In an effort to trim down the budget for the 2013-14 school year, the Dexter High School finance committee decided during a Friday morning meeting that they may try to cut class that don't draw a minimum number of students, according to a story on the Dexter Leader.

The board has yet to decide what the minimum number of students per class and the idea still is in early stages of discussion, the Leader reported.

Joe Romeo, a computer science teacher at the school, told the Leader he believes there still will be some classes that don't meet enrollment guidelines but are necessary to keep.

The committee's next meeting is at 8 a.m. on April 22.

• Read the full Dexter Leader story here.

Frog Island Park in Ypsilanti played host to the annual Jaycees Easter Egg Scramble and Marshmallow Drop on March 23. The event has been around for more than two decades.

The event allowed the organization to drop plastic eggs throughout the park so kids could then go hunt for them.

Images were captured by AnnArbor.com staff photographer Courtney Sacco.

The Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser is wrapping up by bowling “celebration parties.”

The bowling teams consist of four bowlers and each team is asked to raise a minimum of $300. Each member of the teams gets two hours of bowling, bowling shoes, a T-shirt and is eligible for prizes and giveaways.

The events will take place at noon and 2:30 p.m. both days this weekend at Colonial Lanes, 1950 S. Indutrial, in Ann Arbor.

Love your neighbor, forgive your enemies and save the planet?

That’s the message of one Ann Arbor church that is paving the way to promote energy efficiency for faith-based organizations across the state. St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, located at 2250 E. Stadium Blvd., is leading a pilot project with Michigan Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) to promote energy conservation within its church.

Michigan IPL is a statewide coalition of faith-based organizations that advocates energy conservation. The “Sustainability Framework for Faith Communities” is being implemented by the church’s Sustainability Project, which it hopes to eventually share with other faith communities statewide.

“We as Catholics are called to care for God’s creation and its deep distresses and identify what we can do to help,” said Scott Wright, St. Francis’ social ministry director who serves on the project’s board. “Care for creation is just part of who we are as Christians, we have to care for our environment.”

The Sustainability Project started officially in spring of 2012 after building momentum for several years. Team leader Steve Lavender said the church started discussing the idea of promoting energy efficiency in 2009 as part of its Peace and Justice Committee, the church’s social justice advocacy group. But it wasn’t until last year the project pushed forward.

Michigan IPL President Jane Vogel, also who serves on the Project’s board at St. Francis, said the team collaborated with several other sustainability organizations, including the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, the University of Michigan Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise and Ann Arbor’s Clean Energy Coalition to create a five-step framework.

The framework includes establishing a team, building a faith foundation, educating and communicating with the church community, taking action to make the parish and homes more "green," and advocating for social and environmental justice on a local and global scale. The project draws upon the sustainability model used by the University of Michigan, which includes seven areas of focus: culture (behavior), energy savings, buildings, land and water, food, transportation, and purchasing and recycling.

While still in its early stages, the group has begun implementing greener policies within the church community as well — beginning with coffee and donuts. Lavender said the church started by replacing the Styrofoam cups and plates used during the church’s weekly coffee and donut social after Sunday mass with compostable and recyclable ones. That effort soon spread to the rest of the kitchen which included replacing disposable dinnerware with real plates and silverware and recyclable or compostable ones.

The group also has been active in educating its fellow parishioners on energy efficiency through updates in the church’s weekly bulletin, the Forum. Recent articles have explored theology for sustainability, defined sustainability as a concept and discussed home energy audits, saving water and recycling. Members also have made energy conservation presentations to the St. Francis community, including its eighth grade confirmation classes.

The church also has led the way to encourage parishioners to make their homes more energy efficient by receiving home energy audits. Rev. Jim McDougall had his home, the church rectory, audited last summer, and Lavender estimated about 30 families have followed since.

“We’re really trying to get folks to think about the bigger picture,” Lavender said. “Whether you live in Ypsilanti or the South Pacific, we’re all brothers and sisters in dealing with this whole climate change issue.”

While some might not always equate religion with environmentalism, Vogel said there are significant connections between Christianity and sustainability. Theologically, Vogel said Christians are called upon by God to protect his creation. She said caring for the environment also goes back to Jesus’ teaching to love your neighbor as yourself, paraphrasing national IPL leader Sally Bingham, “If you love your neighbor, you don’t pollute their air.” Vogel said environmental conservation is also a social justice issue.

“When you consider it, the effects of climate change will have the greatest impact on the poorest among us,” she said. “That whole social justice driver is part of the story.”

Other faith communities in the area also have established similar environmental sustainability groups. The First Presbyterian Church of Saline has an environmental stewardship group that has worked to make the church buildings more energy efficient, educate its parishioners on conservation and grow food in its garden for Food Gatherers.

Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor’s “Green Vineyard” group also has worked to make the church more energy efficient, but leader Brett Cosner said his focus is more on getting congregation members to participate in established community sustainability activities rather than starting their own. He also said the church has set up a weekly recycling service and Pastor Ken Wilson has given several sermons on the importance of sustainability and faith.

The University of Michigan Hillel’s “Hayerukim,” Hebrew for “the greens,” is a student-run group that focuses on the connection between environmentalism and Jewish values. Hillel Assistant Director Davey Rosen said the group has started a compost and gardening program and has hosted an annual Tu B'Shevat dinner, a Jewish holiday celebrating the “New Year for trees,” where students discussed different environmental initiatives.

Ann Arbor Friends Meeting has had an Environmental and Social Concerns Committee since the late 90s. The group, which has about a half dozen members, has worked to make the meeting’s buildings more energy efficient and encouraged families in the congregation to reduce their carbon footprint. It also recently has teamed up with the meeting’s finance and property committees to create a monthly forum on sustainability topics that began in January.

Several members of the Michigan IPL, including St. Francis, Vineyard Church, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting and First Presbyterian of Saline, also are collectively looking into purchasing solar panels to boost their energy efficiency.

Planning ahead, the team at St. Francis is looking at creating a sustainability theme for the church’s faith-sharing groups, as well as discussing K-8 sustainability education in its school. It is also working to expand the church garden to introduce more native species.

For Lavender, it’s all part of the same goal.

“It’s basic Christian teaching,” Lavender said. “This is how we’re supposed to live and how we’re supposed to treat each other.”

A Washtenaw County Road Commission employee fills potholes.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com file photo

Though a countywide road tax is the first option that’s been floated publicly among the Board of Commissioners, any new funding mechanism developed to pay for road repairs will come with an extensive conversation regarding the structure of county governing bodies, including the Road Commission, as well as the county’s goals for improving its transit system as a whole.

“If we want to fix the roads, we ought to talk about the mechanism to pay for them,” said Commissioner Andy LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor. “I don’t think the state and federal formulas and methods are working to the degree that we’d like them to. There needs to be more of a discussion on what we do at the local level.”

Conan Smith

Andrew Kuhn | For AnnArbor.com

“We should look at ways that we can create a more resilient transportation system,” said Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor. “I like the idea of finding some kind of funding for roads.”

A major proponent to furthering system-wide solutions on the Board of Commissioners, Conan Smith, D-Ann Arbor, says the county’s transportation system needs to be a dynamic set of options.

“Our transportation system needs to change to meet the needs of a different kind of user,” Smith said. “We’ve focused on transportation too long as roads as primary and public transit as secondary.”

The time may be nigh for commissioners to take action on road and transportation issues because of several coinciding factors, Smith said.

After the retirement of Terri Blackmore, executive director of the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study, the next person to take her place could play a key role, Smith said.

“(WATS) is the planning body that would coordinate all this stuff,” Smith said. “If we got an excellent leader in there that understands the potential … that’s a big role they can play.”

Smith also pointed to the recent creation of the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority -- which includes the city of Detroit and Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties.

All of the members of the RTA board have been appointed and seated. The body will begin meetings soon.

“There’s opportunity there to think about transportation differently,” Smith said.

The third pressing factor is the time limits on Public Acts 14 and 15 of 2012, which allow Michigan counties to dissolve their road commissions. The laws sunset within the next several years.

The Road Commission

The Road Commission is responsible for the care and maintenance of all roads in Washtenaw County that are not under the jurisdiction of a city. It is funded through state and federal funding streams, and often utilizes grant dollars for projects for which it has to apply in a competitive system.

Washtenaw County Road Commission employees fill potholes on Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Pittsfield Township.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com file photo

“There’s not much of an opportunity to change the road commissioners’ priorities at this point,” Smith said.

Raising any money locally -- through a millage or other means -- would not come without additional oversight from the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, said both Conan Smith and Commissioner Dan Smith, R-Northfield Township.

“Bringing (the Road Commission) under the office of the county opens up options for revenue for the road commission that are otherwise closed. I am not likely to vote for a new road tax under the current structure,” Conan Smith said.

The next 20 years will see a dynamic transformation in the transportation field, Conan Smith said, noting that he sees it as vitally important to making sure there’s a public, governing body well-structured to handle those changes and challenges.

“The question becomes, how is (the Road Commission) best structured to take this to the future?” Conan Smith said. “That’s why I’m interested in bringing in that under the county’s umbrella. We need integrated planning and to have the Road Commission participate. It’s not absent, it’s just a less fruitful conversation right now.”

Dan Smith said he has “… no pressing desire to absorb the road commission board, but if that’s the way other commissioners are going to do it to fix the roads, then let’s do it.”

“I don’t get the feeling that we’re going to take the hit of raising revenue without having the oversight and control of how that revenue is being used,” Dan Smith said. “For myself, I feel that it’s probably inevitable that we absorb the road commission. I want to find a way to do that in a way that doesn’t break the way things are working now.”

Road Commissioner Ken Schwartz, a former county board member, said he fears that move would run the risk of politicizing road repair decisions.

Ken Schwartz

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com file photo

Road commissions across the state of Michigan pool resources for liabilities, insurance and to fund lawsuits, said Roy Townsend, managing director of the Road Commission.

The intense focus on roads also makes the road commission board more efficient, Townsend said, citing the approximate 400 resolutions the board passed in 2012.

“They need to establish that they could deliver services more efficiently,” Schwartz said.

As the customers of the Road Commission, the townships have been happy with the way the Road Commission has handled their money, Townsend said.

“We’re a road agency, not a transit agency,” Schwartz said, noting that it would likely add to countywide confusion regarding transit issues. “We know who our customers are, we have good relationships and we know funding mechanisms.

Should the Board of Commissioners have two public hearings and then decide to consolidate the road commission, it would be the “biggest mistake the county could make,” Schwartz said.

“Given the constraints of the system that they operate in … they’re doing all they can,” LaBarre said. “They’re doing it with a system that’s not working.”

Board Chairman Rabhi said he would not be taking a position on the elimination of the road commission.

“If this is a conversation that commissioners want to have, I would facilitate it,” Rabhi said.

Dan Smith said the townships like the arrangement with the Road Commission.

“I certainly don’t want to break something that (the townships) are very satisfied with,” Dan Smith said. “How that happens, I don’t know.”

In 2010, there was talk of expanding the road commission from three to five members, but there was no action taken to do so.

The three county Road Commission board members are paid base salaries of $10,500 per year -- a figure that hasn’t increased in at least 10 years, Schwartz said. They do not receive per diem payments, benefits or retirement savings.

Though the road commissioners are allowed to be reimbursed for their mileage, only Commissioner Fred Veigel requests that his mileage be reimbursed because he lives on the east side of the county, Schwartz said.

Altogether, the Road Commission board costs about $35,000 per year, Schwartz said, noting that amount wouldn’t fund the reconstruction of a gravel road.

Road tax

Washtenaw County officials have considered implementing a tax levy for road work in the past.

In August of 2011, the Road Commission sought a 0.6 mill countywide tax that would have garnered $8.9 million for road repairs.

Had the Board of Commissioners approved the tax, it could have been implemented without voter approval because of state law.

An AnnArbor.com poll conduct at that time found that 61 percent of the 304 respondents supported the new tax, while 36 percent were against it.

But in December 2011, the Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected the road commission’s proposal.

At that point in time, Commissioner Conan Smith was supportive of raising county taxes in the future once the local economy became more stable.

A countywide road tax would still be a tough sell now, Schwartz said, especially since within the city of Ann Arbor, residents pay a 2 mill tax for their own road improvements already.

The county would likely have to cut a check to the city of Ann Arbor for any additional millage raised within its limits, Schwartz said.

Future talks

Rabhi said talks at the state level regarding finding new road funding solutions have not been progressing, and that the county needs to take charge.

“I don’t think we need to wait for Lansing,” Dan Smith said. “It’s time for us to take the bull by the horns here in Washtenaw County. If that means dealing with transit issues, then so be it.”

The funding aspect should take a holistic view to transportation, Rabhi said, mentioning bike lanes, pedestrian access and alternative modes of transportation.

“There’s an interest from a substantial minority in having this conversation,” Conan Smith said. “If the conversation isn’t very carefully framed, and lead in an inclusive way, I think it runs the risk of failing.”

Conan Smith said his preference would be to pursue creating a task force to bring all stakeholders together in the conversation.

“I would be in favor of involving the Road Commission in these discussions,” Dan Smith said. “I’m not looking to lose the expertise and experience from road commissioners. Now is the time for the public to provide input … We’re all floating ideas.”

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.

Veronica Callan, one of the instructors at Ann Arbor Aviary, performs in the space at 4720 S. State.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

The owners of Ann Arbor Aviary, located in a warehouse space at 4720 S. State St., describe the studio as a fitness center and performance arts space. It offers instruction in the aerial arts, including static trapeze, silks, lyra and aerial rope. It also offers dance, yoga and barre conditioning classes.

Ann Arbor Aviary co-owners Lia Lilley and Anne Ryan inside their new studio at 4720 S. State St.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

“We couldn’t find anywhere to practice in Ann Arbor, so we were driving out to (Detroit Flyhouse) two or three times a week,” said Ann Arbor Aviary co-owner Anne Ryan.

Tired of the long drive and costs involved, Ryan and her partners started looking for a space in the Ann Arbor area to open their own studio.

“This place came up and it has the little reception area up front…and in the back we had this warehouse with the high ceilings,” she said.

Ann Arbor Aviary celebrated its grand opening on Friday with aerial performances and a local artist gallery —something they want to continue on the last Friday of every month with an event called “Lift Off.”

In the beginning, the studio will offer three classes per night Mondays through Thursdays. Fridays are reserved for workshops and events, and there will be classes and workshops offered on the weekends. The studio will also host private events.

“We’re trying to promote this in the yoga community and in the athletic community,” Ryan said. “We definitely want to talk to sororities and fraternities and stuff like that.”

Although aerial performances can look challenging, Ryan said newcomers shouldn’t be intimidated: “Everyone can do a little something. The first day you’re here, you’ll be able to do something,” she said.

Co-owner Lia Lilley added: "It’s a really good activity that you can show solid progression through."

Ryan suggested people interested in trying a class attend a beginner’s workshop.

For more information, check out Ann Arbor Aviary’s Facebook page or website.

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.

• Related: Google: $3.1 million Michigan tax lien related to disputed Michigan Business Tax payments

Six years after rolling out the red carpet for Google Inc., Ann Arbor officials maintain the seven-figure incentive the city offered to convince the Internet giant to lay roots downtown was worth it.

"I think it was important to get Google here," Mayor John Hieftje said. "They were the brand name that has really allowed us to build a tech campus around them."

Downtown Development Authority Director Susan Pollay agreed the more than $1 million in free parking the city provided to Google employees has paid off. She said Google helped plant the seed for what downtown is starting to see: the emergence of a tech-savvy creative class.

City records show more than $1.2 million was spent from the city's Economic Development Fund before it was dissolved in 2011. Most of it went toward free parking for Google employees, though $104,742 was shown budgeted for work on the city's Fuller Road train station project.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com file photo

Hieftje and Pollay stood behind those statements last week even in light of the fact that Google has created only a fraction of the jobs it planned to bring here by now, and the company now is tied up in a dispute with the state of Michigan over $3.1 million in unpaid state business taxes.

"We have no indication that locally Google has been anything but a good citizen, and no indication that there is anything that has changed that," Hieftje said on Thursday.

Google has been mostly quiet about the state tax dispute, but a spokesperson told AnnArbor.com it stems from an outstanding issue related to 2008 and 2009 corporate tax returns. The company is working through an appeals process and hopes to resolve the issues with the state soon.

The Google parking deal

After Google announced its desire to establish an office in the Ann Arbor area in 2006, then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm endorsed efforts by local and state governments to offer incentives.

Google promised to hire 1,000 employees by 2011 in exchange for tax credits from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. worth more than $38 million over 20 years.

Google co-founder and 1995 University of Michigan graduate Larry Page greets U-M President Mary Sue Coleman during the spring commencement ceremony in Ann Arbor in 2009.

File photo | AnnArbor.com

The city believed Google would bring significant economic and social benefits, eventually leading to the creation of thousands of new jobs, an increase in tax revenues, an increase in customers at local businesses, and partnerships with the University of Michigan and local technology firms.

Instead of offering local tax incentives, the City Council went on record in January 2007 saying it would provide free parking for Google employees in cooperation with the DDA.

The council followed through in June 2007 by establishing an Economic Development Fund and transferring $2.18 million from the city's general fund to the new fund.

The city committed to pay for up to 400 parking spaces for Google employees for up to four years, through December 2010, at an estimated cost of more than $2 million.

The council also indicated it was interested in using a small portion of the fund to investigate the viability of supporting regional light rail service.

The city initially was planning to spend as much as $600,000 a year for Google parking, but given that the company hired only a fraction of the employees it projected, nearly half the money set aside for Google parking went unspent, and the city saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

City records reviewed by AnnArbor.com show more than $1.2 million was spent from the Economic Development Fund before it was dissolved in 2011. Most of it went toward Google parking, though $104,742 was shown budgeted for work on the city's Fuller Road train station project.

The fund still had a balance of $967,161 when council closed it down and returned unspent monies to the city's general fund in 2011.

Tom Crawford, the city's chief financial officer, confirmed in 2011 that Google no longer was getting free parking from the city. When it was, he said, it was based on new hires.

AnnArbor.com filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the city last week asking for records showing the hiring numbers on which the city relied.

MEDC officials estimated in 2006 that the establishment of a sales and operations center in Ann Arbor for Google's AdWords online advertising program would not only create the 1,000 direct jobs Google projected in its first five years, but also more than 1,200 spin-off jobs.

Since then, Google has been hesitant to reveal the exact number of workers it employs in Ann Arbor, generally giving estimates instead of specifics.

John Hieftje

AnnArbor.com learned in 2011 that Google was quietly contracting with a global outsourcing firm to bring contract employees into the Ann Arbor office at wages lower than required under the state's tax credit program. Google has declined to comment on the details of that.

Council Member Stephen Kunselman, who supported giving Google free parking in 2007, said he still thinks it was a good move for Ann Arbor.

"It was good seed money," he said. "But the reality is they didn't come here because of the Ann Arbor City Council. They came here because of the University of Michigan."

Kunselman thinks Google's decision to locate in the Ann Arbor area had more to do with the fact that Google co-founder Larry Page is a U-M graduate and Google already had a deal with the university to digitize the entire print collection of the University Library.

That said, Kunselman believes the free parking incentives helped convince Google that throwing anchor in the downtown was the right move, whereas the office could have been set up in a research park on the outskirts of town or somewhere out in the townships.

Kunselman said he's going to reserve judgment on the tax lien issue since he doesn't know all of the details at this point, but he expects Google will pay any amount rightfully owed.

Google leases space inside McKinley Towne Centre at 201 S. Division St. City officials said the taxes on the downtown Ann Arbor building are being paid.

"I don't think Google is in financial trouble," Hieftje said. "They're a big company, but they're obviously having a dispute with the state."

AnnArbor.com filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the state last week for a full accounting of the actual worth of state tax credits and incentives received by Google since 2006, as well as records related to the tax lien filed against Google by the state.

A spokesman for the MEDC said on Wednesday there's no relationship between the tax lien and the job creation agreement the state reached with the company in 2006.

Google's impact in Ann Arbor

Hieftje said it was the city's hope that a downtown "tech campus" eventually would form when the city helped lure Google to Ann Arbor, and now it seems that's panning out.

California-based tech firm Barracuda Networks recently moved hundreds of employees to office space on Maynard Street with plans to keep growing.

Another tech company, PRIME Research North America, also recently signed a long-term lease for 16,000 square feet of space on the second floor of the old Borders building on Liberty Street, joining Barracuda in creating a new tech hub at the corner of Liberty and Maynard streets.

Google uses its rooftop deck at the McKinley Towne Centre at 201 S. Division St. to host a variety of events and provide a pleasant space for its employees.

Steve Pepple | AnnArbor.com file photo

LLamasoft, a supply chain software designer, is another high-tech company laying roots in downtown Ann Arbor. It was reported in October, as the company signed a lease for an additional floor of the First National Bank Building, that it had grown from 40 to 150 employees in two years.

"We saw Google as the beginning of a tech campus downtown and that's what we looked at from the very beginning," Hieftje said. "They were being offered very good deals out in the townships and they had a lot of options."

A local real estate professional predicted at a recent DDA meeting there will be 1,400 young tech employees working in the Liberty/Maynard/Washington area within a few years.

"When I look now at the State and Liberty corridor, I think Google came and brought with them vibrancy and credibility," Pollay said. "We are seeing a tech campus taking shape at the point where town and gown come together. That area has struggled for years."

Pollay believes Google has improved the downtown economy, with retail shops and restaurants seeing an increase in business because of Google employees downtown.

Susan Pollay

Hieftje said the fact that Ann Arbor provided more than $1 million worth of free parking to Google was a rare move for a city that's usually stringent about using incentives to lure companies.

He said the amount of tax-abated property in Ann Arbor is less than two-tenths of a percent of the total valuation of property in the city.

"So it's very small," he said. "They don't add up to much."

Pollay suggested Google's presence in Ann Arbor has added to the culture of downtown in smaller ways that many don't notice — like the fact that Google incentivizes employees to give up their cars and commute to work by bicycling, walking or taking the bus.

Nancy Shore, director of the getDowntown Program that encourages alternative commuting in Ann Arbor, said Google is the largest purchaser of go!pass bus passes in the downtown.

For the 2011-12 go!pass season, Google employees had the highest bus ridership of any employer downtown, Shore said, citing a figure that 57 percent of Google employees used their go!passes to commute to work by bus at least once during the year.

"They always provide sponsorship to our Commuter Challenge," Shore added. "They have a real strong focus on alternative transportation and green commuting."

Shore said Google has done, in some ways, what the university also does: Bring a lot of young, creative energy to Ann Arbor.

"It's coming to the point where, at least in my circles, I know several people whose husbands or wives work at Google," she said. "Those individuals are engaged in the community. They're also shopping at downtown business and participating in all the things we love about Ann Arbor."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.

Update: According to a second Nixle alert sent out by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, there is now one lane going each direction open on Michigan Avenue between Prospect and and Grove streets in Ypsilanti.

The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office has issued an advisory to alert residents Michigan Avenue between Grove and Prospect in Ypsilanti will be closed until further notice due to a severe water main break.

The advisory was sent out as a Nixle alert.

Dispatch at the sheriff's office said they are taking steps to correct the problem.

Further information was not available and the cause of the breakage is unknown.

View Larger Map

The man accused of killing his co-worker in the middle of an Ypsilanti street last year will return to court for a final pretrial hearing on Monday.

Leonard Ware

Courtesy of WCSO

Leonard Ware, 34, is charged with open murder, carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being in possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He’ll be in court for a final pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday in front of Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O’Brien.

Ware is accused of shooting and killing Bhagavan Allen, 29, in the middle of Grove Street on Oct. 3. The incident between the two men began with an argument at Marsh Plating Co. in Ypsilanti, where Ware was Allen’s supervisor.

According to witnesses who testified at a preliminary exam, Ware and Allen walked on opposite sides of Grove Street. Ware crossed the street at one point and allegedly pulled out a gun.

Ware allegedly shot Allen twice, causing him to fall to the ground. Witnesses said Ware ran up to Allen as he lay on the ground, stood over him and fired at least three more shots into Allen, killing him.

Ware faces spending the rest of his life behind bars if he is convicted on the charge of open murder. He is being held without bond in the Washtenaw County Jail.

His trial is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. April 15, according to court records.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

The Ypsilanti Police Department responded to several incidents of property destruction throughout the day on Saturday.

Twenty windows were damaged on the 700 block of Norris Street after an unknown person threw rocks at a building. Nobody was injured by the rocks.

On the 200 block of South Grove Street, a woman reported an unknown subject threw something at the windshield of her car, causing it to shatter. The exact time is not known but the woman said it was some time Saturday night.

Someone also reported that someone painted graffiti on his building sometime Saturday located on the 200 block of West Michigan Avenue.

Twenty-five cars on the 700 block of South Grove Street also were reported to be damaged by an unknown subject. The person who made the report said the cars appeared to be keyed on the hoods and it also seemed as though they had been walked on.

Protestors holding signs alleging $35,000 in unpaid wages have been standing outside the recently opened Kuroshio restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor every evening since Saturday, March 16.

Restaurant owner Kenneth Wang said the picketers were not his employees, and that the dispute was between him and his general contractor who also was outside.

Protestors stood in the cold outside Kuroshio Restaurant on the corner of Liberty Street and Fourth Avenue on Sunday evening.

Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com

Wang said his contract with Benjamin Sun, who signed on behalf of Crystal Corporation, included a hefty per-day penalty for any time that Sun went over on the job. After the penalty is assessed, Sun actually owes him money, not the other way around, he said.

“He’s trying to make this into an employer versus employee thing, but that’s not what it is,” Wang said.

“This is a dispute between two companies, anyone who says their wages were not paid they weren’t paid by him, not me.”

Sun said it was up to the restaurant to honor the contract and pay him and his employees for the work that they completed. He hopes his protest will convince Wang to hand over the money so that the dispute does not have to be solved by the courts.

“The restaurant is done now, and he has decided he doesn’t want to pay,” he said. “It’s not right. We are going to do this now and then if he does not pay we will sue. We don’t want to have to do that which is why we are trying this first.”

Both parties agree that the project was supposed to be completed by September 30, but the restaurant did not receive its certificate of occupancy until the end of December 2012. However, Sun contests that an error in the plans that did not account for an overhaul of the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system was the cause of most of the delay.

According to a copy of the contract between the parties obtained by AnnArbor.com, Sun was responsible for notifying Wang in writing of any circumstance that would delay the construction past the agreed upon date. Sun said that he did not write an official notice to Wang alerting him of the change in date but was under the impression that the delay was understood.

“He did not tell me that he was not going to pay until after the job was done,” Sun said.

“I am a contractor, I work with my hands and cannot put everything down on paper. If he was unhappy with the work he should have fired me, not let me finish and then not paid me the remainder of the money.”

According to the contract, “all claims or disputes arising out of this Contract or its breach shall be decided by arbitration in accordance with the construction industry arbitration rules.”

Harvey Berman, an attorney with Bodman PLC who specializes in construction, contracts, and real estate law, said it is not uncommon for there to be disputes involving the contracts that are drawn up between owners and builders.

“If you have a contract that requires something to be in writing… the court or arbitrator can rule that there was an oral modification but there’s a higher standard of proof there,” he said. “You have to have ‘clear and convincing evidence’ in that case.”

Berman said that if the case did go to arbitration, it would likely take six months to a year to complete the process.

General manager Alan Wang, Kenneth’s son, said the problems with the contractor made it difficult for the restaurant to know when they would be opening and caused them to hire their head chef too early.

“He was just unreliable,” Kennenth Wang said. “I kept pushing him and he would give me a date for things and then never finish them on time. One window he told me would take two weeks to put in, it took six.”

Two other men routinely join Sun at his protest, which he said will continue at least for “a few weeks.”

The owners of Kuroshio have placed a sign in their window attempting explaining their view of the situation to passers-by.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2

The 21-year-old man accused of beating a woman after she tried to break up with him, running her over with a car and trying to lock her in the trunk of a car will be in court Tuesday.

Michael Glenn

Michael Glenn is facing 10 felony charges for a Nov. 27 incident in the 2300 block of McKinley Road in Ypsilanti Township. He’ll be back in court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for a pretrial hearing in front of Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Donald Shelton.

According to police, the woman went to Glenn’s home to break up with him on Nov. 27. He got in her car and an argument quickly started. Police said he punched the woman several times, stabbed her in the face with an unknown object and then strangled the woman until she blacked out multiple times.

Glenn then allegedly got out of the car, dragging the woman, and ran her over several times before trying to put her in the trunk.

Police said Glenn eventually left the woman alone briefly when he went inside and she was able to run away and call police.

Glenn allegedly stole the woman’s car and was on the lam until mid-January, when he was arrested in Detroit. He’s now lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Glenn is charged with two counts each of assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm and assault with a dangerous weapon. He faces one charge each of carjacking, motor vehicle theft, unlawful imprisonment and domestic violence.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Have you ever needed help finding your way around Ypsilanti?

If so, the city hopes to address that by launching a comprehensive wayfinding project that would replace and install several new signs around the city over the course of two to three years.

Ypsilanti may consider beginning an extensive wayfinding project similar to the one Ann Arbor did in 2009.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com file photo

Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority Director Tim Colbeck said the project has long been a priority of the Ypsilanti Convention and Visitors Bureau to create unified wayfinding for the entire city.

The DDA is working with the Eastern Leaders Group and the visitors bureau on the project, which they hope to begin sometime this year.

Colbeck said Eastern Michigan University and the city of Ann Arbor have good examples of what the signage may look like. The signs point to major buildings on campus and in the city.

Ann Arbor DDA leaders announced in 2009, the planned installation of nearly 200 new signs guiding pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The project was completed to improve navigation for visitors and new community residents.

“There’s a similar need here,” Colbeck said.

Colbeck said the three partners are in the process of sending out requests for proposals to possible consultants and companies to help move the project along and figure out the costs.

“This would be a phase, multi-year project,” Colbeck said. “We would probably install them over the two to three years and we’re trying to get this thing on the fast track.”

Colbeck said they don’t yet have a cost estimate and probably won’t until they hire a consultant, which alone could cost “tens of thousands.”

“It could be a very expensive project,” Colbeck said.

Debbie Locke-Daniel, director of the bureau, said it will likely cover a big portion of the costs and the Eastern Leaders Group has stated it will contribute as well. Daniel said the costs will be dependent upon how many they choose to install, how decorative they are and the materials.

It’s going to be expensive enough where I don’t see it happening in all of 2013,” Locke-Daniel said.

Despite the costs, Locke- Daniel said the signage is necessary and could help with tourism development.

“Signage is important when you’re talking about getting people around,” she said.

Locke-Daniel is leading the planning process and expects the RFPs to be sent out this week.

Colbeck said the project is needed because there’s a mismatch of signs across the city, with some so old and some spots with no signage at all.

Locke-Daniel said she would like for the first part of the project to put new signs up at the entrance gateways off of Huron Street, near Interstate 94, which she said would guide tourists and motorists to the most important parts of the city.

"I think that signs speak to your community," Locke-Daniel said. "When you get off the highway, it can be perplexing."

The signs will largely encompass the "campus town" area, as well as Depot Town and the downtown area, Locke-Daniel said. The signs to Riverside Park and Frog Island Park may be replaced as well.

Locke-Daniel said the project could potentially expand to include street signs, to create a more unified look.

Although the project is still in its initial phase, at some point, the city council may be asked to approve the project. Locke-Daniel said she has already been working with City Planner Teresa Gillotti on the project.

Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.

The Ann Arbor Thrift Shop was one of several non-profits that was stolen from in the last year.

Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com

"It was a big sale weekend for us," said Maggie Porter, H4H development director. "We had more [money] than we usually make."

By Sunday night, the store had $2,000 in its cash box, but when employees came in Monday morning, the store's office door was open and the cash box was gone.

Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office determined that someone hid inside the store, waited for the employees to leave and then broke into the office, making off with the money from the weekend's extra sales.

Porter said the money would have helped fund renovations and repairs to houses in the community.

"It’s a hard reality for me to think about, that there are people out there whose resources are so small that they do break into nonprofits and see that as a viable place to make money," Porter said. "It's unfortunate. All the money we raise and that our store makes goes back into the community. We’re working hard to help people."

There were several reports of thefts from non-profit organizations in the last year. The Ann Arbor Art Center, House by the Side of the Road, the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop and the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living all reported thefts of some kind in the last year.

"As a nonprofit, you just don’t think that’s going to be a big concern," said Tom Hoatlin, the vice president of development for the Center for Independent Living. "You’re so used to people giving to you and wanting to help out."

The thefts from the art center, the thrift shop, and House by the Side of the Road, all occurred within a month of each other, between Dec. 7, 2012 and Jan. 6 of this year. In each case, a thief broke into the building through a window.

"They made a mess with the glass," said Mary Breakey, a volunteer at the thrift shop. "They really went after the bottom corner and smashed through there and reached their hand in to open it up."

Unlike the H4H ReStore theft, the other thieves made off with petty cash, including $400 from the art center and less than $300 from the thrift shop. From House by the Side of the Road, they got what the organization's treasurer, Cathy Freeman, called "loose change."

"These are places that take donations," said Lt. Renee Bush of the Ann Arbor Police Department. "They don’t have large amounts of cash."

The Center for Independent Living was not so fortunate. Last March, a thief drove off with a trailer full of outdoor recreational equipment specialized for people with disabilities, setting the center back about $35,000.

"We basically found out that our whole summer sports and rec program was stolen," Hoatlin said. "It’s a complete blow that somebody would take a trailer full of highly-specialized equipment, strictly for people with disabilities."

No arrests have been made in connection to the four incidents, which fell under the jurisdiction of Ann Arbor Police Department.

Bush said the trailer stolen from the Center for Independent Living was recovered on Jan. 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but its contents were missing. Police are coordinating efforts with authorities from Charlotte.

The Sheriff's office could not be reached to give comment about the H4H ReStore theft, but Porter said she was unaware of any arrests.

Despite the similarities between the three cases involving window break-ins, police have not found any reason to believe they were connected.

"At this time, we don't have any reason to unequivocally say that they're related," said Lt. Robert Pfannes of the Ann Arbor Police Department.

Despite the heavy losses some of the organizations experienced, several of them found a silver lining in their ordeals.

"The only way that It changed our opinion of the community was the outpouring of support once people found out what happened," Hoatlin said.

Through insurance and contributions from community members and businesses such as Brewed Awakenings and the South Side Business Association, the Center for Independent Living was financially able to fully recover.

"The community really stepped up without us really asking," Hoatlin said. "We started receiving donations."

The H4H ReStore also saw an increase in donations as well as verbal support from the community, and the thrift shop was able to open as scheduled on Monday due to the clean-up efforts of volunteers.

"Here we suffer this break-in and we have eight board members who show up on a Sunday and say, 'what can we do?'," Breakey said.

Moving forward from these incidents, some of the organizations have implemented new security measures.

"We really saw it as a wake-up call," Porter said. "We took note. We really have tightened our security. We’ve installed surveillance cameras."

Porter said new ReStore policies also mandate that two employees be in the shop during business hours and that employees double-check the store is empty before closing for the night.

"It’s good practice and we’re happy to do it, but it does mean taking a little bit of our energy from our mission to focus on that," she said.

The thrift shop has implemented a strict policy that no cash be left in the shop overnight, utilizing a courier service to bring cash to the shop when it opens and take it back to the bank at closing.

"We got a high-tech window replacement and we hope that's going to be effective to deter future attempts to break-in," Breakey said.

The Center for Independent Living already had surveillance of its trailer and locks on the trailer's hitch, but the organization has purchased extra locks to increase security.

But even with the increases in security, peace of mind has yet to be completely restored after the break-ins.

"We still constantly worry about it," Hoatlin said "Is it going to happen again?"

Bush said the organizations' previous security measures weren't inadequate. In fact, she said they mostly did everything right.

"I think sometimes people are so determined to get into places or their need is so great because they need money or whatever, that they seek out these places that help people," she said. "...It’s unfortunate that these things happen and that these individuals can’t just ask for help."

In Kandahar, Afghanistan, Master Sergeant Duane Hayes kneels on a rocky hill at sunset.

Jared McGilliard | courtesy of National Geographic Channel

Hayes is a pararescuman, or “PJ,” assigned to the 38th Rescue Squadron stationed in Afghanistan. The program centers on their final two weeks of deployment, on and off the battlefield, before the men head back to the United States.

“When I get home it will just be awesome,” says Hayes early in the show. “I’m looking forward to waking up and seeing my wife and seeing the kids react the way they do in the mornings, being cute.”

As their days in Afghanistan dwindle down, home seems that much closer and that much further away for the soldiers. When the Taliban detonate a motorcycle bomb near Kandahar city injuring 10 civilians, the PJs take to the air to rescue a U.S. serviceman who has lost three limbs and is quickly losing blood.

“There’s no denying the reality. Not everyone makes it home from this war,” Hayes adds.

Hayes, who is still on active duty, is now at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga. His parents are Margaret and Bill Hayes of Milan.

Alex Johnson and Karen King are co-owners of Ann Arbor Music Center, located on the edge of downtown Ann Arbor. Like Herb David Guitar Studio, the center offers lessons on a variety of instruments along with repair and a sales showroom for guitars and other instruments along with accessories. Johnson expects to pick up some of Herb David's businesses.

Janet Miller | For AnnArbor.com

As Herb David winds up its last few days - it closes at the end of the month - other area music stores are looking to add inventory, expand lessons, hire instructors and offer new services.

Herb David Guitar Studio, at Liberty Street and Fifth Avenue, is closing at the end of the month.

Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com

“Herb David was the central place for music,” said Alex Johnson, who took his first guitar lessons at Herb David when he was growing up in Ann Arbor and later taught at the studio. “There was a great deal of idea sharing and musical connections made there. It was a scene.” Herb David sold guitars and other instruments along with music accessories, serviced instruments and offered lessons on a variety of instruments.

That scene will shift as a handful of music stores that offer a similar menu of products and services as Herb David work to fill the void.

Herb David Guitar Shop employees David Collins, Brian Delaney and Hesh Breakstone also are opening their own third-floor repair shop when the business closes. Ann Arbor Guitars will be in the converted attic of the Herb David building at the corner of Liberty Street and Fifth Avenue.

Johnson, who owns Ann Arbor Music Center, which offers the Rock Band School, at 312 S. Ashley St., expects to pick up some of the slack. “We will be the only place downtown that sells music accessories. Herb David did more sales, but we did more lessons,” he said. He’ll grow his retail side, at least a bit. “People are already starting to walk through the door looking for accessories because Herb David has sold out,” Johnson said.

But with many customers turning to the Internet or big box stores for musical instruments, Johnson said he will be cautious about adding inventory. “We’ll definitely become more of a store and add things like more ukuleles because Herb David sold at lot of them. But I don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on inventory that gathers dust,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he expects to pick up 100 or more of Herb David students and hire some of his staff. They will be added to the center’s existing roster of more than 500 students who take lessons in guitar and bass, drums, violin, voice and more.

Ann Arbor Music Center has grown from the days in 1998 when Johnson opened a solo business teaching guitar in a condemned building on the land now occupied by the Ann Arbor YMCA on West Washington. He later moved to a building on North Main Street, a location with good visibility but an aging structure he outgrew as he added programs, students and teaching staff.

Ann Arbor Music Center, at 312 S. Ashley St., offers Rock Band School.

Janet Miller | For AnnArbor.com

Steve Osburn, owner of Oz’s Music at 1920 Packard, said he expects to see a 10 to 20 percent bump with the Herb David closing and to pick up at least 50 students. He’s already hired two Herb David teachers, including Sean Rogers, the studio’s general manager, Osburn said.

He expects to add a few new, pricier lines of guitars, including Seagull. Until now, he has stocked only entry-level guitars. There have been exclusivity arrangements that allowed Herb David to be the sole retailer of some brands, Osburn said. “But we also haven’t wanted to step on each other's toes.” He said he’s in negotiations to sell top-line Martin guitars.

He’s also negotiating to sell tickets to The Ark from the 3,500-square-foot Oz’s Music, something Herb David had done. “There’s a small service charge, but it really is about getting more warm bodies through the door,” Osburn said.

Finally, Oz’s Music will now be open on Sundays. “We used to have Sunday hours and things were slow,” Osburn said. “But Herb David has done well with their Sunday hours.”

Sean Robinson, co-owner of Dennis's Music at 432 N. Hewitt in Ypsilanti, said he will wait and see if the Herb David closing bumps sales, and doesn’t plan on adding or expanding stock. “We, essentially, sell and do the same kinds of things as Herb David,” Robinson said. That includes guitar, drum and other instrument sales, music supplies such as strings and oil along with repair and lessons.

And at least one Herb David instructor has expressed an interest in teaching at Dennis’ Music, Robinson said.

A move a year ago from Depot Town to their storefront close to Ypsilanti High School puts Dennis’ Music in a better geographic position to pick up some of Herb David’s Ann Arbor customers. And retail became more of a focus when they moved.

“I wouldn’t do anything to disrespect Herb David. Just about anyone who has done anything with music in Washtenaw County has had some (connection) with Herb David,” Robinson said. But he’s hoping to help fill at least some of the gap. “My door is open,” he said. “We do and sell the same things. I don’t want to be opportunistic. We’ll carry on and hope that some people find their way here.”

Janet Miller is a freelance reporter. Reach the AnnArbor.com business desk at business@annarbor.com.

Update: The road had been reopened as of 8:20 a.m.

A crash that brought down a power line closed Michigan Avenue at Schill Road west of Saline Monday morning, a dispatcher with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said.

The accident was believed to be a one-vehicle crash, the dispatcher said.

The Sheriff's Office issued an advisory about the road closure about 7:15 a.m. It was not clear when the road would be reopened. Further information was not immediately available.

View Larger Map

• Update: African man sentenced to 11 years in prison for enslaving children in Ypsilanti

Prosecutors are seeking at least nine years in prison for an African man who was convicted of forcing children to work as slaves at his Ypsilanti home.

Jean-ClaudeToviave

Toviave will be sentenced Monday in Detroit federal court.

The four children emigrated from Togo in 2006 with fraudulent papers. They said Toviave beat them if they didn't follow his orders. One said he prayed for freedom or death.

Prosecutors said Toviave passed off the victims as his own children. Toviave, who worked as a janitor at the University of Michigan and as a part-time tennis instructor at the Huron Valley Tennis Club, was arrested when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided his home in May 2011.

In a court filing, defense attorney Randall Roberts acknowledges that Toviave's "family experiment went horribly off the rails."

• Update: Court records: 18-year-old charged in drive-by shooting was free on bond after weapons arrest

A man and a woman are in the Washtenaw County Jail awaiting charges in the shooting of an 18-year-old Ypsilanti man early Sunday morning in Ann Arbor, police said Monday.

Courtesy of Ann Arbor police

Ann Arbor Police Detective Lt. Robert Pfannes said police responded at 2 a.m. Sunday to the 3500 block of South State Street after a report of shots fired. While checking the area, officers learned an 18-year-old Ypsilanti man had arrived at a local hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

Pfannes said police spoke with multiple witnesses and got descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle.

“Investigating officers located the suspect vehicle at a residence in Lenawee County,” Pfannes said in a statement emailed to AnnArbor.com Monday. “Detectives from the AAPD responded and, with the assistance of Lenawee County sheriffs and the Tecumseh police, were able to take the suspected shooter and an accomplice into custody.”

The suspects are an 18-year-old Ann Arbor man and an 18-year-old Tecumseh woman, Pfannes said. They are both held at the Washtenaw County Jail.

Pfannes said charges are being sought against the two. The Ypsilanti man and the two suspects knew each other.

The Ypsilanti man is still undergoing treatment and was listed in stable condition Monday, Pfannes said.

View Larger Map

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

The Supreme Court is broadening its examination of affirmative action by adding a case about Michigan's effort to ban consideration of race in college admissions.

The U.S. Supreme Court said it would take up a case challenging Michigan's ban on affirmative action in college admissions.

AP photo

The court on Monday said it would add the Michigan case, which focuses on the 6-year-old voter-approved prohibition on affirmative action and the appeals court ruling that overturned the ban. The new case will be argued in the fall. A decision in the Texas case is expected by late June.

The dispute over affirmative action in Michigan has its roots in the 2003 Supreme Court decision that upheld the use of race as a factor in university admissions. That case concerned the University of Michigan Law School.

In response to the court's 5-4 decision in that case, affirmative action opponents worked to put a ballot measure in front of voters to amend the state constitution to outlaw preferential treatment on the basis of race and other factors in education, as well as government hiring and contracting. In November 2006, 58 percent of Michigan voters approved the measure.

Civil rights groups sued to block the provision the day after the vote. In November, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 8-7 to invalidate the ban as it applies to college admissions. It did not address hiring or contracting.

The appeals court said the constitutional amendment is illegal because it prohibits affirmative action supporters from lobbying lawmakers, university trustees and other people who ordinarily control admissions policies. Instead, opponents of the ban would have to mount their own long, expensive campaign through the ballot box to protect affirmative action, the court said.

That burden "undermines the Equal Protection Clause's guarantee that all citizens ought to have equal access to the tools of political change," the court said. The 6th Circuit divided along ideological lines, with its more liberal judges in the majority.

In the Texas case, a white student who was denied admission to the University of Texas is suing to overturn the school's use of race among many factors to fill out its incoming freshman classes. The bulk of the slots go to Texans who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

The Michigan case is Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 12-682.