Hi there! I’m Brooke Black, the Observer’s new editor in chief. Steve asked me to share a bit about my background, so here goes.

I grew up in rural northern Vermont, went to school in Atlanta, and then I was a nomad from ages twenty-five to thirty-nine. I’ve walked from Georgia to Maine, biked from Raleigh to Seattle, and biked on every continent. I’ve driven a double-articulated flatbed tractor-trailer on a glacier and operated a Cat IT-28 to load scientific equipment into military aircraft (including a DC-3 that likely saw action in WWII). I spent two years living in a one-room house with no electricity; I pumped my own water and carried it in a bucket on my head, and I cultivated an acre of maize using traditional Malawian farming methods. I’m a damn good waitress and I’m well-versed in the art of hitchhiking. I was a lunchlady in Antarctica.

As part of my research for my master’s in cultural anthropology, I got a CDL and drove an eighteen-wheeler for a summer. I started a nonprofit that pays college tuition for kids in Malawi. I’m 6-foot-2 and I suck at basketball. I bring my own maple syrup to restaurants. At networking events, I’m always secretly trying to get people to break character and be real with me. (Corey, Leo, and Ashley all know what I’m talking about.) 

I share this information to give you a sense of my worldview. John Hilton is a historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of Ann Arbor. I am a cultural anthropologist who’s adopted “participant observation” as my modus operandi. (That’s anthropology-speak for “ya can’t talk the talk if ya don’t walk the walk.”) I took the job of editor in chief because, like so many of the jobs I’ve held, it’s not a paycheck, it’s an identity. 

As editor in chief, I plan to use the Observer’s privileged position to share stories, amplify voices, shine a spotlight on people creating change, and present challenging situations with accuracy, objectivity, and fairness. My travels have taught me to always try to be curious, open-minded, and kind. They’ve also taught me how to set and achieve a goal: decide where you want to go, do your research, figure out a route from here to there, and then take it one step at a time. As an alumna of the Emory Wheel, Emory University’s student-run paper, I believe that journalistic objectivity should be the goal of every story, period. And as an alumna of John Hilton’s Observer, I believe that a story is incomplete if you fail to acknowledge the human element – “hands that can grasp,” he’s fond of quoting, “eyes that can dilate.”

Now, I know this is running long, but I feel it’s important to introduce our leadership team. I couldn’t do the job ahead without them. 

Our creative director, Caron Valentine-Marsh, has been with the Observer for twenty-six years. Her design aesthetic is classic and timeless – and yet, she’s also been the driving force behind the modernization of the Observer. That includes the transition to digital layouts and figuring out how to shift our operations to Google Drive during the pandemic. She has a soothing energy, even during the two-day stress-whirlwind that is production. When Caron’s around, I feel like everything’s gonna be all right. 

I was trying to figure how to describe deputy editor Amy Sumerton’s creativity, and I wrote, “A conversation with her is like white-water rafting down a river called IDEAS.” The beautiful irony is, if I shared that sentence with Amy, she’d laugh, say something encouraging, and then effortlessly reword it to perfection. She’s a supportive team player who makes people feel heard and seen, and I come away from our weekly editorial meetings with a scrawled list of ideas and an energized feeling like WATCH OUT WE ARE GONNA CHANGE THE WORLD. 

Courtney Sidor is our marketing and revenue director. In the fourteen years she’s been at the Observer, she’s had a half-dozen different titles (administrative assistant, circulation, copywriting, ad coordinating, advertising director, lead sales representative), which means she knows how it all works. And she’s going to use this intimate knowledge of the Observer’s inner machinations to keep our publication profitable. She’s a deep thinker who identifies problems and transforms them into opportunities. 

And finally, there’s Danielle Jones, who after 18 years with the Observer has been promoted to publisher. She’s smart and savvy, principled and honest, a natural leader, the kind of person who sparks connections and inspires respect. She ALSO founded a nonprofit, The Drive Forward Foundation, to provide free drivers ed for students who can’t afford it. She’s also incredibly devoted to the work — if I email her at 5 a.m., I know I’ll get a response by 5:03. Sometimes what’s ahead makes me feel like I’m behind the wheel of a ship sailing into uncharted seas at sunset. (I can’t help it, I love a nautical metaphor.) But knowing that Danielle is my co-captain makes me feel confident and empowered, like not only are we going to survive, we’re going to lead the way to new and exciting places. Stay tuned.

As Steve says, your news is here. And this was last week’s most-clicked link.

– Brooke Black, editor in chief
…with thanks to Steve Friess, a2view editor

Relieved council accepts $10.8M renewable energy grant: City leaders braced for the possible cancellation of the money dedicated to advancing efforts to help the Bryant neighborhood eliminate greenhouse gas emissions given how drastically the Trump administration has been cutting support for such efforts, MLive reports. The funds, from the Department of Energy, were approved at the end of the Biden administration to pay for a large-scale geothermal network, but the city heard no follow-up until late September when they received the final grant agreement. Still to come: finding another $10.8 million for the required local match. 

Michigan Medicine lands $16.5M for back pain research: The money from the National Institutes of Health goes toward efforts by the Department of Anesthesiology to develop personalized medicine for individuals with chronic lower-back pain, the University Record writes. “We hear so often from patients about the frustration of what is typically a hit-and-miss process,” said Afton Hassett, a co-principal investigator on the study, which will recruit 500 volunteers. “Our goal is to develop solutions that are accessible for any clinic, so more people get meaningful relief, sooner.” 

Trump’s targeting of foreign students hurts U-M: While the enrollment figures released last month show a record number of applicants and first-year students, total enrollment of international students was down 6 percent – a result, Ken Garber reports in this month’s Observer, of the federal effort to curb immigration of all kinds. The Ross School of Business, for example, fell short of its MBA enrollment target in the spring, sparking a summerlong effort to fill seats. Foreign students are jittery about coming to the U.S. schools after a spring during which the feds moved to revoke hundreds of student visas and cut budgets for research they were doing. Other schools have it worse: the Wall Street Journal reports that St. Louis University suffered a 45 percent overall decline and the University of Cincinnati saw its graduate enrollment drop 25 percent.

New dorms prompt $23M sewer system upgrade: Council unanimously approved a cost-sharing deal in which U-M pays about $16 million and the city puts up the rest, according to public records. The work will enable the system to handle additional sewage to come from the 2,300-bed campus residence and dining facility due to open in 2026 on the former Elbel Field as well as the 2,500-bed dorm and mess hall planned nearby; that one won’t open until late 2028 at the earliest.

City spends $271K to promote awareness of snow parking rules: Council approved a contract last month with the Q+M advertising agency to inform the public of a law passed in January requiring motorists to remove cars from the streets in advance of major storms, MLive reports. The messages will focus on a variety of groups including U-M students, commuters, and AAPS parents and teachers. The law requires the city to give drivers at least twelve hours’ notice to move their vehicles.

Commemoration, protest mark second Oct. 7 anniversary: About 200 people turned out for a vigil organized by the Students Supporting Israel in memory of the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostage, the Michigan Daily writes, planting dozens of small Israeli flags on the Diag to form a large Star of David. At the same time, about 400 demonstrators rallied and marched downtown to denounce Israel’s response to attacks and U-M’s refusal to divest from companies that allegedly profit from Israel’s military campaign, according to another Daily report. The protest, organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, included the chanting of such slogans as “Long live the intifada,” and “Israel bombs, U of M pays, how many kids did you kill today?” 

Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain for now: The high court said the Biden-appointed Federal Reserve governor, whom President Trump is attempting to fire, can keep her job while the justices hear arguments and decide whether he has such power, ScotusBlog reports. The Trump administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud based on claims that in 2021 she obtained loans on her longtime Ann Arbor home as well as one in Atlanta by declaring both her primary residences. Cook says the allegations are unfounded, and Reuters reported last month on documents that undermine the claims against her. A federal district court judge sided with her in her lawsuit fighting her termination; the Supreme Court will hear arguments in January.

Faced with lawsuit, Saline Twp. may allow server farm after all: The board previously voted 4-1 to reject a 2.2-million-square-foot data center planned by Dallas-based Related Digital, but last week, trustees voted by the same margin to authorize their attorney to negotiate a settlement to a lawsuit over that decision that could allow the facility to be built, the Saline Post writes. The township’s demands include limits on land and water use, $4 million for a farmland preservation trust fund, and $8 million for investments to the Saline Area Fire Department. Those are significantly more than the developer has offered, and attorney Fred Lucas cautioned that the vote “may be a moot point if they don’t accept what we have presented to them.”

Pulitzer-winning site spotlights U-M, Los Alamos data center proposal: In the first of a three-part series on Michigan communities rebelling against proposed server farms, Inside Climate News examines the $1.25 billion plan to build a 300,000-square-foot taxpayer-subsidized data center with a twenty-acre electric substation in Ypsilanti Twp. The township’s attorney tells the outlet that U-M’s involvement is “especially galling because the university does not pay taxes and has refused to help cover infrastructure costs local taxpayers must foot related to public safety, roads and utilities.” 

Map shows A2 homes of Madonna, Tom Brady, Gerald Ford: If you’ve ever wondered where Wolverine alum celebrities rested their heads when they were in Tree Town, the University Record this week published a fun graphic noting the apartments and dorms of forty-two bold-faced names. (The Record left off a couple of infamous figures, notably “Dr. Death” Jack Kervorkian and Haitian dictator Papa Doc Duvalier, that the Observer included in a similar 1997 roundup.) The map stretches back to the early 1910s, when future advertising visionary Leo Burnett stayed at 435 East University and comes all the way to 2000s when eventual Emmy winner Darren Criss resided at Baits II.

Deadly intersection getting safety upgrades: Rapid flashing beacons triggered by a pedestrian button and new pavement markings are coming to Tuttle Hill and Merritt roads in Ypsilanti Twp., WXYZ reports. Community advocates outraged at the death of a fourteen-year-old cyclist struck by a car there in June persuaded the Washtenaw County Road Commission to act.

Sobriety tests coming for nighttime scooter users: Council voted to require Spin, the company that manages the publicly available electric scooters and bikes, to test riders “during certain hours” through the company’s phone app, according to public records. The contract does not specify what hours, but councilmember Dharma Akmon tells the Michigan Daily the change was prompted by a deadly “late-night” crash last year. It’s unclear what Spin’s app would measure in assessing sobriety; some apps require users to complete certain tasks or answer questions, some calculate blood alcohol levels when the user breathes into an attachment, and others use the phone’s cameras or sensors to examine the user’s gait and other physical movements.

Church hosts gun buyback on Saturday: Residents can get a $200 gift card for Kroger or Meijer in exchange for an assault weapon or a $100 card for a pistol and $50 for a long gun, according to an online post. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church at 1679 Broadway St. Registration is required here.

Watco takes over Great Lakes Central Railroad, plans $3.7M investment: GLC, which runs some 400 miles of freight rail from Ann Arbor to Cadillac, is the international conglomerate’s forty-seventh short line, according to a post by the company on X. Watco, which also owns the Ann Arbor Railroad between the city and Toledo, announced the acquisition earlier this year and received federal approval in August. GLC moves 48,000 carloads of agricultural commodities, fertilizers, plastics, and liquified petroleum gas each year, Trains.com reports.

B2B trailhead named for fallen Air Force vet: Joel Gentz, a 2002 Chelsea High graduate, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010 while “assisting a wounded British soldier,” the Sun Times News reports. The dedication of the trailhead at TimberTown Park in Chelsea marked the completion of an overhaul to the park.

Students protest talks by AI-assisted artists: Upcoming appearances by designer Eddie Opara and members of the Marshmallow Laser Feast collective are spurring an uproar from opponents of the use of artificial intelligence, the Daily writes. Both are scheduled to speak in a mandatory lecture series next month; opponents have hung signs inside the Stamps School of Art & Design reading, “Tell them you don’t want to see an art world with AI in it.” The lecture series director defended presenting “a wide range of perspectives and creative voices that reflect the evolving landscape of contemporary art and design.”

U-M School of Nursing to increase enrollment amid shortage: With both need and burnout rising in the profession, the university is looking for ways to improve well-being programs and open up more spaces for students, the Daily writes. In 2023, according to Nurse Journal, more than 65,000 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools across the nation; the School of Nursing aims to increase its first-year enrollment to 300 from 250 students next year.

Gift to launch sports medicine institute: Nate and Catherine Forbes are giving an unspecified amount to U-M to create a statewide hub for innovation in orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and sports medicine, according to a press release. The institute will bear the name of the couple, who are co-chairs of the university’s $7 billion Look to Michigan capital campaign. Nate Forbes is a high-end mall developer who owns the Somerset Collection in Troy.

John U. Bacon takes time with Edmund Fitzgerald history: The Ann Arbor-based bestselling author took four years to report and write his newest book, The Gales of November, about the infamous Lake Superior shipwreck because he wanted to honor the twenty-nine men who perished in the 1975 disaster, he tells Jan Schlain in this month’s Observer. Bacon, who has written four books about U-M football, conducted hundreds of interviews with the families of the crew and many others, but he also lucked into a key figure – Harry Atkins, an old friend from the press box at Michigan Stadium, had written the first account of the sinking for the Associated Press. The book’s release is timed to overlap with the fiftieth anniversary of the ship’s sinking on Nov. 10.

Cheese shop breaks off from Zingerman’s: What used to be Zingerman’s Creamery in Pittsfield Twp. is now Sanilac Creamery as the majority owner, Arend Elston, has assumed total ownership, MLive reports. The business launched in 2001 to supply Zingerman’s Bakehouse with cream cheese; Zingerman’s owned 10 percent of the company until recently. The shop will continue to supply the Ann Arbor “Community of Businesses” with cheeses and gelati, according to a notice on its website. Elston hails from Sanilac County.

Vintage boutique owner digs the fifties: That’s why Alex Kent named her new shop in Nickels Arcade the Atomic Trading Co., she tells Dave Algase in this month’s Observer. The Community High and U-M alum says she was inspired to open the shop after spending five years as a full-time caregiver for her mother and stepfather. Facing mortality “frees you … and it sort of takes the fear away from jumping into a very scary thing like this, which is a big risk,” she says. Her mother’s attic treasures helped stock the store. “She might prefer that her stuff isn’t just sitting in a box, that people are giving it life and it’s back out seeing the world,” Kent says.

Juicy Kitchen blaze may close restaurant for months: The owners of the Maple Rd. eatery thought they’d be back in business sooner after a freezer caught fire on Sept. 17, but the repairs turned out to be more extensive than expected, according to a GoFundMe campaign that has raised nearly $18,000 for the staff during the closure. “Everything in the cafe must be removed and professionally sanitized and cleaned, the wall the freezer was against will need to be torn down and rebuilt, ceiling tiles, insulation, and equipment will have to be replaced due to smoke damage, along with an almost total loss of inventory,” co-owner Kelby Behan writes.

Volunteers sought for Sunday’s Trick-or-Treat on the River: The Halloween event, which includes families paddling on the Huron in canoes and kayaks to visit candy stations, still needs people to hand out goodies, guide games, and welcome attendees, the city says. To sign up, click here and then choose shifts from those linked on the calendar. The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and includes games around the Gallup Park Canoe Livery.

Wine event supports ALS research: Active Against ALS’s third annual Uncork A Cure soiree is from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 16 at York Food and Drink on Packard St. Tickets start at $120 each and can be bought online or at the door. Admission includes food from York, desserts from Zingerman’s, four two-ounce tastes of wine or two beers and a souvenir wine glass. Last year’s event raised more than $30,000; as of Thursday, the organization already had raised nearly $26,000.

Buddy’s offers “rivalry pizzas” to benefit Ronald McDonald House: The chain’s locations across the state are dishing out “The Wolverine” (Italian sausage, caramelized onions, pineapple) and “The State Square” (ground beef, spinach, white onions) during October with $1 from each sale going to the Ronald McDonald Houses in Ann Arbor and East Lansing, according to an RMHC Facebook post. The event was kicked off at the Ann Arbor-Saline location on Oct. 1 with 15 percent of all sales going to RMHC.

By Bree Stilwell

“My ten-year-old daughter is learning to play clarinet, and she’s obsessed with marching bands. How early is too early to start training to be in the Michigan Marching Band?”

As a parent myself, I sensed a familiar caution here. “How early is too early?” is a common concern when doing the hard work of managing our kids’ goals, passions, expectations, and ambitions. So, let’s do the heavy lifting first. To help navigate the potential perils of musical training, I talked to local music education royalty, Steve Osburn—aka Steve Oz—owner of Oz’s Music.

Read more

Next week’s reader question(s): Are these questions from actual people? Can I really ask you anything, like, even about my love life??

Need Ann Arbor-ish advice? Email [email protected].

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Witness the world premiere of Theatre Nova’s “Dry Summer,” Ann Arbor playwright Robert Axelrod’s comedy/drama about a depressed twentysomething gay Jewish man who returns to his A2 family home to get his life back on track. When he takes a job as a “sober companion” to his recovering alcoholic neighbor, an unconventional friendship ensues. 8 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.), 3 p.m. (Sat.), and 2 p.m. (Sun.). Theatre Nova, 410 W. Huron St. Tickets $30 in advance online at the door. (734) 635–8450. 

Saturday: Bring or buy apples to press your own cider at Pittsfield Union Grange’s “Apple Day.” Also, apple baked goods for sale, and apple tastings. To purchase apples, email [email protected] or call (734) 274–0773 in advance, or bring your own (one bushel or less). Bring your own jugs if you have them. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Pittsfield Grange, 3337 Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. Free. [email protected]. 

Sunday: Take in works by about 100 regional artists ranging from paintings and jewelry to ceramics at the Guild of Artists & Artisans’ A2 Artoberfest. Also, live music, family-friendly art-making activities, and food. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sat.) and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Sun.), Downtown on N. Fourth Ave. and Ann St. Free admission.

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

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