The number of crashes on Washtenaw County roads and freeways went up about 3 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, statistics released Monday by the Michigan State Police show.

The number of fatal crashes and the number of fatalities both dropped, however. Twenty-three people died in 22 crashes in the county in 2012, the statistics showed. That compares with 35 people in 33 crashes the year before.

The total number of crashes in Washtenaw County in 2012 was 10,007, compared with 9,715 the year before. The rise in the number of crashes follows a drop of 220 in the number of crashes from 2010 to 2011.

Statewide, the number of traffic fatalities increased 5 percent compared with 2011. The number of motorcycle fatalities increased by 18 percent in the state.

In Washtenaw County, however, the number of fatalities in motorcycle crashes decreased from 3 in 2011 to 2 in 2012. The number of motorcycle crashes in the county went up, from 93 in 2011 to 120 in 2012, a 29 percent increase.

"Michigan’s increase in traffic fatalities mirrors what has taken place across the country," Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the Michigan State Police, said in a news release from the Office of Highway Safety Planning. State police also said that teen fatalities declined 14 percent, from 99 in 2011 to 85 in 2012.

The state has experienced significant decreases in traffic crashes over the past decade, from 395,515 in 2002 to 273,891 in 2012, state police pointed out. Similarly, alcohol- and/or drug-involved fatalities have dropped from 463 in 2002 to 342 in 2012, police said in the release.

• Other statewide information from the release:
• Cellphone-involved crashes decreased 9 percent, from 821 in 2011 to 748 in 2012. Cellphone-involved fatal crashes increased from six in 2011 to eight in 2012. (Michigan cannot track crashes involving texting specifically.)
• Commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities increased 10 percent, from 73 in 2011 to 80 in 2012.
• Motorcyclist fatalities increased 18 percent, from 109 in 2011 to 129 in 2012.
• Bicyclist fatalities were down 17 percent, from 24 in 2011 to 20 in 2012.
• Pedestrian fatalities decreased 5 percent, from 140 in 2011 to 133 in 2012.
• The number of crashes involving deer declined 9 percent, from 53,592 in 2011 to 48,918 in 2012.

You can read more information about the crashes and download the report on the Michigan State Police website.

A lululemon athletica store in Washington D.C. The yoga-inspired clothing company is opening its first full-scale Ann Arbor store this year.

Photo by Elvert Barnes

The location: the under-construction Arbor Hills shopping center between Platt Road and Huron Parkway.

“It just makes a lot of sense for us to be out there as part of the (corridor’s) growth,” said Nina Gardner, a community relations representative for lululemon.

Founded in Canada in 1998, there are now more than 200 lululemon locations worldwide, with the majority of its growth based in the United States. There is one store in Birmingham, Mich., one in Troy, and a showroom in Grand Rapids.

A portion of the under-construction Arbor Hills shopping center, which is slated to open in August.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The stores sell technical athletic apparel and are meant to act as “community hubs,” offering complimentary fitness classes and hosting other events.

In 2010, lululemon opened a showroom in downtown Ann Arbor in a small, tucked away third-level space on East William Street. According to the company’s website, showrooms are a “cozier version” of larger stores, with limited hours and less inventory.

Gardner said the Ann Arbor showroom will close a few weeks before the Washtenaw Avenue store opens late this summer.

“The showroom concept is so cool because it really allows us to get in communities,” Gardner said.

“Downtown Ann Arbor is obviously the heartbeat of that community, but as Ann Arbor grows and the other area on Washtenaw grows, it just really is going to allow us to have access to different parts of the community,” she continued.

She said the store will be open seven days a week and it will offer free fitness classes. The lululemon store in Birmingham hosts a run club, and Gardner said the company will determine what Ann Arborites want to see in their community.

“It’s really about seeing what the needs of the community are and supporting it,” she said.

She said the company plans to hire additional employees to staff the new store.

Lululemon will join more than 20 other tenants at the 100,000-square-foot Arbor Hills when it opens in August. Pizzeria Biga, Cafe Zola and women’s boutique Hot Mama are among the tenants planning to open in the center.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was valued at about $9.63 billion based on a Monday stock price of $66.68.

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.

The man suspected of 20 shootings along the Interstate 96 corridor waived his right to a preliminary examination and will head toward trial, MLive reported.

Raulie Casteel

Raulie Casteel did not appear in the Livingston County District Court Monday for a preliminary hearing. Through his attorney, Casteel indicated he had elected to waive the exam and head to the Livingston County Circuit Court for trial.

Casteel was arrested on Nov. 17 after a large police task force from local, state and federal agencies matched his gun to bullet fragments pulled from vehicles.

Casteel is accused of shooting at more than 20 vehicles and injuring one man. He’s charged with terrorism, assault with intent to murder and five felony firearm counts.

Read the full MLive report.

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

Editor's note: The spelling of Jordan Marken's last name has been corrected in this article.

The man killed in a single-car crash on Old U.S. 12 near Chelsea Monday morning was a 22-year-old from Belleville, Michigan State Police said Monday afternoon.

Jordan Marken died early Monday after his car ran off Old U.S. 12 and hit a tree about 4:15 a.m., said state police Sgt. Chris Pascoe.

Marken, who grew up in the Dexter area, was traveling west on Old U.S. 12 approaching Freer Road when he lost control of the car and it went off the south side of the road into a ditch and hit the tree, Pascoe said. Marken was thrown from the car, Pascoe said. Police don’t believe he was wearing a seatbelt.

Speed is believed to be a factor in the crash, Pascoe said. Police are still investigating. Old U.S. 12 was closed for several hours Monday morning for the investigation.

View Crash 031813 in a larger map

Ypsilanti blogger Mark Maynard has published an interview with Dreamland Theater owner Naia Venturi, whose puppets (and puppetry) were recently part of a feature film shoot - specifically, "A.K.A. Jimmy Picard," starring Oscar winner Benicio del Toro.

Based on a book titled "Reality and Dream: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian," by George Devereux, the movie is about a therapist's treatment of a Blackfoot nation World War II veteran (del Toro) who's suffering from PTSD. At one point, a puppet troupe comes to perform "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the facility where Picard is being treated.

The starting point of Venturi's involvement was her friendship with photographer Jamie Klenk, who's working as an art production assistant for the film.

Read the full interview on MarkMaynard.com.

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.

• Previous coverage: New Ypsilanti district seeking mascot and school color ideas

Parents and students in the Ypsilanti Community Schools district will have another opportunity to weigh in on the consolidated district's mascot and colors Wednesday.

The forum will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Ypsilanti High School Media Center, 2095 Packard Road.

Ypsilanti and Willow Run meet on the basketball court in this 2010 file photo. The two schools will decide on one mascot and one set of school colors for the new Ypsilanti Community Schools consolidated district that open this fall.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com file photo

An effort to engage local residents in choosing a name for the new district was widely successful and exceeded expectations, with more than 280 name suggestions submitted. Ypsilanti Community Schools was the name decided upon.

Jackson said the new district received around 60 mascot and school color submissions. The mascot ideas fell in a variety of categories — people, animals, historical context and others, Jackson said. The submissions included Bombers, Generals, Liberators, Lions, Mustangs, Hawks, Firebirds, Royals, Running Rebels, Mavericks, Engineers and Vikings.

Other proposed mascots included combining the current mascots of Ypsilanti and Willow Run, the Phoenix and the Flyers, respectively. Those ideas included the Flying Phoenix and the Phoenix Flyers.

There also was a range of school color possibilities submitted. Jackson said blue and green combinations were predominant. Some also attempted to combine the colors of both districts, such as red and gold, maroon and gold or black and gold. Ypsilanti's current school colors are purple and gold; Willow Run's are red, black and white.

Jackson said officials will have a chart at Wednesday's forum for people to see what the colors are of other area schools.

"We don't want to pick colors that might be confusing on the field," she said.

Jackson said originally, a mascot and color proposal was expected to be brought before the joint Board of Education at the end of March. However, it likely will not be until early April now to allow for more polling of the community, Jackson said. An online survey is being developed and will be available on the joint district's website.

"We want to be thorough about what seems to be resonating with the community," Jackson said. "… We know (the mascot and school colors) is something that we'll want to have in place for a very long time and it's important to not only have student buy-in but community buy-in. The mascot and school colors elicit school pride and people identify with these."

The naming and mascot advisory committee will meet Thursday to deliberate further on the most popular mascot and color proposals that derive from Wednesday's forum. There also was a forum on Saturday that will be considered as the committee attempts to narrow down the possible selections.

A website has been developed for Ypsilanti community members to stay up-to-date on what the advisory committees are working on.

• Visit the website.

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Ann Arbor will be doubling its efforts to $2 million in its second year purchasing national TV advertisements with the state's Pure Michigan campaign.

Ann Arbor is doubling its national TV ad buy this year with the Pure Michigan campaign.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com file photo

It's a part of this year's $13 million national cable TV tourism campaign through the Travel Michigan Partnership Advertising Program, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Other national partners include The Henry Ford, Mackinac Island, Traverse City, and, for the first time, Grand Rapids. Each of those communities will be contributing $500,000 to the campaign, while Ann Arbor has committed $1 million.

Travel Michigan will be matching Ann Arbor's $1 million for a total ad buy of $2 million.

The $1 million contribution from Ann Arbor area entities is double its contribution to last year’s Pure Michigan campaign.

The Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is again partnering with the Ypsilanti Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and SPARK to fund the contract.

The expanded ad campaign was made possible by a return of marketing dollars collected by Washtenaw County in the accommodations ordinance administrative fund. Per state law, the county can collect up to 10 percent off the top of the hotel tax to help fund the county's collection process and administrative fees.

The county found that they didn’t need the full 10 percent that they were collecting and it is being returned to the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti convention and visitor’s bureaus in a lump sum, said Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor CVB.

That one-time money is being used to fund the Pure Michigan campaign expansion.

“We don’t anticipate being able to do this again,” Debbie Locke-Daniel, executive director of the Ypsilanti CVB, said of the expanded campaign.

Though the divisions of funding sources for the $1 million commitment from Ann Arbor entities have yet to be finalized, Kerr said the Ann Arbor CVB will be paying for at least half and Locke-Daniel said the Ypsilanti CVB will be paying for about 25 percent.

Ann Arbor will be featured in the commercial but Ypsilanti will not, said Locke-Daniel. Ypsilanti is a featured destination on the Ann Arbor website page on Michigan.org, Locke-Daniel said.

“What’s good for Ann Arbor is good for Ypsilanti,” Locke-Daniel said. “You have to use the brand to drive everyone here and that’s what that commercial is doing.”

The 2013 campaign runs continuously for six weeks, beginning April 1, and will have 720 spots on 12 cable TV networks nationally.

The TV campaign is estimated to reach 42 percent of adults in the target demographic between the ages of 25 and 54, Kerr said, and is estimated to have 210 million impressions.

In 2012, the Ann Arbor CVB signed up for its first national Pure Michigan campaign. It committed $500,000 to a $1 million campaign. The 500-spot TV ad campaign ran for two weeks in April and two weeks in May on 12 cable networks.

It garnered 62.5 million impressions and hit 33 percent of the target audience: Women between 25 and 54 years old, Kerr said.

Kerr said the Pure Michigan ads will target both prospective businesses and tourists. The Ann Arbor TV spots will have more of a presence on networks including CNN, MSNBC, Fox and the Golf Channel to market the area more to businesses, Kerr said.

The national ad campaign has had success, partly based on the web traffic Kerr has seen on Ann Arbor’s website hosted on Michigan.org and partly through hotel occupancy rates.

Hotel occupancy in Washtenaw County is the highest the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has seen since 2000, Kerr said. The county finished 2012 with an occupancy level of 67.5 percent - which is an increase of 2.6 percent from the year before.

The average daily rate for a hotel room in Washtenaw County was about $93.82 in 2012 -- about 4.2 percent more than the average daily rate for a room in 2011, according to data from Kerr's office.

The national ad buys have had particular success in attracting visitors from the Chicago area to the Ann Arbor page on the Michigan.org website, Kerr said.

In 2012, page views to the Washtenaw County portion of the Pure Michigan page increased by 72 percent from the year before, Kerr said.

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

Ann Arbor police said that more than a dozen vehicles were broken into on the city's west side Sunday night and early Monday morning.

There also were a few reported during the day Monday on the south side, said Ann Arbor Sgt. Craig Flocken.

Police think a suspicious white conversion van spotted Sunday night could possibly be linked to the break-ins, Flocken said.

Hit hardest on the west side were vehicles on Arborview Boulevard south of Miller Avenue. Many cars were also broken into on Duncan Street in that same general area.

There were also vehicles broken into on Chaucer Drive on the city's southwest side, Flocken said

In many of the instances, the vehicle windows were broken.

"They were smashing out windows to get (inside)," Flocken said.

The suspect or suspects were stealing "anything of value" inside, he added.

Throughout Monday, there were a several more vehicle break-ins reported on the city's south side near South Industrial Highway and East Eisenhower Parkway.

No more information was released about the break-ins. Police continue to investigate.

An uptick in thefts from vehicles on the city's south side last week prompted Ann Arbor police to send out a crime alert last week.

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

First-year Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico made sure to congratulate her team on a season well-played before ESPN’s broadcast of the NCAA Tournament selections.

At 21-10 and with a No. 34 RPI, Michigan seemed a shoo-in, but nothing is guaranteed.

“Let’s be hopeful and enjoy the moment,” Barnes Arico said, and for a moment it almost seemed like she was preparing them for bad news.

It didn’t seem that way for long as Wolverines were promptly announced as the No. 8 seed in the Spokane, Wash. region. Michigan will take on Villanova (21-10) on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2) in Palo Alto, Calif., home of the region's No. 1 seed, Stanford.

“It kind of calms the nerves. It’s just exciting to hear your name in general,” said Michigan senior Rachel Scheffer. “We were called so early, so it kind of was a relief.”

Michigan’s game against the No. 9 seed Wildcats was the second matchup announced during Tuesday’s hour-long broadcast.

“I think that’s the earliest I’ve ever been called going into the NCAA tournament,” said Barnes Arico, who led St. John's to four tournament berths in her 10 years there. “It’s kind of nice you get to relax and enjoy it while everyone else is sweating it out, so I thought it was kind of nice we were called early.

Members of the Michigan women's basketball team and coach Kim Barnes Arico's daughter, Emma (center, on lap) watch the NCAA Tournament selection show at the Crisler Center Club on Monday, March 18.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

“We could kind of relax and not feel that pressure.”

Barnes Arico joked before the show started about senior captain Jenny Ryan’s nervousness. Ryan said she wasn’t as nervous as last year’s selection show, but that the butterflies didn’t totally subside until she saw her team’s name on the screen.

“I think our odds this year were a lot better of getting in, I think last year it was kind of the flip of a coin,” Ryan said. “Today I was little more at ease, I was able to just kind of enjoy the show, whereas last year I was freaking out.”

Monday’s selection marked the first time Michigan has been selected in back-to-back years since 2000-2001. Michigan was a No. 8 seed both those years as well, which is as high as the team has ever been seeded in the tournament.

Michigan is 2-5 overall in five tournament appearances and has never advanced past the second round. It will be a tall order for Michigan to change that this year with the winner of its game set to play the region’s top seed, Stanford, in the second round next Tuesday.

Stanford is 31-2 on the season and the only team to defeat No. 1 overall seed and defending national champions Baylor all year.

Barnes Arico acknowledged the historical domination of No. 1 seeds historically in the women’s tournament, but sees the potential Stanford matchup as an opportunity.

“Anything is possible if you get things to go your way,” Barnes Arico said. “If you hang around long enough you never know what could happen.”

But before shifting focus to the second round, the Wolverines will have to get by a Villanova team very similar to itself. Both teams have identical records and rely heavily on the 3-pointer.

Last year team made the tournament for the first time in 11 years and on Monday Barnes Arico became the first coach in program history to make the tournament in her first year at the helm.

“I think last year kind of gave them a little bit of a taste of it and now this year our expectations have changed a little bit. You’re not just happy to get there anymore, you want to be successful when you get there,” Barnes Arico said. “I think our senior class really wanted to create something special and they’ve been able to do that and I know that we don’t want it to end here, we want it to continue going forward.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.

It might be THE Easter event of the area. It has a helicopter. A helicopter! It is of course the Jaycees' Easter Egg Scramble and Marshmallow Drop at Frog Island Park.

The Egg Scramble and Marshmallow Drop has been a tradition in Ypsilanti for over two decades. Perhaps they will consider a turkey drop in November.

Saturday, March 23, 2013. 11 a.m. Recommended donation of $1 per child. Frog Island Park is in Depot Town at 699 Rice St., Ypsilanti. For more information, email easter@ypsilantijaycees.com.

The National Weather Service is warning motorists to use caution while driving Tuesday afternoon in the Ann Arbor area during what are expected to be intermittent waves of moderately heavy snowfall.

Snow falling Tuesday is expected to amount to less than an inch of accumulation.

Snow accumulation will amount to less than an inch, forecasters said. It will be windy throughout the day with gusts as high as 39 mph. A high of 28 is expected.

Scattered snow showers also are possible Wednesday and Thursday and windy conditions will continue with gusts as high as 31 mph. The chance for snow is 30 percent.

Slightly warmer weather is ahead for the weekend. Friday, it will be partly sunny with a high around 36. Friday and Sunday, Ann Arbor will make it into the 40s, with mostly sunny skies and a high of 41.

See updated weather conditions on AnnArbor.com's weather page.

Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea opened Tuesday on West Cross Street in Ypsilanti and is already seeing a steady stream of customers, owner Lisa Bee said.

"It's great," Bee said. "We have a lot of people coming in and they're enjoying the space. We love being here in Ypsilanti."

Bee said the crowd is a mixture of older customers as well as students from Eastern Michigan University, which is directly across the street from the business.

Wei and Lisa Bee signed a lease last November to open in the 1,300-square-foot building at 735 W. Cross St.

Lisa Bee has hired about 15 people to staff the Ypsilanti location and the shop underwent renovations. It seats between 30 and 40 patrons. The space features one large communal table and smaller ones as well.

Sweetwaters was founded in 1993 by the Bees, who have three locations in Ann Arbor: one on East Washington Street downtown, one in Kerrytown and one on Plymouth Road.

The menu offerings are largely the same as the other locations and feature BakeBar desserts, which are made by Sweetwaters.

The recently renovated building at 729-735 W. Cross St., already is home to two, first-floor retail tenants — a Subway sandwich shop and the Ypsilanti T-shirt Co. shop.

This stretch of Cross Street will see the opening of two restaurants in the span of two months. Insomnia Cookies, is slated to open sometime in April.

Sweetwaters is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays. The shop is also open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

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

Previous coverage:

• Football brawl: Ann Arbor schools will ask prosecutor to drop charges against 3 teens
• Football brawl fallout: Some allege prejudice in charging of students
• Group supporting high-schoolers charged in football brawl organizes public marches downtown
• Video footage from Huron-Pioneer football brawl released by Ann Arbor police

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sent a letter to Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie Tuesday asking him to consider "better alternatives" to charging the three black students in the Pioneer-Huron football brawl.

The same day protestors rally in front of the courthouse for the three students charged in the October Huron-Pioneer football brawl, the ACLU of Michigan issued a letter also coming to the students' defense.

John Counts | AnnArbor.com

Fancher said in an interview with AnnArbor.com that the organization is not asking for any specific outcome, such as dropping the charges against the youth.

"Our position is … if there are better alternatives, we would strongly encourage the prosecutor to consider those as well," Fancher said. "If he would see it to dismiss the charges, we would applaud that."

He said more than anything, the ACLU is asking Mackie not to handle this case routinely, as he would handle cases for chronic offenders or someone more accustom to being in the court system.

The letter states:

"The ACLU of Michigan does not typically comment on the sufficiency of evidence in pending criminal cases, and we decline to do so now with respect to charges that your office is pursuing… Nevertheless, your decision to pursue charges solely against three African American students did not occur in a historical and social vacuum, and we are compelled to discuss with you the broader implications and consequences of prosecuting only these three out of scores of alleged participants in what many have characterized as a 'brawl.'"

Fancher wrote the ACLU initiates this discussion fully aware that when racial issues are raised, people often accuse others of "playing the race card." However, he said in his letter, race remains a central factor of "alarming statistics," such as the school to prison pipeline, which refers to the correlation between the disproportionate number of black students suspended and expelled from school and the students' eventual involvement in the criminal justice system.

The letter states:

"The pending cases against the three students appear against the backdrop of these stark racial disparities in the schools and the criminal justice system. It is in that context that communities of color consider the institutional dynamics that frequently penalize their youth. The perceptions of unfairness are understandable. Two white coaches trigger chaos on a football field, and dozens of players throw numerous punches, but only three black students end up facing criminal charges. Week in, week out, hockey players pummel each other to the delight of spectators, but meanwhile, three black students end up facing criminal charges for an incident on a football field. In fact, it is not unfair to suggest that it is practically an American tradition not to prosecute participants in sports fights. Yet, in Ann Arbor, three black students end up facing criminal charges. You may have reasons for your decisions that have nothing to do with race or racial bias. However, there is an opportunity here to address the long-held community concerns about the disparate punishment of black youth in this county at a time when area residents are publicly demonstrating their concern about the prosecution of these three young men."

The ACLU of Michigan asks that Mackie meet with them to discuss non-punitive consequences, such as restorative justice practices that may resolve the issue for all of those involved, including the victims, without "forever impacting the lives of these young men," Communications Director Rana Elmir said in an email.

Restorative justice brings everyone impacted by a crime or an action together in a meeting. Fancher told AnnArbor.com, sometimes incidents are the result of a breakdown in the relationship between the offender and the victim. The parties communicate to each other that something has happened and talk about the ways it impacted them.

"It unfolds in a number of different ways, but often what happens is for the first time, the offenders can really appreciate the extent of what they've done," Fancher said, adding: "The victim gets to see that this person they built up in their mind as a horrible monster may have made a bad decision or mistake. … And they can talk creatively about how to make things right."

Fancher said in the case of the Ann Arbor Huron-Pioneer football brawl, these are students who, moments before the fight broke out, were having fun and engaging in a good-natured competition.

"It's not a case where you have people committing a premeditated crime or people hell-bent on creating problems for other people, but rather people who got caught up in a moment," he said.

The ACLU's letter comes a week after the Ann Arbor school board took similar action and passed a resolution also addressed to Mackie. The Board of Education also asked the prosecutor to look at other ways of addressing the students' behaviors, rather than through criminal charges.

At least two community groups have formed in support of the students, two of whom are juveniles and Bashir Garain, 18, who was charged as an adult. One group has organized fundraisers to pay for attorney fees, while the other group is marching and rallying in front of the courthouse this week as the students appear for proceedings.

• Download the complete letter from the ACLU of Michigan.

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Numerous vehicles at Aachen Auto in Ypsilanti Township were damaged during the theft of batteries and stereos over the weekend, police said.

Deputies were called Monday to the auto lot, located 2280 E. Michigan Ave., for multiple larcenies, said Sgt. Geoff Fox of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

Fox said a suspect or suspects broke the lock to a gate to get into Aachen's fenced-in yard.

There are no suspects at this time. If you have any information please contact the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office at (734) 994-2911 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

View Larger Map

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

Stephanie Yackich receives disability each month and is essentially homebound during the winter because of her health issues.

Her budget is tight, and at one point she only had around $25 a month for groceries. She says she also rarely has visitors with one exception - the delivery folks from Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels.

Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels driver/deliverers Len Gooden, left, and Jerome Tennyson load food into the organization's van in this 2010 file photo.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com file photo

“When they come in they take a minute or two and ask ‘How are you?’ ‘How are you feeling today,?’” said Yackich, who has received services from Meals for six years. “That’s one of the wonderful things about them and I appreciate them for doing that.”

Throughout eastern Washtenaw County, Meals on Wheels serves meals to 316 people weekly. Of those, 96 percent live alone, 35 percent are older than 81 years old and 42 percent live in poverty.

“It’s like the perfect storm of the isolated, sick and poor,” said director Ann Harris. Like with Yackich, the Meals staff and volunteers are often the only ones who check on the clients daily.

This week, Meals will hold its annual celebrity fundraiser to help keep the organization bringing meals and checking in on clients throughout the next year. The fundraiser will also will help cut into the waiting list of 45 individuals in need of services.

“That’s the rub here; these are elderly and sick individuals, and to have them on a waiting list is not the best thing. Through our fundraising, we’re trying to bring that list down,” Harris said.

The event is Thursday, March 21 from 5 to 9 p.m at Bentley’s at the Ann Arbor Marriot Ypilanti Eaglecrest, and will include a who’s who of local community leaders working as hosts and servers.

Meals on Wheels rents a room from the First Baptist Church in Ypsilanti that serves as its part-time office. Eastern Michigan University kitchen staff at Hoyt Center are contracted to make the meals.

Meals relies on 13 part-time staff members and a multitude of rotating volunteers to deliver food each day, and Harris said one of the challenges is finding regular volunteers instead of people who can only help for a week or two at a time.

The organization is partly funded through individual donations, fundraisers and money from the Older Americans Act.

Meals used to deliver six times a week, but has had to cut back to five as funding declined.

Those in need of meals are referred to the comapny through a variety of channels. Some come from hospitals, cancer centers, homecare providers and physicians.

“A lot of individuals we serve have multiple medical problems,” Harris said. “We are not only trying to bring them a meal, but because 96 percent live alone, safety is a huge concern. In many cases, we are the only ones checking on them every day, so we make sure they are safe.”

Meals delivers a full meal around the noon hour each day. The menu is on a 21-day rotation and each follows strict nutritional guidelines. The meals can’t have too much salt, for example, because of many clients’ health concerns. Yackich said her last meal included turkey tetrazzini, peas, squash and fresh fruit.

Among the celebrity servers at Thursday’s event are Michigan State Representatives David Rutledge and Gretchen Driscoll; Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber; Ypsilanti Township Clerk Karen Lovejoy-Roe; former Ypsilanti Public Schools Spuerintendent James Hawkins; Peggy Wilson, senior mortgage banker at Huron Valley Financial; Ypsilanti Township Trustee Mike Martin; Eastern Michigan University professor emeritus Morell Boone; Ypsilanti police Chief Amy Walker; the Rev. Keith Geiselmann of the First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti; Betty Stremich from the EMU Foundation; Diane Keller of the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber; and Michael Manchester, attorney at Manchester and Associates.

Meals also is accepting donations from those who can't make the event, and those needing more information can call 734-487-9669.

Tom Perkins is a freelance reporter. Contact the AnnArbor.com news desk at news@annarbor.com.

Despite a clear afternoon at a courtroom in the 14A-1 District Court, the two men accused in the death of Brandon Charles will have to wait three more weeks for a preliminary exam.

Avantis Parker and Willie Wimberly

Testimony was expected Tuesday afternoon after a special time was scheduled for Avantis Parker, 21, and Willie Wimberly, 30, to face a preliminary exam. However, a number of complications came to light shortly after 14A District Court Chief Judge Kirk Tabbey called court to session.

Raymond Burkett, one of Wimberly’s attorneys, said he met with the Washtenaw County Public Defender’s Office — who originally represented Wimberly — last Wednesday and received discovery, or evidence. A day later, Burkett said the public defender’s office turned over more evidence to him.

He said he had not been given the chance to go over all this evidence with Wimberly. The evidence included witness statements on CDs that required a court order to be brought into the Washteanw County Jail.

“I’m not comfortable going ahead with this exam until my client can hear those tapes,” he said.

Tabbey eventually granted the motion to postpone the hearing. The preliminary exam will be held at 8:30 a.m. April 11 at the 14A-1 District Court in Pittsfield Township.

Wimberly and Parker are both facing life sentences if convicted on murder charges stemming from Charles’ Jan. 29 death. Charles was shot and killed in a vehicle parked in front of a house in the 600 block of Calder Avenue in Ypsilanti Township’s West Willow neighborhood, just hours before he was scheduled to testify against Wimberly.

According to police, Wimberly shot Charles and his girlfriend in a road rage incident on Jan. 1.

Another one of Wimberly’s attorneys was involved in the Kwame Kilpatrick case in federal court in Detroit and was not able to get involved in the case until last week.

Further complicating matters, there are two material witnesses in custody. Washteanw County Assistant Proseuctor Dianna Collins said Terrence Parker and Sophie Peak are both being held in custody and are expected to testify at the preliminary exam.

Sgt. Geoffrey Fox, of the Washteanw County Sheriff’s Office, said Peak is in custody as a part of her sentence for an armed robbery case involving Avantis Parker last year. According to police, Peak ordered a pizza in Ypsilanti Township and Parker attempted to hold up the driver before walking away. Parker pleaded guilty to one charge and no contest to two others in that case four days before Charles’ death.

Peak pleaded to one charge of unarmed robbery on Jan. 25 and will be sentenced on April 3, court records show. Both Peak and Avantis Parker were scheduled to start serving their sentences before their sentencing hearings would take place, according to court records.

Terrence Parker, who Fox said is Avantis Parker’s half-brother, is also being held in custody as a material witness. Collins said Terrence Parker was calling other people from the Washtenaw County Jail and warning them investigators were looking to talk to them.

“He was directing people not to talk to police,” Collins said.

Terrence Parker’s attorney indicated his client plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and wouldn’t testify. Collins countered by saying she didn’t see any way Terrence Parker could potentially implicate himself in a crime.

“It is not something that is incriminating,” Collins said.

Collins said in court Peak has been granted immunity in the case. It wasn’t exactly clear how Peak is involved in Charles’ death or what she would be granted immunity from. Fox declined to talk about Peak’s involvement after the hearing Tuesday.

Peak and Terrence Parker are both set to be held in custody at least until April 11, when the next exam is scheduled. Douglas Mullkoff, Peak’s attorney, said he had no objection to this because Peak would be in custody anyway. A hearing could be scheduled in the future to determine if Terrence Parker must stay in custody until that time.

It appears both Avantis Parker and Wimberly will face added charges of intimidating witnesses when the preliminary exam is eventually held.

Tabbey said he was confident the case was moving forward, despite the delay until April 11. He said the layers of the case warranted a few more weeks to get things sorted out before much of the case is laid bare in a preliminary exam.

“We want to do it the right way, and not the hurried way,” Tabbey said.

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

These elevation drawings for The Shoppes at 3600 were submitted to the city of Ann Arbor by the developer. From top to bottom, they show the south, east, north and west views of the building.

Bowers + Associates

The council approved the site plan for The Shoppes at 3600 with dissent from only Council Member Stephen Kunselman, D-3rd Ward, who said he's concerned the first thing that will be visible from Plymouth Road is the back end of the building.

The council rezoned the property from hotel to fringe commercial to allow construction of a 9,490-square-foot, single-story retail building with one drive-thru and 33 parking spaces.

City of Ann Arbor

Ken Hicks of Ohio-based Diverse Development is dividing off a 1.15-acre parcel from the parking lot and front yard of the Holiday Inn North Campus for the $1 million project.

Hicks is listed as the petitioner, Dan Stone of Ohio-based Van Horn Hoover & Associates Inc. is listed as the petitioner's agent, and Ann Arbor Farms Hotel Corp. is listed as the owner.

The new retail building includes a restaurant with a one-lane drive-thru on the north side. Hypothetical sketches submitted to the city show signage for a Tim Hortons restaurant. The site will be accessed from an existing driveway off Plymouth Road.

An outdoor patio seating area is proposed on the east side of the building. About 51 existing hotel parking spaces are being removed to make way for the project.

Stormwater detention is required and is being provided underground on the southwestern corner of the parking lot. The system is designed to allow for infiltration into the soil.

A 22-inch landmark oak tree is proposed to be removed from the property, with five mitigation trees to be planted around the perimeter of the site in its place.

The adjacent Holiday Inn kicked off a major renovation project in December that is budgeted to cost $4 million.

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.

A vehicle caught fire after colliding with a bus on Roe Road in Lyndon Township Tuesday afternoon and it wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured.

Huron Valley Ambulance spokeswoman Joyce Williams said emergency crews were called at 3:43 p.m. Tuesday to Roe Road near Cassidy Road for a report of a motor vehicle crash. Williams said a bus and a vehicle had collided in the area.

After the crash, the vehicle caught fire and the people inside the bus had to be evacuated. The fire only lasted a short time and was out by 4:01 p.m.

Williams said the one HVA unit dispatched to the crash was canceled before it arrived and no one was reported injured on the bus.

Officials from the Chelsea Area Fire Authority had not returned from the crash and could not be reached by AnnArbor.com immediately Tuesday.

Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Geoffrey Fox confirmed no one on the bus was injured but said it wasn't clear if anyone in the car was injured. He said the bus might have been from the Chelsea Area Schools, as the call came in from Chelsea transportation.

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

A semitrailer rollover accident closed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 94 near Fletcher Road in Lima Township Tuesday afternoon.

The accident occurred about 2 p.m., according to Washtenaw County dispatch.

As of 4:30 p.m., crews were working to clean up after the accident, dispatch said. The Chelsea Area Fire Authority responded to the accident, but did not have any information to immediately release.

Joyce Williams of Huron Valley Ambulance said the driver was taken to Chelsea Community Hospital in stable condition at 2:37 p.m.

As of 5 p.m., one lane on eastbound I-94 has been reopened, according to dispatch.

Traffic was still backed up about a mile on that side of the freeway at that time. The semi was laying on its right side off the road as crews continued to clean-up after the accident, according to an eyewitness.

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

Brandon Stephenson makes a save for Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Courtesy of the Stephenson Family

Saline native Brandon Stephenson was in the winning net Saturday as Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the first Division 3 National Championship in school history, beating Oswego (N.Y.) State, 5-3, in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Stephenson, a senior, made 27 saves in the effort, and was named to the all-tournament team.

The honor follows an AHCA All-American nod and a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year award. Stephenson graduated from Saline in 2006 after being named All-State for three years and helping Saline to a state runner-up finish as a senior.

In his final college season, Stephenson led his league in winning percentage (.808) and was second in total saves with 732.

Davis, White win Ice Dancing World Championship

Gold medallists Meryl Davis, left, and Charlie White, of the United States, pose with their medals on the podium after winning the ice dancing competition at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, Saturday March 16, 2013.

Associated Press

The duo won both segments at the competition by more than four points to take home their second World Championships gold. Their score of 189.56 was a personal best.

White and Davis, who train at Arctic Edge in Canton, won the silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Have a local sports brief to tell us about? Contact us at sports@annarbor.com.

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com.