor location on E. Eisenhower is one of thirty-three slated to shut down as American Signature Inc., the Columbus, OH–based parent company of the chain, seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, USA Today reports. The company cites “one of the most severe housing market declines in recent history” for the downturn that prompted the move, according to Fast Company. No date for closure has been announced, but the store has begun offering liquidation discounts.
Bodega Bros adds a streamlined second location: Owner Esam Almulaiki, who brought the NYC-style twenty-four-hour deli and grill to North University in 2023, has opened Halal Bros 2 Go on S. State, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. The new site is challenging; the storefront has been vacant for nearly five years, since BTB Burrito departed.
Jeff Daniels to open eatery-club near Purple Rose: The Emmy winner and Chelsea theater owner is partnering with Tannin Property Group for JD’s Stage Bistro, a 100-seat restaurant and “world-class music venue that would attract local, regional, and nationally recognized singer-songwriters, while setting a new standard for sound quality,” according to a news release. The project’s kitchen will be headed up by Nate Wegryn, previously an executive sous chef at Echelon Kitchen.
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This annual 1702 Shadford Ave. explosion of lights and lawn décor is back — this time with a fundraising message. The display is much as it was last year when it drew coverage from the Detroit Free Press, but next to it stands a sign welcoming donations to a Pioneer men’s soccer campaign for Food Gatherers. The QR code on the sign directs funds to the homeowner and Allen Elementary fourth-grade teacher Carly Groves via Venmo. Credit: Steve Friess
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Three places for free meals on Thanksgiving: The Delonis Center, 312 W. Huron St., is serving to-go meals from noon to 1:30 p.m. furnished by Vineyard Church. Hope Clinic at 518 Harriet St. in Ypsi is offering grab-and-go meals from 5 to 6 p.m. And Trinity Health Michigan’s Chelsea Hospital, 775 S. Main St. in Chelsea, is serving sit-down meals from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. but registration is required by calling (734) 475–9242. For more information on all of these offerings, click here.
Kroger, 107.1 FM rock for Food Gatherers: The radio station’s personalities will broadcast live from the Kroger at 400 S. Maple Rd. for five days starting Tuesday to drum up support for the regional food bank. People can donate online, by calling (734) 761–2796, or in person where they also can drop off nonperishable food items and cash donations between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Ypsi Farmers Market continues SNAP Gap program: Shoppers with Bridge cards can still get $40 in tokens to spend at the market through winter even though the federal government shutdown is over and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is fully funded once again, Concentrate reports. Market manager Claire Austin says the recent crisis moved up plans to roll out a program like this next year. For more information, click here.
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By Jennifer Taylor
Thanksgiving Day: Before the feasting begins, put on some holiday-themed gear (not required) and run, walk, or crawl 5K along a downtown route at the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot. There’s also a 1K for kids under age ten. 8:15 a.m. (1K Tot Trot) and 8:45 a.m. (5K), 337 E. Liberty St. at Fourth Ave. $52 (Tot Trot, $25) online or in person on race morning, if available. (734) 929–9027.
Friday: Sing along to White Christmas, the 1954 backstage musical in which army buddies Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye make it big in show business and fall in love with Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Lyrics to the film’s Irving Berlin songs, “White Christmas,” “Sisters,” “Snow,” and more, are projected on screen. $5 goodie bags by reservation. Preceded at 6:30 p.m. by caroling to the organ. 7 p.m., Michigan Theater. Free. First come, first seated. marquee-arts.org.
Saturday: Visit Leslie Science & Nature Center’s Critter House to view magnificent birds of prey on the mend as well as frogs, turtles, snakes, and other species native to Michigan. Noon to 3 p.m., LSNC, 1831 Traver. $5 suggested donation.
Sunday: Delight in the sounds of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. This celebrated quartet plays a blend of bluegrass, jazz, funk, world beat, and avant-garde music. Tonight they play reinvented jazz-infused holiday classics from their Grammy-winning album Jingle All the Way. 4 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Tickets $17 to $83 (students $15 to $20) in advance online and (if available) at the door.
See the Observer’s online calendar for many more local events.
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