A2SF's Top Of The Park Returns This Weekend

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Morning, Ann Arbor! If you haven’t yet, head downtown sometime this weekend. Nothing beats walking around with the streets closed. Plus, the live music from 7 - 9 pm is a nice touch.

Early P.S. - no Michigander next week!

Read Time: 3.5 minutes

Reader Count: 3,914 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 3.25%

🥳 Top Of The Park: A2SF’s Top of the Park returns this weekend. Located on Ingalls Mall (a block on campus between East Washington and North University), the 16-day-long, open-to-the-public summer festival features over 200 concerts, art exhibitions, kids' activities, movie screenings, and more. If you’ve never been, click here to see A2SF’s robust event calendar.

And if you’re like me and Movies by Moonlight is your favorite part of A2SF, then FYI the series kicks off this Sunday night with a Toy Story screening.

🚲️ B2B Trail Expansion: Last week, the city successfully constructed a new pedestrian tunnel under the Amtrak tracks, which will eventually link Bandemer Park and the Barton Nature Area. With railroad tracks back in place and the tunnel completed, the north side of Bandemer Park has reopened but the pedestrian tunnel is still closed. The tunnel should be open to the public (and decorated with art) this Fall.

🐊 Not A Florida Man: Last week, the Florida Board of Governors voted 10-6 to reject Santa Ono’s nomination as the University of Florida’s next president, overruling a unanimous approval by UF’s Board of Trustees. Ono, who stepped down as president of the University of Michigan to pursue the role, faced sharp conservative criticism over his past support for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, climate initiatives, and handling of campus protests.

TODAY’S SPONSOR: The Rundown

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🍄 Agro-Terrorism Weapon: Federal prosecutors say two visiting Chinese researchers tried to sneak Fusarium graminearum (a crop-destroying fungus the FBI calls a potential “agro-terrorism weapon”) into a U of M lab last summer. Agents allege Zunyong Liu hid the samples in tissues at DTW while girlfriend Yunqing Jian, a U of M post-doc, arranged the scheme and had past CCP-funded research on the pathogen. Jian was arrested in Ann Arbor on Tuesday while Liu is back in China. Federal prosecutors say the plot wasn’t accidental - investigators found a CCP-loyalty pledge on U of M post-doc Yunqing Jian’s phone, while boyfriend Zunyong Liu’s phone held an article titled “Plant-Pathogen Warfare under Changing Climate Conditions.” Both face federal counts of conspiracy, smuggling, visa fraud and lying to officials.

♻️ Bottle Return Rates: Michigan’s once-mighty 10-cent bottle law is sputtering: just 70.4% of deposits were redeemed in 2024, the lowest rate since tracking began in 1990 and far below the pre-pandemic 90% norm. State lawmakers are looking to get creative to rejuvenate the program (everything from creating standalone return centers to adding water and sports-drink bottles to the program is being considered).

🎸 Thursday’s Sonic Lunch Concert: The Accidentals

• Style: Indie Folk, Pop, Bluegrass

• Popularity: 26K monthly Spotify listeners

• Top Song: “Michigan and Again” with 3.4M plays

• Links to Listen: Spotify or Apple Music

• Concert Details: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm on the corner of Liberty and Division in downtown Ann Arbor

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ADOPTABLE HUMANE SOCIETY PETS

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

- Andrew

P. P. S. - Last week’s Mike Posner performance at Sonic Lunch looked awesome

P. P. P. S. - Free barre3 workout on Main Street this Sunday morning. Just bring a mat.

P. P. P. P. S. - Remember no Michigander next week - we’ll be back the 23rd.

P. P. P. P. P. S. - Thanks to The Rundown for sponsoring this week’s Michigander.

Interested in advertising in the Michigander? Click here for pricing. Bulk discounting available.