More than twenty years ago, I interviewed James Earl Jones. It was a time before most reporters used digital recorders and both my article and that audio are lost. I recall the conversation as brief and not all that interesting – except for how it began.

“Mr. Freeeeeeeze, is it?” he asked in that iconic, avuncular baritone. Having the voice of Darth Vader and CNN say your name – and with an affectation! – was a little bit like having Warhol sketch you or Streisand sing you a lullaby.

I kept thinking about that moment after learning he died at ninety-three this week. But I didn’t think I had any reason to mention it to anyone until I discovered from Michigan alum and superfan Jane Coaston on the daily news podcast “What A Day” that Jones was also a U-M grad. I hadn’t known that! I wonder where his “papers” will go? 

In other news, the city council has opened up another swath of land for high-density development, a racial schism has formed within the pro-Palestinian coalition, and there’s an absolutely wild story of a missing bird finding exactly the right feeder to help find its way home.

As Jones might say, This is a2view.

– Steve Friess, editor

Council rezones another 100 acres for high-density development: Fifty-nine properties along Washtenaw Ave. and E. Stadium Blvd. are now open to mixed-use residential buildings up to 300 feet tall in places under the TC1 designation, according to city records. This is the fourth swath of the city to be redesignated as TC1, following similar changes for areas along S. State St and Eisenhower Pkwy., Maple Rd. and W. Stadium, and Plymouth Rd. The goal is to turn these thoroughfares into “transit corridors” where large numbers of residents would be able to use public transportation rather than rely on cars. 

City makes an exception to its ban on gas leaf blowers: Council voted 9-2 to amend the new law to permit their use for controlled burns after being told electric leaf blowers don’t work as well, according to city records. The ban prohibits their use from June through September until 2028, when only electric leaf blowers will be allowed at any time. The amendment must be approved in a second reading for it to become effective.

AAPS buys four electric buses for $1.6M: The district says it will take delivery on them next year as it continues to transition its fleet of 134 buses, MLive reports. Each of the seventy-seven-passenger vehicles is $412,782, but the district is expecting an $800,000 federal grant to offset most of the cost. AAPS already has four electric buses in its fleet.

Revived state law may upend restaurant business: The decision by the Michigan Supreme Court to restore a 2018 measure to significantly increase the minimum wage would boost the hourly pay for tipped workers from $3.93 per hour to $6 per hour next year, then continue to increase over the next five years until it matches the state’s minimum wage, which under the measure will rise to $15 an hour. Cynthia Furlong Reynolds writes in this month’s Observer that the local restaurant industry is reacting cautiously – none of eighteen restaurateurs contacted would talk on the record about the impact to their bottom lines. – but workers worry that the raises may prompt diners to lower their tips.

Biden signs executive order at union hall: At a shared facility for UA Local 190 and IBEW NECA 252 on Jackson Rd. in Scio Twp., the president inked a “Good Jobs” measure that seeks to implement consistent labor standards, raise wages and increase worker benefits, the Michigan Daily reports. Ann Arbor congresswoman Debbie Dingell and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared with Biden. Watch Biden’s remarks in full on C-SPAN. A half-mile away, a group of about seventy pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated against Biden’s support of Israel amid the war with Hamas in Gaza.

“Rampant anti-Blackness” prompts group exit from pro-Palestinian coalition: The Black Student Union has dropped out of the TAHRIR Coalition, which claims more than ninety U-M groups in its alliance demanding U-M divest from companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the Daily reports. In its statement, the BSU says “the integrity of the TAHRIR Coalition is deeply questionable” because “Black identities, voices, and bodies are not valued.” 

Judge denies injunction sought by U-M regents hopeful: Huwaida Arraf, a civil rights attorney and pro-Palestinian activist, is suing the Michigan Democratic Party after she failed to secure a nomination for the office at the state convention last month. She asked a Lansing judge to pause the finalization of November’s ballots while her questions around the party’s voting and tabulating practices are adjudicated, but the Michigan Advance reports that the judge refused to do so. The party nominated current regent Denise Ilitch and former regent Shauna Ryder Diggs to run for the two seats up for election this year.

AG’s office says campaign finance proposal conflicts with state law: The question of whether to set up a Fair Elections Fund to pay for mayoral and city council campaigns will still be on the ballot in November despite assistant attorney general George Elworth’s letter to the governor saying it would likely be struck down by courts, MLive reports (paywall). The citizen-initiated proposal, which would carve out 0.3 percent of the city’s general fund budget to make nine-to-one matches of political contributions, is opposed by the Washtenaw Democratic Party and Ann Arbor mayor Christopher Taylor, among others.

Football coach’s contract finalized: Sherrone Moore had been working under a memorandum of understanding since being named to succeed Jim Harbaugh, but now he has an official deal, ESPN reports. The outlet says the two sides agreed to the framework of a five-year contract in January with a base salary of $500,000 and $5 million in “additional compensation” in his first year. That rises 2 percent each year with a $500,000 bonus for each year he remains head coach.

Four ex-Wolverine stars file $50M suit for NIL pay: The players, Braylon Edwards, Denard Robinson, Michael Martin, and Shawn Crable, target the NCAA and the Big Ten Network for “wrongful” use of their name, image, and likeness on television, the Detroit Free Press reports. While student-athletes have been able to be paid for such promotional uses since 2021, the lawsuit asserts the NIL of alums is still being exploited without compensation. “This ongoing use includes replays of historical moments, promotional content and merchandise sales, all of which generate significant revenue for the NCAA, its partners and affiliates without compensating the athletes,” the seventy-three-page document says.

DNC trolls GOP veep hopeful with Game Day message: An aerial banner flown over the Big House on Saturday during the Michigan loss to Texas read, “JD Vance Ohio State + Project 2025,” CBS Detroit reports. The message was intended to tie Vance, the Ohio senator and alumnus of U-M’s most hated rival, to a conservative blueprint by the Heritage Foundation for a potential Trump second term. Similar banners flew over stadiums in Madison, WI, and State College, PA, during other swing-state Big Ten games.

Suspect accused of robbing house while family slept: Twenty-nine-year-old Javare Holmes of Ann Arbor is charged with home invasion first degree, receiving and concealing stolen property, and two counts of stealing a financial transaction device without consent, according to a Facebook post from the Ann Arbor Police. The robbery occurred in the 300 block of W. William St., where police say the suspect entered through an unlocked door in the middle of the night. The geolocation of a stolen laptop led officers to Holmes’ vehicle, where they saw “several of the items reported stolen from the W. William residence in plain view.”

Unearthed bones not linked to crime: Forensic analysis of the human remains found while excavating for a campus construction project were “consistent with an anatomical specimen commonly used in medical schools and museums for educational purposes,” U-M public safety spokesperson Melissa Overton tells WWJ. Construction workers found the bones in June at a site at S. Fifth and John streets. It’s still unknown how the bones came to be buried there.

Anti-semitic flyers left at more than forty homes: The leaflets, attributed to something called the Goyim Defense League, were in plastic bags left in driveways of houses in the Arlington/Devonshire neighborhood and Burns Park, WEMU reports. Police are investigating the incident, and several local leaders have condemned the flyers.

Ypsi firefighter contract adds pregnancy protections: Women now make up five percent of the department’s crews, so the union pushed through a ban on reducing a pregnant firefighter’s hours, WEMU reports. Chief Ken Hobbs hopes the deal, which allows pregnant firefighters to work their full schedules without active fire suppression duties, will set a precedent for other departments.

Low-flying helicopters coming next week: The choppers, due in the skies over Washtenaw County from Sept. 18 to 20, fly unusually low, but the public should not be alarmed, according to electrical-transmission company ITC. The twice-yearly aerial inspections are required to check the conditions of high-voltage transmission structures and lines throughout the state. 

Realtor lists desirable vacant parcels after lengthy MDOT snarl: The house lots at 2751 and 2731 Washtenaw Ave. needed driveway access to the road to entice buyers, Martin Bouma tells Antonio Cooper in this month’s Observer. The state agency, which owns the major thoroughfare, was slow and cumbersome in providing permission. It finally came in June, a year after first his first request. Bouma listed 2731 for $400,000 and 2751, as a “to be built” custom home, for $1.65 million.

Hydrogen production facility coming to Ypsi Twp.: The state landed a $22.2 million federal grant as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build a plant to make the fuel; other grants will support facilities to distribute and deploy it for public transit, trucking, and industrial use, MI Tech News reports. The production plant is to be built at the American Center for Mobility at Willow Run..

County buys school for rec center: The former Cheney Elementary in Superior Twp. has been vacant since the 2012 merger of Ypsi and Willow Run school districts, and now Washtenaw County has paid $600,000 for the site, MLive reports. The school will be demolished and replaced with a $30 million recreation center.

Some Salem Twp. residents soon to drive seven miles for mail: The rural area’s contract postal unit, which shares space with a home remodeling business, closes in October as part of cost-cutting measures by the U.S. Postal Service, Bridge Michigan reports. When that happens, locals will have to trek to Northville to pick up their mail at the post office there – a round trip, Bridge notes, of as much as fourteen miles. 

$1.3M set aside to combat winter homelessness: County commissioners voted unanimously to spend the money on shelters, eviction prevention, hotel stays, and rehousing efforts, according to county records. Most of the money is targeted for preventing evictions to keep families housed and out of shelters.

Missing bird surfaces on HSHV CEO’s feeder: Picasso, a five-year-old cinnamon pearl cockatiel, flew seven miles from its Ypsi home only to be found five days later outside the home of humane society leader Tanya Hilgendorf, MLive reports. The bird belongs to Tiff Neikart, who trained it to use a tablet to communicate by pressing pictures with her beak to create sentences and ask for treats and activities. When it flew off, Neikart filed a missing animal report and asked for help on social media. “I’m obviously surrounded by lost and homeless animals at work, but I also come across more than my fair share of animals in need in my personal life. But a cockatiel at my bird feeder is surely a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Hilgendorf said in a statement.

Pita Way opens downtown: Managing partner Kenny Thomas tells a2view the new location at 500 E. William is up and running in the former space of NeoPapalis pizza. The fast-growing fast-casual Middle Eastern chain, which started in Clarkston in 2010, also opened a store in Scio Twp. in May. The chain has about thirty locations, all but three in Michigan, and founder Brandon Bahoura hopes to have 100 in coming years, the Observer’s Dave Algase reported earlier this year. 

Nation’s first milk vending machine debuts in Lodi Twp.: The opening of Annie G’s Dairy culminates a multiyear project by husband-and-wife team Dave and Kat Mageean, who took over her family’s Lambarth Farm in 2017, Algase writes in this month’s Observer. They sought a way to expand their sales beyond their dairy cooperative by selling direct to consumers. When customers enter through doors salvaged from the historic Howell Carnegie District Library, they will find a Czech-made Milkbot touch-screen device from which to fill glass bottles with farm-fresh, pasteurized whole milk. It’s not fully automated, though; someone has to be present to take payment. 

New pet supplies shop “really a happy place”: So says owner Holli Andrews of Depot Town Cats and Dogs in Ypsi, Concentrate reports. Andrews is a former director of Saline Main Street who worked with the Small Business Development Center at Washtenaw Community College on her business plan for selling bespoke, Michigan-made dog and cat food, treats, toys, and other pet items.

Check out three Sunday fundraisers:

Raise money for grieving children in a south-side walk/run: The Ann Arbor Healing Hearts Family 5K benefits Ele’s Place, which supports children who have lost a parent, sibling, or someone else close to them. Participants can pay $40 for the 5K run or $20 for the 1K course, both starting at 11 a.m. at the Thomson Reuters Ann Arbor Campus in Pittsfield Twp. There’s also a free ten-minute “kids dash” for children ages three to six at 10:40 a.m. Click here to register.

Run on North Campus to benefit veterans: The annual Ann Arbor 9/11 Heroes Run commemorating first responders and those who perished in the 2001 terrorist attacks kicks off at 10 a.m. at 1230 Murfin Ave. Walk-up registration is available or participants can visit 911heroesrun.org/annarbor to sign up. The 5K run is one of ninety taking place across the country to raise money for the Travis Manion Foundation, a veteran service organization.

Cycle from East Lansing to A2 for Active Against ALS: The Rivalry Ride starts at the Sparty Statue on the MSU campus at 7:30 a.m. and ends at the Big House in Ann Arbor. Riders can do the full “metric century” for an $80 donation, choose a “half century” from East Lansing to Stockbridge or Stockbridge to Ann Arbor for $40, or create their own ride and get a T-shirt for $35. A bus leaves Pioneer High at 6:30 a.m. to ferry participants (and their bicycles) to Sparty Land. To participate, sign up here.

By Jennifer Taylor

Friday: Hear veteran Nashville-based quintet Old Crow Medicine Show, fronted by fiddler and lead vocalist Ketch Secor, which brings punk bravura to a repertoire ranging from Appalachian string band standards to Memphis blues and jug-band music. A portion of ticket sales benefit the free breakfast program at St. Andrew’s Church. 7:30 p.m., Michigan Theater (The Ark/Acoustic Routes). Tickets $40 and $70 in advance at ticketmaster.com and (if available) at the door. (734) 668–8397. 

Saturday: At Whatabout Theatre’s show, “Home Slice,” see local actors perform an improvised two-act comedy about the lives of a group of housemates. The setting may be a crowded city apartment, a rural farmhouse, or anywhere in between. Accompanied by live improvisational music. The play is preceded by a short performance by a local improv team TBA. Sat. and Sept. 21, with other fall dates TBA. 8 p.m., Ypsilanti Performance Space, 218 N. Adams. $15 in advance and at the door (cash only).

Sunday: Grab your kids and go to Wiard’s Orchards’ Country Fair for wagon rides, a petting farm, a corn maze, and more. An apple cannon, paintball, apple or pumpkin picking, and other activities available Sat. and Sun. for an extra charge. Cider and donuts available. No pets. Every Sat. and Sun. through Oct. 27 and Wed. to Fri. through Oct. 25. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sat. and Sun.) & 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Wed. to Fri.), Wiard’s Orchards, 5565 Merritt Rd. (east of Carpenter), Ypsi. Weekend admission: $26.50 (Under 2, free). Weekday admission: $18 (babies, free) online at wiards.com. (734) 482–7744. 

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

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