Downtown Ann Arbor Streets To Begin Closing On Weekends For More Outdoor Dining Space

Morning, Ann Arbor! And happy solar eclipse day! A few helpful reminders/links:

• In Ann Arbor, the eclipse will start around 1:57 PM and reach its maximum 98.6% coverage at 3:14 PM.

• If you plan on driving into the path of totality, here’s a helpful Google Maps guide

• 5 planets may be visible during the eclipse. The order (from left to right) will be Jupiter, Mercury, the sun, Venus, Saturn, and Mars.

And most importantly, stay safe and only look at the sun through solar eclipse glasses!

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ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

🍴 Downtown Street Dining: Last weekend (and every weekend from now until October), streets in downtown Ann Arbor will close so restaurants can provide more outdoor dining space. From Thursday night until Sunday night, sections of Main Street, Liberty Street, and Washington Street will be pedestrian-only roads full of dining tables, cornhole boards, and live music. The street closures, which started during the pandemic, have grown into a beloved annual tradition.

🏡 Cascade Condos: Last week, Ann Arbor’s Planning Commission approved the construction of a 15-unit luxury condo building overlooking the Argo Cascades at 416 Longshore Drive. The lot was previously leased by the city for extra Argo Park parking. The condos are expected to be three or four-bedroom units that sell for $2 to $4 million.

🎈 Solar Eclipse Livestream: Using a high-altitude weather balloon, students at EMU will be live-streaming the solar eclipse from 80,000 feet. Part of a NASA-funded initiative, Eastern is one of several universities creatively documenting the phenomenon. Here’s a link to the YouTube livestream. 

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

📚 True Gretch: On July 9, Governor Gretchen Whitmer will release a memoir titled “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between”. The book will cover Whitmer’s rapid ascension in politics and major accomplishments in her career. Despite stating she is not focused on a move to Washington D.C., the memoir fuels speculations that Whitmer could be a future presidential candidate.

🐺 Rare Wolf: Last week, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources confirmed a gray wolf was sighted and killed in Calhoun County (two counties west of Washtenaw County). Mistaking it for a coyote, a hunter shot the 84-pound wolf in January. The incident marks the first confirmed wolf sighting in the southern Lower Peninsula in more than 100 years.

🏕️ Campsite Dibs: Michigan House Representative Cam Cavitt has proposed a bill that would make it easier for Michiganders to reserve state park campsites. Under the proposed bill, state residents could book campsites two weeks before non-residents. The House Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee is now reviewing the proposed legislation.

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ADOPTABLE HUMANE SOCIETY PETS

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Amber | 1 year | Domestic Shorthair

That's all for now! Have a great week in Tree Town!

- Andrew

P. P. S. - John Sinclair, the poet whose imprisonment for marijuana inspired Hash Bash, passed away last week. He was 82.

P. P. P. S. - USA Today is conducting a national poll to find the best farmers market in the country. As of Sunday, the Ann Arbor Farmers Market is 5th - you can vote here.