Inside Ann Arbor’s satellite voting office; council approves $100M riverfront site; psychedelic mushrooms now legal

Happy Friday!

This is a big week heading into the Nov. 3 presidential election: Absentee ballots were mailed out yesterday. Prefer to vote in person? You can now walk into the city clerk’s office, request a ballot and cast your vote.

This year, several new ballot drop boxes will be added around town to accommodate a record number of mail-in voting requests. We’ll let you know where they will be located, so stay tuned.

Have a great weekend.

- Meredith (@meredith_A4)

What’s been happening:

🗳 Staying on the topic of voting, the Ann Arbor City Clerk’s Office opened a satellite location inside the University of Michigan Museum of Art for students, faculty and staff. (A4)

🏙 Ann Arbor City Council approved this week plans to redevelop the old DTE Energy site on Broadway. The $100 million project will include condos, a hotel, a restaurant, walking trails and more. (MLive)

🍄 City council also voted this week to make psychedelic mushrooms legal in Ann Arbor. (Local 4)

☑️ The University of Michigan’s Faculty Senate said a vote of no confidence in president Mark Schlissel should have passed after a review of the votes. (A4)

🧪️ On the COVID-19 front, U-M reported this week that more than 200 students tested negative for coronavirus in South Quad following the confirmation of the school’s first cluster of cases in the residence hall. This comes as the university plans to launch voluntary asymptomatic testing across campus using samples of saliva in October. (A4)

🤝 Meanwhile, residence hall employees who were on strike over coronavirus concerns reached a deal with U-M this week. (A4)

🔥 The city of Ann Arbor will kick off its fall controlled burn season next month with a virtual Q&A meeting. (A4)

Good to know:

🌱 Parents, rejoice! Leslie Science and Nature Center has received the green light to resume outdoor programming after a soil cleanup on its site. First up: Animal Haunts in late October. (A4)

🎻 Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has partnered with the Kerrytown Concert House to launch its 2020 fall season. (Pulp)

🎞 The Ann Arbor Film Festival will be hosting a drive-in movie night next week featuring the best films of the 58th annual festival. (A4)

🛍 Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed Saturday “Downtown Day” across Michigan. Downtown businesses are in need of our support now more than ever. (A4)

Feature interview of the week:

“Now we really know that we are very much a neighborhood shop and our neighborhood wants us to stay. So our goal is to make it through this, one book sale at a time.”

- Megan Blackshear, owner of Bookbound Bookstore

✉️ Have something to share? Write me anytime at mbruckner@wdiv.com.

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