Students in grades 3–7 took the Michigan Student Test of Education Progress (M-STEP) last spring and the results were released on the same late-August day they returned to their classrooms. 56 percent of Ann Arbor’s third graders scored proficient or better, and 61 percent of fourth graders.
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On November 4, voters decide whether to raise property taxes by 1 mill for the next decade. The money raised—$25 million the first year—would support CTE programs like this one. Administrators can talk ad nauseam about the power of giving young people a variety of opportunities for instruction in specific career fields, but it’s student testimonials that have been front and center in the campaign to push through the millage. Yet the debate over the ballot question isn’t so much about support for or opposition to CTE as it is whether a new tax ought to pay for it.
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Burns Park homeowners stood on street corners holding placards beckoning football fans to their lawns and driveways. West of the stadium, churches directed visitors to spots, and a line of cars waited to park at the U-M golf course on State St. Just another game day in Ann Arbor.
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A sunny weekend in mid-September saw the grand opening of Broadway Park West. Sitting on seven acres of new green space on the Huron River just north of the Amtrak station, the park connects to the Border to Border Trail via a new pedestrian bridge—eliminating the need for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the less-accessible Argo Dam.
Read More“We don’t have the capacity or technical expertise to do research,” explains Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) administrator Susan Ringler-Cerniglia. “The CDC has critical resources when we need to respond at the local level. In the case of an unusual pathogen, we call on the CDC. It’s incredibly frightening to feel like we may not be able to rely on them.”
Read More“Every kid should be able to try a sport, right?” says Jen Karcher. “The price of playing a sport right now is just astronomical.”
Read MoreClearing the blocks south of Madison kicked off Phase 2 of the U-M’s Central Campus Residential Development. It was a signature project of ill-starred former president Santa Ono.
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At first, Wendy Turner, executive director and general manager of Michigan Public (broadcasting on WUOM and four other stations in Lower Michigan), was reasonably optimistic. So was Molly Motherwell, general manager of WEMU and president of the Michigan Association of Public Broadcasters. After all, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was still intact.
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The September ceremony featured speeches both lofty and bitterly political; a serenade from a transgender singer; the dramatic lifting of a white sheet from the marker; and a steady parade of attendees snapping selfies with DeGrieck and Kozachenko. (Wechsler, who lives in Boston, could not attend.)
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It was an experiment: give 100 citizens on the margins monthly cash payments of $528 for two years. No strings
attached—they would decide for themselves how best to spend the additional income.
My first Ann Arbor Observer article appeared in the October 1980 issue. This October will be my last as editor. Our deputy editor, Brooke Black, is already planning her first issue as editor-in-chief in November. Publisher Patricia Garcia is also retiring and will be succeeded by our media director, Danielle Jones.
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The new record holder is at the far northeastern corner of the district in Superior Twp., and cost more than three times as much: $12.495 million. That’s what the family of the late Louis P. Ferris Jr. got for his eighty-five-acre spread at 4000 Vorhies Rd.
Read MoreThe federal government’s demands for cash payments from universities have made headlines around the country. In August, when the Justice Department fined UCLA $1.2 billion for allegedly tolerating antisemitism, California governor Gavin Newsom called it “extortion.”
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How far will newspapers go to earn online revenue? Pretty far, judging from the ads that follow articles on MLive.com.
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After the Wolverines’ national championship in 2023, Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL and took much of his staff with him. The league’s draft then selected thirteen Michigan players, including quarterback J.J. McCarthy and eight other starters on offense. Michigan did return three defensive All-Americans, but the weakened offense left a lot on the defense last season. Too much.
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The August 5 special-election ballot consisted solely of two city charter amendments: Proposal A authorized the city to sell the air rights above the underground Library Lane parking structure to the Ann Arbor District Library for $1 for a “mixed-use development that includes additional library services, housing, retail and programmable open public space.” Proposal B repealed a 2018 amendment that had reserved the structure’s ground-level roof for “an urban park and civic-center commons.” Both got about 58 percent of the more than 23,000 votes cast.
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For months, a giant cleat has hung over Michigan Football, in the form of the NCAA’s lengthy sign-stealing investigation. In mid-August, it slammed to the ground, causing financial and reputational pain, but not completely knocking out the program.
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Since 2008, Liberty St. has been home to what may be Ann Arbor’s ultimate “if you know, you know” secret: Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair.
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In the alleys behind Ann Arbor restaurants, workers dump the used oil into large metal containers. Most belong to three collection companies: Evergreen Grease, G.A. Wintzer & Son Co., and Buffalo Biodiesel. They sign restaurants to lengthy contracts that create a near-territorial system.
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