• Previous report: Police arrest man for shooting at cars on U.S.-23

Pittsfield Township police are still looking for answers to why a 28-year-old man fired at multiple cars on U.S.-23 early Wednesday, but one thing is clear.

The winter storm that dumped heavy snow all over Ann Arbor starting Tuesday afternoon played a role in the quick arrest.

"It's not often that we have inclement weather help us out," said Deputy Police Chief Gordy Schick.

The incident unfolded shortly after midnight, Schick said. Township officers were extremely busy due to the storm, which was affecting roads and prompting multiple security alarms.

By about 12:15 a.m., motorists were calling 911 about a gunman aiming at the highway from an area near Michigan Avenue. The location is just west of Carpenter Road and that business district. That area's lighting helped to illuminate the scene.

"They said there was a man dressed all in black, including a black trench coat, shooting at vehicles," Schick said.

Officers rushed to the area, and closed Michigan Avenue to traffic while they looked for the suspect.

They found the 28-year-old man walking westbound from the area. Schick said he was taken into custody at gunpoint.

Township police, who were joined by Michigan State Police, searched the scene as they determined that the man did not have an accomplice.

During that search, they followed the man's footprints in the fresh snow, and found his weapon: A sawed-off shotgun.

"The officers did an outstanding job working against the weather conditions," Schick said.

Investigators said the suspect is a 28-year-old Ypsilanti man, despite initial reports that he was from Wisconsin.

They were still seeking more details Wednesday, Schick said, and likely will have the report ready for the prosecutor to file charges on Thursday.

So far, Schick said, officers have no motive for the shooting. They did find some suspected marijuana, he said, as well as alcohol near the shooting scene.

The weather added to many difficulties for police overnight and into this morning, even as the snow helped police pull the case together.

However, Schick said, it also could have worked against the motorists.

"I'm not sure of the speeds (on the highway) last night," Schick said. "He may have had some slow targets, so we're very fortunate that no one was hurt."

View US 23 shooter in a larger map

A snow-laden tree blocks part of North Parker Road in the 1200 block near Dexter.

John Counts | AnnArbor.com

The mix of snow and freezing rain from an overnight snowstorm proved challenging for Washtenaw County motorists Wednesday morning.

Just after 8:30 a.m., emergency crews were dealing with crashes on southbound U.S. 23 near North Territorial Road north of Ann Arbor and eastbound Interstate 94 and Huron Street in Ypsilanti.

Those were the only crashes reported at that time on Ann Arbor-area freeways, but a dispatcher with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said crashes continued to be reported on secondary roads, as they had been all morning.

Also, many trees and limbs had come down under the weight of heavy snow and freezing rain. Some of those had blocked or partially blocked roads.

The Washtenaw County Road Commission's full fleet of drivers reported at 4 a.m. and by 9 a.m., most freeways were in good shape, though there were still some slick spots where snow and ice bonded to the pavement, said director of operations Jim Harmon. Drivers were applying salt to those areas.

The National Weather Service said reports of the snowfall total varied throughout the area, with some areas around Ann Arbor reporting 7 inches. In Saline, only 3.6 inches were reported, said Matt Mosteiko, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake. Other areas reported 4 to 5 inches.

Snow storms might mean it’s time for many local residents to curl up inside and stay off the roads until the danger passes, but for some brave souls, it’s time to take to the streets.

Those heroes are, of course, pizza delivery drivers.

They go out into the frozen "snowpacalypse" raging outside so many area residents don’t have to — and there were many out in force Tuesday evening.

Tony Barnabo, who works at the Cottage Inn location at 546 Packard St., said business was as busy as expected. Calls for delivery usually pick up during snow storms and at least one employee was going to work a longer day, he said.

“We just made the morning driver stay later,” Barnabo said.

There almost were as many crashes as snowflakes in the Ann Arbor area Tuesday evening. According to dispatchers, at one point police were responding to as many as 13 known crashes across the area.

Many people reported their evening commute took much longer than usual and traffic was stop and go throughout Washtenaw County.

Many people were advised to stay inside, but the life of a pizza delivery driver requires these risks.

At least one restaurant in Ann Arbor was so busy, a representative who spoke to AnnArbor.com couldn’t spare the time to talk about how busy they were.

“We’re really busy, I don’t even have time to tell you who to talk to,” said a worker at Pizza House, 618 Church St.

Her brevity did not insult this reporter. After all, who calls a pizza restaurant during the middle of the dinner rush in a snowstorm?

While these restaurants reported being slammed by delivery orders, it wasn’t the same story at other Ann Arbor restaurants.

A representative from Bell’s Pizza, 700 Packard St., said they weren’t busier than usual and were doing just fine.

Jalel Nadji, a waiter at Silvio’s at 715 N. University Ave., said the delivery load was pretty standard for a Tuesday night, about one or two orders coming in every hour.

The real effect for Silvio’s was that less people were going to come and dine in during the storm, Nadji said. Instead of pulling an extra driver or two in to help deliver orders, a waiter could be pulled from the dining room and onto the streets.

“It kind of shifts our focus,” he said. “We have two waiters that usually work the night shift, but one could be pulled to drive some delivery orders tonight as well.”

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

More than 7 inches of snow fell in some parts of Ann Arbor, reports indicated. Here, snow blankets a yard in Scio Township.

Cindy Heflin | AnnArbor.com

Snow totals from Tuesday night’s winter storm varied widely across Washtenaw County, the National Weather Service said.

Weather observers reported 7.4 inches of snow on the University of Michigan’s North Campus and 7 inches 1 mile south of Ann Arbor, said Matt Mosteiko, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in White Lake Township.

Other totals reported included 6.8 inches in Dexter, 3.6 inches in Saline and 4 inches in Manchester.

How much snow fell at your house? Tell us in the comments below.

University of Michigan Internet was down for about five hours late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Students study on computers at the Angell Hall Computing Site.

jj

U-M students are in the midst of midterms this week.

The outage originated from a problem at the Ann Arbor-based Internet service provider Merit Network, which handles U-M and connectivity at other state colleges, including Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University.

Full Internet service was restored at 4:52 a.m. Wednesday, after first malfunctioning just before midnight, according to Elwood Downing, vice president of communications for Merit.

"Everything is 100 percent up and operational, Downing said.

U-M first reported an outage at 11:42 p.m. Tuesday, according to an information technology official.

"Our Support Center and engineers began analyzing the effect of the problem and determined that it was an issue with one of Merit's core routers/switches located... in Chicago," Merit said in a statement.

The company moved U-M traffic to another router and is analyzing issues that led to the outage.

"This was not a weather issue, it had nothing to do with the weather or electricity," Downing said.

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.

An important stage in brain development in teens hits just as many individual move away from home to college -- which has more mental health ramifications than students may know.

"The stage at which the brain is developing -- it actually puts young people at risk for certain behaviors," said Dr. Donald Vereen, director of the University of Michigan's Substance Abuse Research Center. "The part of the brain that reasons -- the frontal lobe -- is the last to form. In late adolescence, the frontal lobes are not finished forming; there are still connections that need to be made, and kids are put in some of the most stressful situations in their lives."

Students have to cope with a number of stresses at college that come at a time in their brain development that make them more susceptible to certain unhealthy behaviors.

Vereen was the keynote speaker on the first day of the University of Michigan's 11th Depression on College Campuses conference Tuesday in Ann Arbor.

About 15 percent of students surveyed recently at the University of Michigan say they're struggling with depression -- a figure that's on par with campuses across the country.

Brains are depressed, not people, Vereen said.

The brain is the organ with the disease, not the person, Vereen said. Depressed brains have less blood flow or glucose than non-depressed brains.

The brain cells of newborn babies have limited connections. As the baby’s brain develops over the first two years of life, the cells grow and increasingly become interconnected as the child learns about the world around them, Vereen said.

“Soon, you have an organized organ,” Vereen said.

With children, brain development is directly correlated with their behavior. Young children that seem to be “everywhere” and easily distracted have brains that rapidly are growing and learning, Vereen said, calling them a "hot, molten volcano" of activity.

Between the ages of 14 and 18, however, brain development changes. Brain cells “prune” themselves according to an individual’s experience - leaving behind the cells that define a person, Vereen said.

The age range also is when depression first develops, Vereen said.

A teenager’s brain negotiates inner selfish needs and wants as it selects from necessary and unnecessary cells, while it also manages outward stimuli, Vereen said.

When a brain can’t negotiate between what’s happening in its immediate environment and the process happening internally, there’s a struggle in the brain, Vereen said.

The inability to deal with those emotions and to calm oneself often leads teenagers to self medicate -- because they’re both curious and testing their boundaries, and because they want to feel better, Vereen said.

“If they’re boys, they don’t sit well with feelings,” Vereen said. “They have to do something to make themselves feel better, and so they often get in trouble.”

Teens often turn to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate.

"There are tremendous stressors in the process that really make young people vulnerable to things like accidents, driving fast in the car, pregnancies and the inability to not soothe oneself -- and it is hard, it is difficult -- might lead to unwise choices. Like trying drugs; trying to fix or re-write, re-correct the brain," Vereen said.

“Drugs take advantage of unformed brains,” Vereen said.

A recent survey of 23,000 individuals between the ages of 11 and 20 years old found that more of them say they have trouble managing anger and report depression issues than use drugs and alcohol illicitly or have unprotected sex.

The survey was conducted under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Salerno, who is the founder of Possibilities for Change.

The organization is a part of the University of Michigan Tech Transfer Venture Acclerator, and developed the Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services survey.

About 28 percent of those surveyed reported having trouble managing anger, and 24 percent reported signs of depression.

However, 14 percent of respondents reported using illicit drugs and alcohol, and 13 percent said they’ve had unprotected sex.

The survey was given to 23,000 students in medical practices and school-based health centers across the country using an online form. The 21-question health risk assessment tool took about five minutes to complete.

“With so much attention being paid to the usual suspects of drugs, alcohol, pregnancy and STD prevention, these much more common risks are being overlooked,” Salerno said in a statement. “The real value of a standardized approach to risk assessment with teens is the ability to uncover these hidden dangers that they aren’t likely to bring up - and we, as adults, might not even think to ask.”

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

• Related: VIDEO: Watch the power lines arc in Ann Arbor during Tuesday's snowstorm

A power line was down Wednesday morning near the intersection of Huron Street and Dexter Avenue in Ann Arbor. Limbs falling on power lines caused multiple bright flashes of light across Washtenaw County Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

Hassan Hodges | AnnArbor.com

The cause: Tree limbs falling on live power lines.

The freezing rain and heavy snow the storm brought coated power lines as well as tree limbs. When falling wet tree limbs come into contact with live power lines, there's a resulting clear flash and a loud noise, said Pittsfield Township Fire Chief Sean Gleason.

"It's a pretty common thing, "Gleason said. "This weather is the worst for power lines."

Typically, the flashes of light are a clear flash, but sometimes they can be green or yellow, Gleason said.

"To some people, it looks like lightning," Gleason said.

The assault on the system created by the contact between the tree branch and power line creates the flash, said Len Singer, spokesman for DTE Energy.

"There's a lot of voltage going on those lines," Singer said. "The fault in the system that would cause that line to go out would create a flash in the dark sky."

The storm left 14,000 DTE Energy customers without power in Washtenaw County and 30,000 powerless in southeast Michigan. Crews were assessing the extent of the damage Wednesday morning, Singer said, and would have an estimated time of restoration by mid-Wednesday.

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

For boyfriend and girlfriend Cheri Jackson and Charles Molina, food has been a true love affair. They met in 2007 working at Panera Bread; he as the manager and she as a server. They teamed up with a partner with catering experience to launch a catering business in 2009.

The reactions were positive, with many saying, "I wish I could get this as just an (individual) plate instead of ordering it for 50 people," Molina said. The two wanted to venture into what they knew best: the restaurant business. With the third partner no longer involved, they opened Blue Wolf Grill in Ypsilanti Township last December. "We still do the catering, but the restaurant is the focus," he said.

Jackson said that locating on Washtenaw, a strip dominated by fast food, would be an ideal location and provide an alternative to heading to downtown Ann Arbor to get high-quality, homemade food.

"We wanted to bring something more homey to the area and give people choices they don't have," she said. Blue Wolf Grill occupies the space of a Mediterranean restaurant that had been left empty for roughly three years.

The new owners painted over the decorative walls, and the ambiance is simple and basic. There's blue/green carpet, bare walls and a counter in the middle where the food is delivered. With only seating for 36, it's small. But that creates a warm and intimate feel. And that warm feel extends to the actual toasty room temperature of the restaurant& #8212; a pleasant respite from the cold outside. Even a seat by the large window failed to elicit a chill.

With only nine tables, it's a good idea to make reservations. If you happen to get there when everyone has just been seated, as we did on our second visit, you could be in for a wait of 20 minutes or more.

All of the appetizers we tried were great, starting with the seven-layer bean dip of guacamole, salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, tomatoes and beans. The Wolf Sampler includes two sliders, wings and focaccia bread. We opted for the beef instead of the pork sliders, which consisted of sweet-flavored beef served on a fresh bun. The wings were tender and bathed in a sweet barbeque sauce. Our server initially forgot to bring the pesto sauce that accompanied the focaccia bread, and it seemed rather bland. But the sauce that was eventually delivered near the end of our meal perked the bread up nicely.

The best salad we sampled by far was the Michigan salad, which had chunks of walnuts, along with dried cherries and crumbled blue cheese tossed with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The house salad was uninteresting, though it benefited from a rich, creamy, homemade Russian dressing.

The salads and entrees are served with a croissant. Jackson explains they pre-order the dough and bake it in house, but it tasted a bit stale.

On our first visit, we ordered a mushroom soup in a creamy broth that was so good, my husband insisted on ordering it again on our next visit. However, much to his chagrin, the second time around, the restaurant produced a very different — and inferior — version of the soup, little more than weak chicken broth. Though there were some mushroom pieces, their flavor was barely detectable.

I appreciated the interesting accents in many of the entrees. Butternut squash ravioli was made with a light sauce of roasted apples, cream and curry; it avoided the heaviness so common to most versions of this dish.

I was leery of going with our server's top recommendation, sun-dried tomato and spinach stuffed chicken, as I often find restaurant chicken breasts to be dry. But it was outstanding. The spinach stuffing and the sweet-tasting sun-dried tomato cream sauce kept the chicken breasts moist; it even held up well the second day, eaten cold from the refrigerator.

The rib-eye steak, bathed in succulent Cajun and Asian flavorings, was another highlight.

All entrees come with a choice of sides. Parmesan mashed potatoes were overly salty and a big disappointment. Though they're homemade, they resembled a packaged brand. The vegetable medley, another side choice, also disappointed; vegetables were rubbery and lacked much seasoning. I would opt instead for the homemade Parmesan garlic french fries, which were well seasoned and delicious.

The chef also had an interesting twist on conventional American sandwiches. My favorite was the whitefish panini. The pairing of smoked whitefish salad along with Monterey Jack cheese, grilled on fresh rye bread, created a rich and flavorful sandwich.

The roast turkey sandwich also was great. It combined a generous piece of herb roasted turkey with thick slices of bacon, pepper jack cheese and mayonnaise, grilled on focaccia bread.

The only entree we tried that missed the mark was the northern whitefish. Unlike the flavorful whitefish in the panini, this was bland. The generous amount of mushrooms on top did little to enhance the flavor.

The best dessert we sampled was the ganache, which tasted like a rich mousse, densely chocolate. The chocolate Michigan apple cake, which resembled a muffin and was topped with vanilla sauce, would have been better without the chocolate, which didn't meld well with the sweet cake.

One of the best features of this restaurant is the service. On the first visit, when we were one of only of a few parties, our entrees were delivered promptly after our appetizers, almost before we were ready for them. Our server was noticeably warm and chatty, but not intrusive. On our second visit, servers constantly checked in on us and delivered our food rapidly, though the restaurant was entirely booked.

The prices here our quite reasonable. Entrees start as low as $12 and include a choice of soup or salad as well as a side dish. Sandwiches are in the $7 to $9 range and are a substantial size.

As a new restaurant, there were some kinks. For example, one evening, the restaurant's vendor neglected to deliver enough ribs, so they couldn't offer them, despite the fact that they were listed on the menu. On our second visit, they ran out of decaf coffee.

Still, these are minor quibbles. Blue Wolf Grill's combination of interesting, high-quality dishes, along with its intimate setting and reasonable prices, make it a worthy dining destination.

View Larger Map

Julie Halpert reviews restaurants for AnnArbor.com.

Detroit might well be the canary in the coal mine for the opening chapter of Edward Luce’s book, “Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent.”

Early coal mines had poor ventilation systems and since canaries are sensitive to gases, they would detect danger long before it became fatal to miners.

Michigan, the Detroit canary is on its last legs. Wake up! There is hope for Detroit and America if drastic action is taken.

While President Barack Obama has been golfing with Tiger Woods and Congress is on yet another vacation, they both tell us the "sky is falling" if "sequestration" goes into effect on March 1. What the heck is sequestration? It's a series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to government agencies, totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts would be split 50-50 between defense and domestic discretionary spending. Both political parties say the federal budget needs to be cut -- but across the board cuts will harm or economy and weaken our national defense. So, they "sequester"!

Their collective behavior is reminiscent of Thelma and Louise heading for the cliff.

Luce’s book is a compendium of American problems. Boiled down, it shows we collectively are burying our heads in the sand as we ignore problems at the local, state and national levels and continue to pretend and spend as if nothing has changed.

But everything has changed and keeps on changing.

Luce does not write his book with any sense of satisfaction. On the contrary, he appears to be rooting for us to wake up, innovate, lead and prosper.

As an outsider with Western and U.S. sympathies and a global perspective, Luce seems to see America through the lens of an awe-inspired 21st century Alexis de Tocqueville. Yet he chastises our leaders in the public and private sectors for their failures to come to grips with the real problems facing the country and spell out specific plans to act boldly.

Luce brings a fresh, albeit a center-left-leaning liberal, perspective to America’s ills as a Washington, D.C.-based columnist and commentator for The Financial Times. The British citizen has reported from Asia and also served a brief stint as a speechwriter for Lawrence Summers, a Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. He is the son of the conservative British politician Richard Luce.

He touches on the vexing problems of the loss of the American manufacturing base, the decline of the middle class, the demise of our K-12 education system, our rising inequality and political polarization and paralysis at every level of government.

Luce criss-crossed America, meeting with the average person and American leaders in an attempt to understand what ails the country and determine what actions must be undertaken. His conclusions are as ugly as the problems we have allowed to pile up without being addressed by our leaders.

Reading the book, you get the sense Luce is not unlike a kind uncle who pulls you aside and, out of pure love, whispers that you have a problem and, if it’s not addressed, it will destroy you. Be warned.

Luce reminds us that if you have a hole in your roof, pretending to fix it does not keep the rain out. We have attempted to ignore, deny, patch and hope our problems away.

Soon, Detroit and America must get serious about fixing the multiple holes in their roofs.

Some may argue Luce is preaching American declinism, yet what he observes and shares in his book is visible for all to see. Only the blind or political apologist cannot see we have much work to do to climb back to the perch of greatness. We cannot continue to pretend, borrow and spend our way to the top.

The upward trajectory of other nations, like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, adds to the struggle to fix our problems.

Having extensively traveled in China for more than two decades, I can assure you it is not slowing down while we get our act together.

Clearly, greatness does not travel in straight lines. Detroit and America have the DNA to self-correct and regain and continue its leadership role on the global stage.

The question remains — will we?

There is no guarantee that we get to remain at the pinnacle of greatness simply because we’ve been there.

Detroit is the canary — does anyone smell gas?

Tom Watkins has held leadership positions in the private and public sectors running two major departments of Michigan State government: education and mental health and serving as the president and CEO of the Economic Council in Palm Beach County, Fl. He is a U.S./China business and educational consultant and can be reached at tdwatkins88@gmail.com.

A dense snow has blanketed Ann Arbor, breaking branches, causing power outages and forcing schools to close.

See some of the photos submitted by AnnArbor.com readers from across Washtenaw County then send us your shot to be added to the gallery.

Did you capture a photo you want to share? Send it to us using the form below or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #a2photos.

Lt. Scott Maddison said the house was uninhabitable due to fire, smoke and water damage.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

Five people temporarily are without residence due to a house fire at 712 Pearl St., according to Lt. Scott Maddison of the Ypsilanti Fire Department.

The department received the call at 4:23 a.m.

Maddison said the fire started in the basement and spread to the second floor through the void space of the first floor walls.

Maddison said the fire spread from the basement to the second floor through the void space of the first floor walls.

Courtney Sacco Annarbor.com

"Everybody was out," Maddison said. "Nobody was hurt."

Maddison said the house was split up into three apartments. Although the building wasn't totally destroyed, it is uninhabitable due to fire, smoke, and water damage. No monetary estimate of damages is available.

Fire departments from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti Township, Pittsfied Township and Superior Township assisted in putting the fire out.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

View Larger Map

Jason Williams started plowing around midnight.

At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, he was still at it, zipping around the nearly cleared parking lot of a Scio Township shopping plaza in a Bobcat snow remover, performing some finishing touches. Williams estimated he'd plowed about a dozen lots -- from banks to grocery stores -- all over the Ann Arbor area after 4 to 7 inches of the white stuff fell overnight.

Williams, who works for Saline-based construction company, said he was going to hit two more before taking a much-needed break.

"I'm going to take a nap," Williams said with a tired laugh.

After a quick respite, however, Williams said he will continue plowing throughout the day.

About 4-6 inches fell overnight and while the official weather advisory was canceled just before 10 a.m., snow showers were expected the rest of Wednesday, according to an alert issued by Washtenaw County.

Williams said it wasn't an easy snow to deal with. He had to adjust the plow on his Bobcat to accommodate the dense snow.

"I can't push it because it's so heavy," he said.

The weight of the snow is the reason many wires and trees were downed, said Len Singer, spokesman for DTE Energy. At 10 a.m., about 26,000 DTE Energy customers were without power in Washtenaw County. Though most of the outages are in outlying areas in the county, about 1,000 customers within the city of Ann Arbor were without power as well, Singer said.

Jason Williams was up all night plowing Ann Arbor area parking lots.

John Counts | AnnArbor.com

At noon on Wednesday, DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said they were working to get power restored by midnight to its customers. The "vast majority" of outages in southeastern Michigan were reported in Washtenaw County, Bodipo-Memba said.

Melissa Manning and Lauren Cipponeri are neighbors on Beechwood Boulevard in Lima Township. They both lost power around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Power had not been restored as the two women shoveled out their driveways around 8 a.m.

"You don't realize how much you depend on electricity until it goes out," said Cipponeri as she cleared her driveway so she could get to work. "I don't care what time I get there."

Manning has two young children and said she was planning on heading over to her parents' house in Ann Arbor because they still had power.

"I'm hoping I can just get out of my driveway," she said.

The roads were sloppy, but not too much of a problem, according to authorities and commuters.

Sgt. Geoff Fox with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office said deputies were dealing with the usual road run-offs, but there hadn't been any serious accidents reported.

"It's not too bad this morning," he said. "There are some crashed here and there."

Amy Schalk was pumping gas at a Marathon station on Jackson Avenue just west of Wagner in Scio Township around 9 a.m. She'd just driven to the area from Huron River Drive and said the roads were "messy, but not too bad."

"I was more worried about branches falling on me," she said.

At 9 a.m., the Washtenaw County Road Commission was continuing to deal with trees and limbs down on roads, said spokesman Jim Harmon.

Like Williams, county road commission drivers were putting in extra hours. Drivers reported at 4 a.m. and were on the roads within 15 minutes, Harmon said. Several employees also worked throughout the night.

Harmon said they are making steady progress on the roads and that drivers are working on the ramps to the major highways. The commission intended to get to secondary roads Wednesday afternoon. Secondary roads include 770 miles of unpaved roads and 356 miles of subdivision streets, he said.

"We're going to try to get to as much of that as we can," he said. "We're asking that residents not park on the streets in the subdivisions. Don’t put garbage receptacles out in the street."

AnnArbor.com reporter Amy Biolchini and managing producer Cindy Heflin contributed to this report.

John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

This post will be updated as information about area games becomes available

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Winter weather may have canceled school across the region Wednesday, but all girls basketball district semifinal games will go on as scheduled.

Games scheduled at Huron, Manchester, Monroe, Washtenaw Christian, South Lyon and Napoleon will go on as scheduled, according to school administrators. See the schedule below for matchups and tipoff times.

The only boys games on the schedule, Willow Run against Detroit Old Redford, has been postponed.

Lincoln also announced that it will host a boys basketball game against Skyline Saturday night, after SEC crossover games were canceled this week.

Tuesday Night’s Girls Basketball Schedule

Huron District
Pioneer vs. Huron, 6 p.m.
Dexter vs. Pinckney, 7:30 p.m.

Manchester District
Willow Run vs. Manchester, 5:30 p.m.
Clinton vs. Arbor Preparatory, 7 p.m.

Washtenaw Christian District
Monroe Meadow Montessori vs. Washtenaw Christian, 5 p.m.
Rudolf Steiner vs. Livingston Christian High School, 7 p.m.

Monroe District
Saline vs. Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.

Onsted District
Chelsea vs. Napoleon, 7 p.m.

South Lyon East District
Father Gabriel Richard vs. Detroit Community, 5 p.m.

Dave Kint, foreman for Michigan State Trunkline Maintenance, said the tree was 5 to 6 feet in diameter.

Photo courtesy Captain Larry James of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department

During his Wednesday morning commute, Ypsilanti Township Fire Department captain Larry James was anticipating a long list of accident reports and calls as a result of Tuesday's weather conditions.

However, he wasn't expecting to be involved in one of them.

The fire captain's commute was suddenly stalled when a tree came crashing down on his truck while traveling east on East Michigan Avenue between Case and Willow roads, in Saline Township.

"When it hit, it was just an explosion," he said. "It stared at my grill, went up my hood and came crashing through the windshield."

James said the tree crashed through his truck's windshield, hitting the truck's steering column and his leg.

Photo courtesy of Captain Larry James of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department

"Had it not hit the steering column first, I’d have been in a bit of trouble," he said.

Jim Harmon, director of operations for the Washtenaw County Road Commission, said the agency was notified of the accident at 6:05 a.m.

"The entire road was blocked due to this fallen tree," said Dave Kint, foreman for Michigan State trunkline maintenance.

Kint said the tree hit a semi-truck as well. He said its base was about 5 to 6 feet in diameter — which usually would be a tree about 15 to 19 feet around.

James said his leg was a bit stiff from after the limb hit it, but other than that, he was unharmed. Despite the holes in the windshield, he drove the truck the rest of the way to the fire department, making a point to take back roads.

"It was a real slow drive — kind of chilly," he said. "I shouldn’t have driven it, but I had to get to work and I wasn’t going to wait for a wrecker."

Kint said the tree is no longer obstructing traffic after he and his crew cut the limbs from it and moved the debris off of the road.

Harmon said residents are welcome to pick the wood up from the side of the road for personal use.

"It’s not uncommon for citizens to help themselves to the wood for firewood," he said. "We don’t object to that."

James said the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and the Clinton Fire Department were on the scene as well. Neither were available for comment.

View Larger Map

A study of traffic through the Village of Dexter showed that most motorists drive an average of 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, reported the Dexter Leader.

After reviewing the study, village council members urged residents to slow down to avoid accidents.

The village sent the study's results to the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and requested the office increase patrol of problem areas.

• Read the full article at the Dexter Leader

Kody Klein is an intern for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at kklein@mlive.com

First row, Cassie Mann, Dana Denha; middle row, Michele Leshan, Kathleen Beardmore; back row Nick Boyer, Michael Schacherbauer, Steven White.

Photo provided by A2CT

A2CT released a press release about their success:

“We were thrilled to do so well in the festival,” says A2CT managing director Suzi Peterson. “We entered the festival at the urging of 'Leaving Iowa''s director, Michael Schacherbauer. Michael was heavily involved in theater festivals in Ohio for years, but A2CT has not entered the festival since the early 90’s. The event was a great way to mingle with other community theater members and to see what other theaters do; we indeed made some new friends in the theater community. We are looking forward to the regional competition in April.”

In preparation for the regional competition in April, a dress rehearsal of the excerpt of "Leaving Iowa" will take place at the A2CT Studio Theatre and will be open to the public, to help defray costs of sending the cast and crew to Wisconsin. A specific date and time is yet to be determined.

The talented and versatile cast of Leaving Iowa features Nick Boyer as Don, Matt Steward as Dad, Kathleen Beardmore as Mom, and Dana Denha as Sis. The cast also includes Isaac Ellis, Cassie Mann, and Steven White playing multiple characters.

For information about A2CT and the open dress rehearsal of "Leaving Iowa," visit www.a2ct.org or call 734-971-2228.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

• Related: Authorities explain flashes of light in Washtenaw County skies Tuesday night

Wet tree limbs falling on live power lines during Tuesday night's snowstorm caused bright flashes of light across Washtenaw County that caught the attention of many area residents.

Stephen Johnson took the following video of a power line arcing at Page Avenue and Marlborough Drive Tuesday night on the south side of Ann Arbor.

Make sure the volume on your computer is on to hear the sound of the lines arcing.

View Larger Map

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

An automated external defibrillator was taken from a University of Michigan North Campus building at 1351 Beal Ave., according to the U-M Police Department.

The defibrillator was taken sometime between Jan. 31 and Feb. 25. from the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering department on the building's second floor.

There are no suspects at this time.

View Larger Map

Kody Klein is an intern for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at kklein@mlive.com

The storm that left Ann Arbor caked in more than 7 inches of heavy snow on Wednesday also tore the limbs off many neighborhood trees, and in some cases took trees down entirely.

Ann Arbor officials said mid-afternoon city crews still were responding to the trail of debris, as well as addressing downed power lines.

A more extensive tree debris collection plan is being developed to help address the need for disposing of broken branches, city officials said.

City officials said residents can store storm-damaged tree limbs on their lawn extension — but not in the street — for future city collection. The initial plan is to provide two citywide passes to collect tree branches from extensions, with the first pass to start the middle of next week.

A tree fell and damaged two vehicles parked in the 500 block of N. Division St. Heavy, wet snow blanketed the city causing many tree branches to collapse under the weight.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Residents also can keep informed of the tree branch-collection plan by subscribing to updates via the city's e-notification service. Go to www.a2gov.org/subscribe, click on the red envelope icon, and select the "news" and "snow removal" topics from the subscription menu.

At least 10 trees came down overnight and city officials said those were removed by 7 a.m. Forestry crews were brought in overnight to address the volume of tree-related issues, giving priority to downed tree limbs obstructing traffic and plowing operations. Outside contractors also were deployed to assist with the city's tree-related issues.

Kerry Gray, the city's urban forestry and natural resource planner, said a crew of 13 people still was working on the tree issues as of Wednesday afternoon.

"The lack of wind has allowed the wet snow that fell last night to remain on tree branches, which is weighing them down," she said. "Most trees will be able to handle the weight of the snow, but some tree branches may fail due to the heavy weight."

Snow-covered tree branches were observed cracking off trees along neighborhood streets and falling onto sidewalks. Gray said the city hadn't received any reports of anyone being injured, though some vehicles parked on city streets were damaged by downed limbs.

Gray said on Wednesday afternoon the city was addressing the branches of city-maintained street and park trees that have fallen.

In order to clear debris and snow from the streets while temperatures stay above freezing, the city's field operations crews are anticipated to be on 24-hour schedules until the weekend.

City officials are thanking residents for their patience during clean-up efforts and apologizing in advance for any temporary noise that might arise from operating chain saws, wood chippers, and plows during the post-storm cleanup.

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.

Due to slick road conditions, Ann Arbor's residential recycling collections on Wednesday will not occur and the Wednesday routes will be combined with the Thursday collection stops, according to the city's residential recycling collector, Recycle Ann Arbor.

A city of Ann Arbor plow truck clears snow near the intersection of Davis and Edgewood just south of Wurster Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Downed power lines and service disruption overnight resulted in numerous traffic signals going to flash or without power early Wednesday morning. City officials said generators were put in place at seven locations and all signals were operational as of 9 a.m.

The city's street maintenance crews were working to keep the major streets clear on Wednesday afternoon, using six plows to treat primary roads, while another 21 vehicles and staff were dedicated to snow removal in residential areas.

Plowing along specific streets could be delayed until DTE Energy is able to address downed power lines, city officials said.

• Track the progress of city snow plows online

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.