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Ann Arbor News - Monday, April 24

Ann Arbor News - Monday, April 24

A new documentary about Washtenaw County's '60s murder spree, protesting GSIs arrested, Thurston Community Players return, and states try to lure away Michigan businesses

April 24, 2023

Morning, Ann Arbor! If you want to go downtown this week, do it soon. With a weekend full of rain and U of M graduations, you'll thank me later.

Read Time: 2.5 minutes

Reader Count: 301 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 0.251%

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ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

facebook.com/1969documentary

🎥 Washtenaw County Murder Documentary: A new documentary, 1969: Killers, Freaks, and Radicals, about the late 1960s murder spree in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti is wrapping up production. Directed by Andrew Templeton, the feature-length film will tell the story of the seven local girls who were killed between 1967 and 1969. The 1969 team has launched a Kickstarter to help cover final production costs.

👨‍🏫 UMich GEO Strikers Arrested: Last week, 2 protestors from the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) union were briefly arrested while blocking President Santa Ono’s car. After picketing outside a restaurant where President Ono was dining with students, campus police arrived at the scene and arrested the protesters. The protesters were released after a few minutes.

🎭 Thurston Community Players: After a 2-year hiatus, the Thurston Community Players are returning for their 47th production. Since 1974, students, parents, teachers, alumni, and neighbors of Thurston Elementary have taken to the stage to raise money for their school. This year's show "Time, Turtles, and Twists" will be on May 6 and May 7.

🚲 Commute and Win: TheRide's annual Commuter Challenge is returning for the month of May. In the friendly challenge, enrolled locals will receive points for logging trips to work by walking, biking, taking the bus, carpooling, scootering, skateboarding, or rollerblading. With their earned points, participants are eligible to win gift cards to downtown businesses.

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

Twitter: @SteveJapinga

📣 States Try to Lure Michigan Businesses: A billboard along I-496 in Lansing reads “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, move to Flordia.” Paid for by the conservative Florida think tank, the James Madison Institue, the ad hopes to strike a nerve with Michigan business owners frustrated by the recent right-to-work appeal. Flaunting pro-business legislature, North Carolina has also attempted to lure away conservative Michiganders.

🔋 Controversial Battery Plant Receives Funding: After a 10-9 Senate Appropriations Committee vote, Gotion Inc.’s $2.3 billion EV battery factory in Big Rapids will receive $175 million in state funding to proceed. Critics (often Republicans) of the project worry about Gotion’s links to China while proponents (often Democrats) praise the 2,350 jobs the factory will bring to an economically depressed area of the state. As one of four new state-supported EV battery factories in Michigan, state legislature is doing everything it can to stay at the center of the blooming electric vehicle industry.

🚩 New “Red Flag” Law: After signing safe storage and universal background check bills into law earlier this month, the Michigan Senate has sent a third gun reform bill to Governor Whitmer’s desk. The new “red flag” bill would allow courts to temporarily seize firearms of a person deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. If signed into law, Michigan would be the 20th state to adopt such a law.

👫 Updating State Cohabitating Laws: On Wednesday, state Senators approved a bill that would roll back a 1931 law that forbid any man and woman from living together before marriage. Under the anti-cohabitating law, guilty couples could be served a $1,000 fine or a one-year prison sentence.