Ann Arbor News - Monday, March 27

Morning Ann Arbor! Playing around with some new branding this morning. Don't judge. We're as self-conscious as a middle schooler with a new haircut.

Word Count: 683

Reader Count: 41 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 0.0342%

ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

🏳  Redesigning Ann Arbor's Flag: City Council voted unanimously last week to pass a resolution allowing the city to redesign its flag in honor of next year's bicentennial celebration. Citing a lack of widespread usage (be honest, did you know the above was our flag?), Mayor Christopher Taylor first suggested a redesign last year. City Council has five criteria for the new flag: simplicity, meaningful symbolism, two or three basic colors, no lettering or seals, and distinctiveness. 

🥎  Carol Hutchins Stadium: U of M’s Board of Regents voted to rename the softball program’s home stadium to the Carol Hutchins Stadium. After retiring last season, Hutchins ended her run as U of M’s softball head coach for 38 years. With a 1,707-555-5 record, Hutchins finished her career with a 0.755 winning percentage making her the winningest coach in Michigan Athletics history.

👨‍🏫  GSIs Vote to Strike: After more than four months of unsuccessful negotiations with U of M, ninety-five percent of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) have voted to authorize a strike. The union is seeking a 60-percent pay increase in its new contract (from $24,000 a year to $38,000 a year). The university has countered with an 11-percent pay increase across a 3-year span. Made up of 1,315 GSIs (graduate student instructors) and GSSAs (graduate student staff assistants), a strike would bring some turbulence to the last month of classes.

🚔  Orangetheory Car Break-Ins: Two cars were broken into early Wednesday morning while parked outside the main street Orangetheory gym. Through broken windows, purses and a laptop were stolen from the vehicles between 5 - 6 a.m. Ann Arbor police believe gym parking lots may be seen as easy targets for criminals.

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

🍸  Bipartisan Cocktails: With 37-1 voting support, the Michigan Senate has passed a bill allowing restaurants and bars to continue selling carry-out and delivery cocktails. Initially approved as a pandemic response measure, the current policy was set to expire in 2026. Since being widely successful with Michigan businesses, the state legislature is working to make the policy permanent. The bill now heads to the House for a vote.

📝  Oxford Shooter's Parents on Trial: The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the parents of Ethan Crumbley (the November 2021 Oxford High School shooter) can face trial for involuntary manslaughter. The court ruled the shootings would not have occurred if the Crumbleys had not gifted Ethan the gun or if they had taken him home on the day of the shooting when staff members found disturbing drawings Ethan had made. The case sets a new precedent for how parents may be criminally responsible for the acts of their children.

🎟  The Mitten Loves The Lottery: Last year the average Michigander spent $500 on lottery tickets. Trailing only Massachusetts ($832 per person) and Georgia ($522 per person), the ticket sales brought in $1.25 billion to the state - making up 7% of the annual budget. All lottery ticket proceeds went to the state education fund.

🏀  High School Basketball: The state champions of Michigan high school basketball have been crowned. Here's who you don't want to challenge in a pickup game:

• D1: Cass Tech (Boys) | Rockford (Girls)

• D2: Ferndale (Boys) | Lansing Catholic (Girls)

• D3: Flint Beecher (Boys) | Hemlock (Girls)

• D4: Munising (Boys) | Maple City Glen Lake (Girls)

ON THE MARKET

3 Bed | 1 Bath | 886 Sqft | $299,000

3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,684 Sqft | $525,000

3 Bed | 3 Bath | 2,747 Sqft | $1,070,000

That's all for now! See ya on Thursday. 

- Andrew

P. S. - If you like what you read, refer a friend.

P. S. S. - If you hate what you read, refer an enemy.