I expected to lead off today announcing I’d be rappelling down EMU’s eleven-story Hill Tower for Friends In Deed. Thing is, I hadn’t explained it to my husband. When he realized I was serious, he vetoed it. The cause is righteous, he told me, but the image of his co-parent dangling 100 feet in the air is too much for him to bear. Sometimes you must respect the mortal fears of those who love and need you. Marriage, amirite?

But! I’m throwing my weight behind the amazing Jenna Dawson, nanny to my daughter and founder of CareSeats, an Ypsi nonprofit that provides free car seats and expert installation advice to parents struggling to afford them. Jenna’s a dynamo, and she wants the adventure. Also, she wants to give back to Friends In Deed for the time they helped pay to fix her car.

So I ask: Click here and help us surpass the $1,000 mark. It won’t be my blobby body bouncing down from heaven on Sept. 23, and perhaps we’re all lucky to be spared the indignity of that blinding sight.

The news this week is incredibly slow, especially since we at a2view don’t think you need our help dissecting the outcome of a meaningless U-M football game – and that’s what’s filling up the local media. I would only recommend this excellent Michigan Daily essay by Connor Earegood responding harshly to the melodramatic whinging of the players and others over the suspended Jim Harbaugh taking a few Saturdays off. Free Harbaugh? I can think of a few others in need of actual freedom, can’t you?

As I ponder what dangerous stunt to scare my family with next, I wish you all a domestically tranquil week ahead.

– Steve Friess, Editor

Swift’s fate expected to be resolved Wednesday: The AAPS board was deadlocked 3-3 last week on whether to approve a voluntary settlement and resignation agreement to remove the superintendent, so the matter is on the next agenda when all seven members are expected to attend. Trustee Jeff Gaynor, who favors removing Jeanice Swift, missed last week’s meeting because of a Covid diagnosis.

UMich email users must change passwords by Tuesday: A missive sent out from the school’s IT office did not explain the reason for the unprecedented move, but it affects every account across all campuses as well as Michigan Medicine. Some recipients may have ignored the edict to change their passwords for fear it was a piece of malicious phishing spam, but the University Record confirms that it is a legitimate communication. Those who do not change their passwords by the deadline face “a more intricate account-recovery process.”

U-M, Microsoft team up for AI service: As higher education grapples with the revolution of “generative artificial intelligence,” the tech giant and the school are unveiling this fall what is believed to be first-in-the-nation campus-specific versions of GenAI, Brooke Marshall writes in this month’s Observer. University officials say that rather than shy away from embracing these new tools, as some top-tier universities have, they believe AI can be instrumental in new scientific and scholarly breakthroughs.

LGBTQ pioneer to get statue at City Hall: Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be elected to public office when she won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in 1974. The current council voted unanimously this week to spend $100,000 for a statue to be unveiled as part of the city’s bicentennial next year. Kozachenko, now a 70-year-old widow living in Pittsburgh, was largely unknown to the national media until 2015, when a2view editor Steve Friess wrote a lengthy profile of her for Bloomberg.

Report offers sixty-five ideas for closing county’s racial gap: A 187-page report from Washtenaw Equity Partners paid for by the Michigan Justice Fund and the Vera Institute of Justice included suggestions that range from using unarmed response teams for mental health-related 911 calls to eliminating school expulsions. It also calls for increase funding for anti-poverty and infrastructure programs in disadvantaged communities.

Saline cops absolved in chase that resulted in death: The county won’t prosecute the police officer who pursued nineteen-year-old Micah Damon Cross in May, MLive reports (paywall). Cross fled police when they tried to pull him over for speeding, and he went on to collide with another car as well as a utility pole. Cross died after his car rolled over and caught fire.

Ypsilanti Twp. moves to shutter nonprofit for Black men: The township has sued Men Like Us and its landlord to force the group to vacate their E. Michigan Ave. headquarters on grounds that their social gatherings have resulted in dozens of police calls, MLive reports. The group’s founders say they formed it in 2021 to feed unhoused people and offer mentoring programs, but the township points to numerous disorderly conduct reports and some violent incidents to assert it is a “public nuisance.” Founder Ardis Lewis Jr. says the effort against his group is racially motivated.

Ypsi to ban smoking on playgrounds: The ordinance, which passed unanimously this week on its first reading, also prohibits smoking in all city buildings and within fifteen feet of any play structure at any city park, WEMU reports. This includes the use of e-cigarettes, and violations carry a $50 fine. Council is expected to finalize the law on September 19.

Chelsea outage caused by lawn mower: The power failure, which also impacted Manchester, Stockbridge, and Gregory for three hours on Friday afternoon, was the result of a Consumers Energy contractor striking a guy wire, the city manager told MLive. The wire struck a high-voltage distribution system line, sending the region into darkness.

Ann Arborites excel in a New Yorker contest: The esteemed magazine’s cartoon caption challenge offers no prize except bragging rights, but it’s remarkable nonetheless how often locals have won recently given that some 4,000 people submit entries each week, Eve Silberman writes in this month’s Observer. It’s enough for a New Yorker editor to muse to the Observer that perhaps local folks like two-time winner Jessica Misener, Kurt Markert, and Rob Needham have “cracked the code.”

Twelve-foot puppet to “walk” Fifth Ave., visit campus: The street will be shut down from Kerrytown to the downtown library on Sept. 23 so Little Amal, an effigy of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl, can parade along that stretch at 7 p.m., MLive reports.  The puppet, intended as a symbol of world peace and support for refugees, has appeared in 97 towns in 15 countries since July 2021 as part of “The Walk,” and its Ann Arbor visit is part of a U.S. tour. 

A gender-inclusive clothing store opens in Nickels Arcade: One DNA, the brainchild of Ypsi native Travis Weaver, offers original designs that blur the lines between men’s and women’s wear, Dave Algase writes in this month’s Observer. The shop originated in Ypsi in 2020, then became a design studio and order fulfillment center in the arcade’s second floor last year. Its retail boutique opened in June on the first floor. 

Kerrytown’s Sweetwaters starts serving alcohol: The cafe landed a long-coveted liquor license and has begun offering beer and wine, co-owner Chris Hutton writes in an email to a2view. “We are having a very ‘soft’ opening presently but will start promoting it much more visibly in about two weeks,” he says. Jan Schlain wrote about the plan and the broader trend of cafes offering alcohol in the June Observer.

Big Boy comes to Big House: The Southfield-based burger chain opened an outpost at Michigan Stadium last weekend, serving up its Slim Jim sandwiches, shakes, and waffle fries to attendees of the season opener against East Carolina University, ClickOnDetroit reports. There’s even a giant Big Boy statue for fans to take selfies with.

Ypsi Meals on Wheels seeks help as five-day delivery returns: The nonprofit cut back to three days a week when Covid hit in March 2020, but next week they’re again dropping off two meals to clients every weekday, according to an email to supporters. That means YMOW needs more drivers to bring food to homebound residents. The nonprofit hopes to resume weekend delivery next year.

Annual Jewish Family Services walk is Sunday: The social services nonprofit, which helps resettle refugees, hosts Walk A Mile in My Shoes starting at 9 a.m. at Burns Park Elementary School. Information on how to participate or support the cause can be found here.

U-M food bank holds September collection effort: In honor of Hunger Action Month, the Maize and Blue Cupboard is partnering with MHealthy to put out bins for nonperishable donations in university dorms and department offices around campus, the University Record writes. MBC aims to help the 30 percent of U-M students experiencing food insecurity. Those who can’t access the collection boxes can also give money by clicking here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Do some square dancing and line dancing to live bluegrass, country, and vintage pop by the local Picks & Sticks Stringband at Salem Area Historical Society’s Annual Barn Dance. Cider and donuts available. Proceeds go to preserve the nearby Jarvis-Stone School and Dickerson Barn. 7–10 p.m., Three Cedars Farm, Six Mile Rd. just west of Curtis Rd. north off North Territorial. $5 donation (SAHS members, $3) at the door only. (248) 437–6651. 

Saturday: Bring your artist kid, grades K-12, with five pieces of their artwork (2D or 3D), to Gutman Gallery to enter Dreamland, the gallery’s call for art for children in Washtenaw County. You must sign up for a time slot via email. Each accepted piece will be on display October 6 to 28 at the gallery. 1 to 4 p.m., Gutman Gallery, 118 N. Fourth Ave. 

Sunday: Celebrate books and bookmaking at the A2 Community Bookfest  (formerly Kerrytown BookFest) at the downtown library. The largest one-day book festival in Michigan offers demonstrations, talks, signings, storytimes for kids, displays, and sale tables by local bookstores, booksellers, and publishers. The schedule includes Sonali Dev discussing her upcoming Bollywood-style contemporary romance novel “Lies and Other Love Languages” at 10:30 a.m., a writing workshop for kids ages nine to fourteen led by representatives from 826 Michigan at 1:30 p.m., mystery novelist Stephen Mack Jones discussing his Detroit-based “August Snow” series at 2:15 p.m., and more. Click here for the full schedule. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., AADL Downtown. Free. (734) 327–4200. 

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

Tell a friend about a2view

For Sponsorship and Advertising information 
Email:  a2view@aaobserver.com

Did this email get forwarded to you? 
Sign up to receive a2view direct to your inbox.