🎥🍿 Motor City Hits the State This Week

Morning, Ann Arbor! Cowboy boots took over downtown this weekend for Morgan Wallen's back-to-back Big House shows. Restaurants were slammed, lines ran out the door, and traffic moved like a home football Saturday. Grab your coffee: it's a stacked week at the movies, a national championship is headed to Barton Hills, and a Main Street favorite is turning the page. Let's roll.

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🎞️ It's a Stacked Week at the Movies Downtown
The Michigan and State theaters are loaded this week. "Motor City," a 1970s Detroit revenge thriller starring Alan Ritchson and Shailene Woodley, opens at the State alongside the sci-fi "Her Private Hell." Over at the Michigan, you can catch the "Hadestown" musical, Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz" on Tuesday (7/28), Studio Ghibli's "Princess Mononoke" on Wednesday (7/29), and Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" on 35mm. Whatever your mood, there's a seat for it. WEMU

💰 Wallen Weekend Was a Windfall for Local Business
Morgan Wallen packed The Big House two nights straight — 75,000+ fans a show, plus Aidan Hutchinson walking out with him night one. Driphouse Coffee, right across the street, ran a four-hour line both days. "I counted the cash draw and I was like, 'dang, that's crazy,'" employee Sasha French told WXYZ. WXYZ

⛳ A National Championship Is Coming to Barton Hills
Mark your calendar for Aug. 20-23. The U.S. Senior Women's Open, a full USGA national championship, is coming to Barton Hills Country Club, five miles north of campus. A field of 120 of the best players 50 and over will tee it up on the club's 1922 Donald Ross layout, one of the most storied courses in the state. It's a rare chance to watch championship golf in our backyard. USGA

🛟 An Ann Arbor Couple's Floating Video Went Viral
Doug and Kim Mervis, who sold Saline's Stonebridge Golf Club in 2024, posted a clip of Doug floating off Tortola in the Caribbean. It picked up 1,200 comments and 3,000 reposts, and Malibu Rum used his line "I want to float the rest of my life" in an ad. Their daughters, Saline High grads, keep getting texted "is this your dad?" Video

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🍽️ Avalon Cafe Is Turning the Page (But the Brunch Lives On)
A fond one for the Main Street regulars: Avalon Cafe and Kitchen, 224 S. Main St., posted a note that it's "beginning a new chapter," and Google now lists the cafe space as closed. The good news for brunch fans: Avalon's brunch dishes are moving next door to Pretzel Bell at 226 S. Main, the sibling spot it has shared a kitchen with since 2024. "It has been our privilege to be part of this community," the note read. Avalon Ann Arbor

🏘️ Ann Arbor's Rentals Are Getting Greener

Quiet milestone from the west-side wonks to the whole city: more than 500 Ann Arbor rental properties have now met the city's Green Rental Housing Ordinance, which sets a minimum energy-efficiency bar for rentals. Landlords have leaned on A2ZERO rebates to add insulation, seal drafts, and swap in heat pumps, and multifamily owners can get up to 90% of insulation costs covered through Insulate Ann Arbor. The upshot for renters: comfier units and lower energy bills. City of Ann Arbor

📖 Broadway Park West Is Getting a Free Storytelling Series
Lower Town's new riverfront park hosts five Saturday mornings of free family storytelling this August (the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th, 9:30 a.m.), led by Second City-trained performer Steve Daut. The park's still boxed in by construction, so skip the car: walk or bike in through the Depot Street tunnel or the pedestrian bridge by Argo Cascades. (MLive)

🏠 Council Votes to Study a Freeze on New Short-Term Rental Licenses
City Council voted 8-1 Monday to have the city attorney draft a six-month pause on new short-term rental licenses. Sierre Wolfkostin, who runs The Little Big House next to Argus Farm Stop, says she's hosted 750+ guests who visit and shop at our downtown businesses.They have two other active STR projects in commercial zones awaiting to be licensed upon completion. Ward 5's Jenn Cornell says she's discussing with the city attorney's office how to protect hosts who are already licensed or mid-renovation, and to draw a clear line between good-faith operators and the unlicensed bad actors the moratorium is actually meant to target. Existing licenses can still renew. MLive 

🚨The City Added Two New Crisis-Response Teams

Also on July 20, Council approved two new pilot programs meant to send the right responder to the right call. SPROUT (Supportive Resources and Outreach Team) is a civilian, unarmed team of clinicians for non-emergency welfare and outreach calls. CO-RESPONSE A2 REACH pairs a crisis-trained police officer with a licensed clinician for calls involving behavioral health. Both run through a partnership with Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. City of Ann Arbor 

On the Market

325 Hilldale Dr — $480,000 3 bed | 1 bath | 1,272 sqft A 1929 Tudor with real curb appeal on the Northside, with original hardwood floors, loads of natural light, and a deep 0.28-acre lot. Storybook looks, close-in location.

207 W Jefferson St — $565,000 3 bed | 1 bath | 1,240 sqft A 1901 charmer on the edge of the Old West Side with a covered front porch, a fenced backyard with a patio, and a finished basement flex space. Steps from downtown.

1155 W Huron River Dr — $1,995,000 3 bed | 4 bath | 5,228 sqft A Country French estate on 3 wooded acres overlooking Barton Pond in Newport it once made the cover of Detroit Home. Timber-beam great room, chef's kitchen, stone terraces, an outdoor fireplace, and garage room for six cars.

Adoptable Humane Society Pets

Aunt Patty — 3 months | Small Spayed Female | Chow Chow Mix An all-aboard-the-Love-Train pup who rode in to find her forever home; this cream-coated cutie is one of HSHV's out-of-state rescues and ready to grow up with a family of her own. Meet Aunt Patty

Cheeze-It — 10 years | Large Neutered Male | Domestic Shorthair A sweet, laid-back senior orange guy who wants nothing more than a warm lap and good food; he's looking for a low-key home without young kids so he can be your main focus. (Bonus: senior adoption fee is just $50.) Meet Cheeze-It

Charles Montgomery Burns — 3 months | Small Neutered Male | Chow Chow Mix Aunt Patty's littermate and fellow Love Train arrival, a fluffy, cream-colored puppy with a big name and an even bigger future waiting on the right home. Meet Charles Montgomery Burns

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

— Ryan, James, and the Michigander Team

P.S. - If you like what you read here, come follow us on Instagram. We post weekly roundups, spotlight local small businesses, and have gathered a suspiciously cool crowd along the way. Be one of the cool people → @michigandernews.

P.P.S.  Taco lovers, block off July 31-Aug 2: Ann Arbor Taco Fest takes over the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds with 30-plus taco trucks, two bars, lucha libre wrestling, and two stages of live music  $8 in advance, $10 at the gate. Ann Arbor Taco Fest

P.P.P.S.  The Hen just turned 5 — five years of Sunday lines out the door on a strip where restaurants turn over every semester. Last year Michigan Daily named them Ann Arbor's Best Sunday Brunch. The Hen

P.P.P.P.S. Curious Coffee sold out of their watermelon cold brew again — it's a real hit. They're still slinging drinks out of Bløm Mead + Cider on Fourth Ave while their new North Main spot gets finished. Follow along on Instagram to catch the next batch.

P.P.P.P.P.S.  Feel like singing? UMS hosts a no-audition Summer Sings on Monday, Aug. 3  just show up and join in on Haydn's "Paukenmesse," full choir and all, no experience required. UMS

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