Election season is hitting that point at which everyone loses their minds. The avalanches of polling, political hot takes, and menacing ads are overwhelming and often emotionally difficult to digest. Bad news: It gets more intense in the next few weeks.

My suggestion if it’s getting to you: Tune out. To the extent that a journalist like me can do so, I am. I’ve unsubscribed from “Pod Save America,” stopped hitting refresh on Mediaite every five minutes, turned off notifications from X, Threads, and Politico.

Instead, I’m re-reading my favorite Ann Patchett novel, “State of Wonder.” I’ve found a fun podcast called “The Rewatchables” on which movie nerds spend an hour or so dissecting their favorite “old” (read: 1980s and 1990s) movies. I’m melting into the sweetness of the Netflix romances “Heartstopper” and “Nobody Wants This” and working hard to transition my “Frozen”-obsessed three-year-old to the “Wicked” soundtrack before we take her to see the upcoming movie for her first cinema excursion.

We’re also taking a lot of glorious Ann Arbor autumn walks and have every intention of checking out all five of these local foliage suggestions from Concentrate. We’re already fans of Parker Mill Park and are very familiar with the playground, if not the trails, at County Farm Park. The others are exciting new options!

Somehow, even without trying, I’m still up to date on real-world news. Trust me, it seeps in anyway regardless of precautions. But even a degree less stress feels better and healthier already.

I don’t mean to suggest you ignore the local news, though! That’s here for you as usual.

– Steve Friess, editor

Deal averts Michigan Medicine strike: SEIU Healthcare Michigan, a new union representing about 2,700 respiratory therapists, ECMO specialists, phlebotomists, patient care technicians, inpatient unit clerks and clerical staff, reached a tentative, three-year agreement with the hospital system Monday, avoiding a scheduled one-day work stoppage on Tuesday, the Michigan Advance writes. Details of the deal were not released and must be ratified by the membership, but demands included wage increases and better health insurance.

Thousands of U-M patients warned of possible data breach: A Michigan Medicine employee fell for a trick by a cyberattacker that potentially exposed the information of nearly 58,000 people, the health system says in a press release. The breach took place on July 30; investigators did not turn up evidence that the attack was meant to obtain patient information but could not rule that out. Notices were mailed to the affected patients in late September. Those concerned about the breach who did not receive a letter can call the Michigan Medicine Assistance Line at (877) 225-2078.

Santa Ono’s contract extended to 2032: The sixty-one-year-old U-M president, hired in 2022 under a five year contract, will also get a raise to a base salary of $1.3 million, the University Record writes. Regents lauded his leadership in growing enrollment, expanding the state footprint of Michigan Medicine, and plotting out the university’s ambitious ten- and twenty-five-year plans. 

A2 doesn’t owe stormwater fee refunds, court says: The Michigan Court of Appeals tossed a lawsuit against the city filed by residents and businesses seeking millions of dollars in reimbursements for fees they say were collected illegally. In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel ruled that the city’s stormwater fees cannot be construed as a tax. “Given that the charges at issue are primarily used to fund the operational and capital expenses” of the system, the judges wrote in a twenty-three-page order, “we conclude that those charges primarily serve valid regulatory purposes.”

Police confiscate 3D-printed gun, charge two: Ann Arbor officers found the firearm with no serial number during a traffic stop in the 600 block of N. Maple Rd., according to an AAPD post on Facebook. The 18-year-old driver and 19-year-old passenger were charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a five-year felony.

Threatened mussels to be moved before dam removal: The wavy-rayed lampmussels and black sandshells, found during a summer census at Ypsilanti’s Peninsular Dam, will be relocated as part of the removal project, the Huron River Watershed Council writes in its fall newsletter. The project, which could start as soon as late 2025, will reconnect three miles of the Huron River; ecologists believe it will vastly improve the aquatic ecosystem. A three-minute video showing the watershed council’s volunteer effort to survey the mussel census is here.

Bobcat Bonnie’s closes amid union push: The Ypsilanti outpost of the regional gastropub chain shut down this week. Owner Matthew Buskard wrote in a staff memo that he is looking into “inappropriate and/or harassing behavior,” according to a social media post from a group trying to unionize the employees. Leaders of Bobcats United, which is working with the IWW to organize the company’s service workers and has promised to picket its headquarters in Ferndale this weekend, have been visiting other locations to encourage employees to sign on to the unionizing effort. On Instagram, the group says the lease of the Ypsi store expires in two weeks; Buskard initially said the Ypsi shutdown was temporary but Fox 2 Detroit reports that the company later announced that it would be permanent.

Pickleball community rallies around cancer patient: Retired Ann Arbor teacher Ken Monash had just started working the front desk at Wolverine Pickleball when he needed time off for treatment, Antonio Cooper writes in this month’s Observer, so he was surprised when the sport’s tight-knit community blitzed him with get-well wishes. Monash, who started playing the game with his wife in 2022, has completed chemo and is undergoing a six-week course of radiation. Though he’s constantly tired, he told Cooper, he’s excited to return to the court as soon as he can. 

Pianist Rick Roe’s Thelonious Monk obsession began at Community High: In Davi Napoleon’s Ann Arborite profile in this month’s Observer, the performer and music educator traces the many ways his upbringing and lifelong association with A2 shaped him, from hearing Dizzy Gillespie at the Bird of Paradise to being told by Wynton Marsalis that he’s a fan. 

New Gallup Park Bridge to open next week: A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Oct. 24 for the span that replaced the deteriorating one demolished earlier this year, the city says. A news release boasts it has “double the space for pedestrians and cyclists, includes overlook spaces at the center of the bridge and maintains the character and rustic charm of the old structure.” 

Sidewalk proposal divides Brockman Blvd. residents: Opponents object that the city’s plan to add walkways between Packard and Ferdon could mean uprooting dozens of trees, MLive reports. Others, including parents with children and people with disabilities, want sidewalks for safety on the increasingly busy street. One option floated by Ward 3 councilmember Travis Radina would narrow the roadway to slow traffic and add the sidewalks in the reclaimed space to preserve the trees.

MDOT holds open house on US-23 next week: The agency has already scaled back its ambitions for upgrading the highway, axing plans to widen it after widespread outrage and focusing primarily on rebuilding the existing road to meet modern needs as outlined in its Safely Connecting Communities plan. MDOT will offer “short presentations” at 12:30, 1:30, 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 p.m. on Monday in rooms 101 and 130 of WCC’s Morris Lawrence Building. The public is also invited to offer feedback online until Nov. 5 here. 

Supreme Court rejects case involving local mom: The nation’s highest court agreed with lower courts that tossed a lawsuit filed by Raelyn Davis of Saline and parents in Virginia who claimed a Justice Department memo stifled their First Amendment free speech rights, CNN reports. Davis and her co-plaintiffs asserted that the 2021 memo, which directed officials to keep a close eye on threats directed at public school officials, treated parents who harshly criticized school boards as domestic terrorists. Lower courts found the parents had not shown that the government had taken action against them or harmed them; the Supreme Court dismissed the case without comment. Davis has been critical of Saline Schools’ policies on transgender students.

AAPS uses “military-grade mapping technology” in active-shooter preparedness: The Detroit News writes (paywall) that the district in June 2023 bought Critical Response Group software to give first responders “accurate and updated information when responding to a critical incident in their thirty-three buildings and across their 640 acres of property, including Huron, Pioneer and Skyline high schools.” The purchase was prompted by confusion during what turned out to be a false active-shooter alarm at Huron High; with its multiple curving wings, first responders had trouble finding the entrances.

Ranked-choice voting advocates hold local forums: The public is invited to town halls at 6 p.m. tonight at the Ypsilanti District Library on Whitaker, at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the AADL’s Traverwood branch, and at 6 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the Downtown library to hear about efforts to institute a new system that allows voters to list the order of their preferences for all candidates in a race. It’s part of a statewide tour by members of the nonprofit Rank MI Vote, who aim to put the question on a future ballot as a statewide initiative. The system is used most notably in Alaska and New York City. Read more from the proponents here. 

Mott kids send support to Lions star Aiden Hutchinson: The Plymouth native and standout U-M defensive end broke his leg during a sack on Sunday in Detroit’s rout of the Dallas Cowboys. His smallest fans at the children’s hospital, which he visits regularly as part of his philanthropic efforts, recorded heartwarming and heart-felt get-well messages posted to social media. The love goes both ways; the home screen of Hutchinson’s merchandise website urges people concerned about his injury to donate to Mott.

Novel downtown pastry shop offers Barbie-esque setting: Owner Amanda Debek calls the new House of Chimney Cakes “my personal dream” and tells the Observer’s Dave Algase how excited she is to finally open after long construction delays. The shop is a franchise of a small California chain whose “chimney cakes” are named for the steam given off when the dough, wrapped around a wooden dowel, emerges from the oven. The original shops only offer sweet treats, but Debek has expanded the menu to savory options, too. 

Madras Masala opens a second location: The Indian restaurant was burned out of its Maynard St. home in a January 2023 fire and reopened on Packard ten months later. At the time, owner Gopal Ramanujam told the Observer that he planned to open a second spot in March 2024; it took longer than he’d hoped, but he recently debuted Madras Masala Express on Broadway. 

Sheetz coming to Ypsi: The Pennsylvania-based convenience store and gas station chain is adding three more Michigan locations including one at 2103 W. Michigan Ave., ClickOnDetroit reports. The brand, well-known in the northeastern U.S. for its expansive made-to-order food options, opened its first Michigan store in Romulus in August and will have eight when this latest expansion is completed. An opening date has not been announced.

Library hosts costume swap: The event, held from 11 a.m. to noon on Sunday at the AADL Downtown library, is an opportunity for folks to pick up gently used outfits for Halloween that donors have been dropping off all month. The swap itself is a bit of a misnomer; attendees don’t have to bring anything to give. 

Interfaith Roundtable offers free winter wear: The public is invited to take whatever they need among the donated coats, boots, sweaters, and other cold-weather clothes available at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 941 Grove Rd. in Ypsi from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Friday is reserved for people who obtain vouchers from various social services agencies including Jewish Family Services, Hope Clinic, House by the Side of the Road, Ozone House, Senior Living Advocate, and Swoops Food Pantry; anyone can also send an individual request to this email address.

Volunteers sought Sunday for parks upkeep: Helpers are needed to assist in removing invasive shrubs in Britton Woods at County Farm Park from 1 to 4 p.m., according to the county’s parks and recreation website. Click here to register. Volunteers must be eleven years of age or older. Email here with questions.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Catch some of the twenty-eighth annual Edgefest, an event DownBeat lists as one of the world’s fifty top jazz/avant music festivals, with performances throughout the evening (at 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m.) of the world’s best experimental and improvisational musicians. They include Vancouver-based improvisational quintet the Josh Zubot Strings at 9 p.m. and West African-influenced William Parker New Heart Trio at 10 p.m. Through Saturday, at Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave. Individual show tickets in advance here and (if available) at the door. $60 to $75 day passes and $200 to $350 Edgepasses in advance only online and by phone. (734) 769–2999. 

Saturday: See the Elevator Repair Service take on James Joyce’s “Ulysses” in a highly abridged version that “retains much of the original’s humor, pathos and bawdiness,” according to the New York Times. This New York City-based theater company is best known for “Gatz”, its award-winning verbatim staging of the entirety of the text of The Great Gatsby. 7:30 p.m. (Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun.). Power Center. Tickets $36 to $67 (students, $15 to $20) in advance only at ums.org/season. 

Sunday: Hear U-M history professor Katherine French’s talk “Cooking in London after the Black Death,” about how food habits changed after the bubonic plague hit England in 1348. Survivors enjoyed increased wages, which they spent in part on food, kitchen equipment, and tableware. Followed by Q&A. 4 to 5:30 p.m., AADL Downtown, 4th fl. Also via livestream; get URL at culinaryhistoriansannarbor.org. Free. (734) 327–4200. 

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

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