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Ann Arbor News - New, High-Tech Public Bathrooms Proposed Downtown

Ann Arbor News - New, High-Tech Public Bathrooms Proposed Downtown

Monday, August 7: Downtown toilet program pilot, Big Ten expanding for Oregon and Washington, Eat on Packard, a honeymoon hero, and a 25-page health report

Morning, Ann Arbor! From wholesome honeymoon tales to high-tech toilets, we have quite the range of local news this morning.

Read Time: 2.5 minutes

Reader Count: 1,009 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 0.841%

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ANN ARBORITES SHOULD KNOW

Instagram | @ThroneBathrooms

🚽 Downtown Toilets: In an effort to add more downtown bathrooms, the city of Ann Arbor is working towards a pilot program that would see two Throne toilets installed downtown next Spring. Manufactured by a DC startup, Throne toilets are touchless, ADA compliant, unlock by scanning a QR code, and use usage data to ensure frequent cleanings. If installed, the city’s Public Art Commission has recommended the facilities be treated as art projects to ensure they are “attractive contributions to our downtown”. If porta potties meeting modern technology is your thing, here’s an Instagram video about Throne toilets.

🏀 Big Ten Expansion: Last week, the Big Ten unanimously voted to accept the University of Oregon and the University of Washington into the conference in August 2024. The Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies will join the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans in leaving the Pac-12 to join the increasingly popular Big 10.

🍴 Power Outage Closure: Announced in an email to their customer list, Eat will permanently close its Packard location months early after losing its inventory to a power outage 2 weeks ago. While Eat was already planning to close the location, the timing of the outage accelerated the restaurant’s decision. Eat’s Kerrytown location will continue to operate as usual.

🛫 Honeymoon Hero: Last month, Delta flight attendants provided the “ultimate wedding gift” for an Ann Arbor couple by coordinating amongst themselves to get a forgotten passport to Puerto Rico just in time for the local couple to board their honeymoon cruise. A 2-minute YouTube video explaining the wholesome tale.

🎸 Thursday’s Sonic Lunch: Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers

Listen: Spotify or Apple Music
Style: Alternative, Indie, Pop
Top Song: “Old Love” with 8.5 million plays
Popularity: 227,000 monthly Spotify listeners
Thursday’s Concert: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm on the corner of Liberty and Division in downtown Ann Arbor

MICHIGANDERS SHOULD KNOW

Shutterstock

❄️ Winter Prediction: On Friday, the Farmers’ Almanac predicted a winter of "below-average temperatures and lots of snowstorms, sleet, ice rain for much of the Great Lakes and Midwest areas of the country." While the Farmers’ Almanac’s exact forecasting methods are shrouded in secrecy, we know they deny using any “computer satellite tracking equipment, weather lore, or groundhogs" and instead rely on “sunspot activity, tidal action of the Moon, the position of the planets, and a variety of other factors."

🩺 Health Report: A newly released 25-page report sheds light on Michiganders poor health by ranking the state 39th in the country for overall health. The report states Michiganders had a higher rate of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity compared to the national average and their Midwestern neighbors. Additionally, the report identifies health disparities across the state (the average life expectancy in a Detroit area neighborhood is 62 years while it’s 91 years in East Grand Rapids).

🏈 EMU Scholarship: Last week, Brian Dooley (one of Eastern Michigan University’s football captains) gave his scholarship spot to a teammate who had been selling plasma to pay his way through school. The heartwarming act was announced during a team meeting.