More than a dozen Ann Arbor-area wrestlers competed in the Michigan high school individual regions on Saturday and six of those grapplers advanced to the state finals.

Milan’s Peter Pena, Saline’s Brett Thornell, Chelsea’s Elijah Ratliff and Whitmore Lake’s Robert Cann, Theodore Hoadley and Jaxon Wilson all punched their tickets to the individual finals as they placed within the top four of their weight classes.

Pena was the lone Ann Arbor-area wrestler to win a regional championship as he took home the 140-pound title with a 3-0 record in the Division 3 tournament and improved his overall record to 18-1 on the season.

In the D1 bracket, Thornell battled his way to a second-place finish at 135 as he went 2-1 and increased his record on the season to 34-2.

Ratliff finished fourth at 160 in the Division 2 individual bracket as he went 2-2 and improved his overall record to 39-8 on the season.

Cann and Hoadley each placed second and Wilson finished third for the Trojans in the Division 4 tournament.

Wilson led the Trojans with a win in the third-place match as he ended the day at 3-1 and saw his season record improve to 38-6.

Cann nearly pulled out the regional title at 160 but placed second as he went 2-1 and moved to 41-5 overall and Hoadley also went 2-1 to take second place at 285 and saw his season record improve to 31-12.

The individual state finals are scheduled for March 4-5 at Ford Field.

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YPSILANTI, MI – More than a decade before she would become Ypsilanti’s first Black woman elected to City Council, Mattie Dorsey stood outside those same halls of local power and led protestors singing spirituals to drown out a vote that would reshape her neighborhood.

The year was 1962.

Dorsey found herself in the midst of a life-defining struggle against urban renewal, a massive federal program that let cities seize and clear tens of thousands of acres of so-called “blighted” property across the nation, shunting out families and turning the land over to developers.

In practice, the mass razing of homes disproportionately hit communities of color, like Dorsey’s beloved Southside.

“What bothers me most is the human suffering which will result,” she then told a reporter.

The Louisiana native who called Ypsilanti home for much of her life attended 204 straight City Council meetings, tarred urban renewal signs and fought the city in court for years after the program eventually moved forward.

She ran for local office four times without success, before finally winning an election to City Council in 1975 by 64 votes, becoming the first African American woman to do so.

Even decades later, the city’s Black leaders and community activists still draw strength from Dorsey’s legacy — and see parallels between today’s struggles and their battle against displacement.

“Back before it was even fashionable or the thing to do, Mrs. Dorsey was marching the streets with her banner,” current Ypsilanti Mayor Lois Richardson said. “She was really quite the leader.”

Dorsey skeptical of ‘segregated government program’

George Goodman, who served as Ypsilanti’s mayor for much of the 1970s and when Dorsey was elected, grew up a few blocks from where she lived on Jefferson Street.

As a kid, Goodman said he’d run over to pick up food at a Dorsey store and her husband James ran there, the Progressive Cooperative Grocery, where Goodman’s name was as good as currency.

Dorsey was kind, well-known on the tight-knit Southside, Goodman said.

The area was a Black community in a segregated city.

Restrictive whites-only covenants and early federal refusal to insure mortgages in Black neighborhoods through New Deal programs, a policy known as redlining, meant as the neighborhood boomed during the wartime economy of the 1940s, many arrivals built their own homes or relied on precarious land contracts.

That’s according to Lee Azus, a historian of Ypsilanti’s urban renewal program, who sketched a portrait of official and unofficial discrimination that penned many Black residents into the area even after desegregation in a 2020 podcast interview with Ypsilanti District Library.

Azus says the city declared a “code war” on many Southside buildings, documenting conditions that could be used to declare them “sub-standard” and justify plans to have them demolished.

The Parkridge Urban Renewal Project crafted in 1960 covered a 109-acre swath between Harriet Street and city limits, conveniently allowing the city to count construction costs for new nearby schools as their contribution to the federal program.

Officials avoided the uncomfortable question of where residents would go when the city used eminent domain to buy their properties, Azus says.

Dorsey couldn’t accept that.

In 1961, she founded the Ypsilanti Property Owners Association, a group dedicated to opposing the project on the grounds urban renewal was a “segregated government program” with no relocation plan and no city protections for residents looking for new homes in other areas.

The group tried to force the city to let the Southside hold a vote on the program, which it briefly promised to do before reneging on the idea, according to Azus.

Dorsey fought Ypsilanti officials at every turn, reportedly snatching a measuring tape and map from a surveyor’s hands when they visited her store, according to a news article from the time.

“We don’t want urban renewal – we don’t need it – let us alone to progress as we are financially able,” the Ypsilanti Daily Press quoted her as saying in 1961. “How can urban renewal help if some of us are unable to qualify for mortgage loans now?”

Southside residents picket outside the Ypsilanti urban renewal field office on May 27, 1961.The Ann Arbor News archives courtesy of OldNews.AADL.org

Not all share fears of ‘urban removal’

Dorsey’s campaign didn’t speak for the entire Southside.

A resident’s letter to the editor in 1961 accused her group of mounting a “witch hunt,” oblivious to the advantages of the program framed as improving the housing stock.

A group of prominent Southside residents called the Parkridge Neighborhood Council boosted the plan, including realtor and publisher Herbert Francois, who owned lots of property in the area, according to Azus.

Some of the first Black members of the City Council, including Amos Washington and John Burton, who would go on to serve as the city’s first Black mayor, also supported the program, Azus said.

Despite Dorsey’s last-ditch spiritual-singing protest, the plan moved forward.

to october 10, 1962 clipping from The Ann Arbor News shows the boundaries of the Parkridge Urban Renewal Project on Ypsilanti’s Southside on an aerial photo of the neighborhood. The project demolished many buildings within the rough area between I-94, Huron Street, and Harriet Street.The Ann Arbor News archives courtesy of OldNews.AADL.org

Goodman remembers the controversy, driven by some residents’ fears the program would amount to “urban removal,” driving minorities not welcome in other parts of Ypsilanti from the city.

His parents, owners of Goodman’s Fashion Center on Harriet Street, took the opportunity as a chance to retire. Goodman himself was in the urban renewal office in Ypsilanti the moment a radio broadcast in a backroom heralded the news that President John F. Kennedy has been shot, he remembers.

The building that had housed his family’s business since 1947 was demolished, one of at least 128 other structures flattened by bulldozers within the project boundaries, by Azus’ count.

The historian also found the promised renewal slow to arrive. Just two model homes had been built by 1965, with only a handful more by 1970. It took nonprofit faith and neighborhood groups to erect some of the present-day apartment complexes in the area, like the Parkview Apartments (now Hamilton Crossing).

The last cleared 10-acre parcel between Hamilton and Huron streets wasn’t developed until 1997. As proposals for the land were being considered, The Ann Arbor News ran a series looking back on the destruction under the headline “Bulldozers flattened a close community. ”

Meanwhile by the late 1960s, an estimated 191 families had been forced out by the project, according to figures compiled by the University of Richmond.

Of that number, 99% were families of color.

Bulldozers can’t stop Dorsey’s struggle

Urban renewal’s slow march forward didn’t stop Dorsey from fighting it.

In 1963, she and her husband were arrested for smearing tar on project signs, an act of protest she told The Ann Arbor News then would persist “as long as they continue to put them up.”

Dorsey and the Ypsilanti Property Owners Association launched a barrage of lawsuits at the city too, some successful. After she was elected to the City Council in 1975 she found herself on both sides of one legal battle over the urban renewal project, according to Azus.

“We have been eight years trying to overcome the program that has been thrust upon us. We weren’t tired in 1961, and we’re not tired now. You can’t continue to treat people like cattle,” Dorsey said at a public meeting in June 1969.

In an Ann Arbor News photo from 1969, Mattie Dorsey looks on as the Ypsilanti City Council explains rezonings related to the Parkridge Urban Renewal Project.The Ann Arbor News archives courtesy of OldNews.AADL.org

The community activist fought other battles as well.

In 1964, she blasted the Ypsilanti Jaycees for using the “Aunt Jemima” advertising symbol for a pancake fundraising breakfast, saying it represented a return to “the black-face minstrel days,” according to a news article from the time.

Fifty-six years later, in 2020, the pancake and syrup brand said it would drop the name and logo, acknowledging its roots in racial stereotypes.

Today’s leaders aspire to take up mantle of a ‘fighter’

Dorsey died in 1990 at age 90, with her obituary proclaiming she was a “fighter.” That mantle is something today’s community leaders say they’re honored to pick up.

Desirae Simmons, a Ypsilanti community activist and advocate, says she learned from Dorsey’s story after mounting opposition to the controversial International Village development proposed for city property on Water Street in 2017.

“We recognized that we needed to look back to pull strength from our shared ancestors in order to face the challenges of today that look different and look the same,” Simmons said.

The failed Water Street development proposal gave birth to the movement behind rules Simmons and other organizers fought for in 2018 requiring more resident input into publicly supported development and mandating “community benefits” from projects. That process is playing out for the first time this year.

Read more: What counts as affordable in Ypsilanti? Residents challenge developers during community input session

The struggle for affordable housing and against displacement continues, as more residents are priced out of the urban core, Simmons said.

Dorsey’s path to public office also inspires those running today.

Morgan Foreman, who is this year launching a campaign for a seat on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, said she grew up hearing stories of “Sister Dorsey” at Ypsilanti’s Second Baptist Church, where the community leader was a member.

“Urban renewal was not just traumatic, it started revolts, it started riots, it started changing the way we had conversations about space and place in this country,” Foreman said.

The issues of gentrification and access to housing, health care and transportation that motivated Dorsey also push Foreman’s political passions, she said.

Foreman, a former Ypsilanti Community Schools educator and now constituent services director for Michigan state Rep. Felicia Brabec, D-Pittsfield Township, was just a baby when Dorsey died.

Still, she feels like “a baton was tossed when (Dorsey) passed,” she said. “I’m proud to stand on her shoulders and I’m proud to know of this legacy.”

For more Ypsilanti area news, click here.

More from The Ann Arbor News:

Ypsilanti officials release details about fatal crash that occurred minutes after police traffic stop

Major Ypsilanti road, bridge upgrades in the pipeline. Here are the projects to watch

See photos from massive fire at Oakland Hills Country Club

Group aims to support and fund Black farmers in Washtenaw County

Michigan will visit the Kohl Center on Sunday for an afternoon tip. It wraps a two-game road trip before the Wolverines return to Ann Arbor for four straight home games.

Keeping in mind the rosters are drastically different from a year ago, Michigan swept Wisconsin last season. Michigan dominated the matchup at Crisler Center and, after three weeks of inactivity due to a COVID-19-related pause, won in Madison.

The Michigan women also play on Sunday, at home against No. 13 Maryland at 3 pm ET.

game info

Who: Michigan Wolverines (14-10, 8-6) at No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers (20-5, 11-4)

Where: Kohl Center (Madison, Wisconsin); capacity: 17,287

When: Sunday, February 20, 1 pm ET (noon local time)

Point spread: Wisconsin -2.5

Tickets: Sold out

Follow: Andrew Kahn

How to watch

TV: CBS (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas)

Stream: Watch & DVR College Basketball Live | fuboTV: Stream live TV with ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN & top channels without cable. DVR included. Start watching free. No contract, cancel anytime.

WatchESPN | Hulu + Live TV | Slings | YouTubeTV

How to lists

Ann Arbor: WTKA-1050 AM | Detroit: WWJ-950AM | MGoBlue.com (Brian Boesch, Terry Mills)

Satellite radio: Sirius: n/a | XM: 380 | SXM App: 970

Pregame reading

Michigan, back on the right side of NCAA Tournament bubble, visits Wisconsin next

Freshman Moussa Diabaté turned anger into a career performance for Michigan

Michigan survives Iowa’s late corridor for key road win

Michigan women’s basketball Big Ten title hopes hinge on final week

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — An imposing brick home dating back at least 158 ​​years and built by a family of European settlers who founded Northfield Township is officially part of the National Register of Historic Places.

The Nathan Esek and Sarah Emergene Sutton House on Pontiac Trail, about five miles northeast of Ann Arbor, received the prestigious designation on Jan. 6, The Ann Arbor News reports.

The oldest section of the two-and-a-half-story home dates back at least to 1864 and was built by Nathan Sutton, the nephew of the first pioneer to settle the area in what was then the Michigan Territory and son of Northfield Township’s first clerk.

But, Cheri Szcodronski, the architectural historian who completed the nomination paperwork for the house, said there’s more to landing a spot on the nation’s official listing of properties worthy of long-term preservation than age.

“Not all old things are eligible for the National Register,” she said in an email. “You have to build a strong argument that the property is historically important.”

For the home’s current owners, Victor and Marian Volkman, the journey to uncover that place in history started in the 1990s when Victor mailed in a request for a paper application for the historic designation.

The couple delved into the subterranean archives of the Washtenaw County courts, tracing deeds and tax records of the property back to Benjamin Sutton, who left New Jersey in 1822 and headed west. Sutton traveled with the pioneers who founded Ann Arbor, building a log cabin and establishing a farm on the land north of that settlement.

The Volkmans continued their research at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library and the state archives in Lansing. But that wasn’t enough to finish the application to the National Park Service, which has run the National Register since its creation in 1966.

“I got maybe half way through it, and I just don’t know enough about architecture to finish the job,” Victor said. The paperwork sat in a file for more than two decades.

In the meantime, Marian, who bought the home with her mother in 1985, said the couple got a taste of the breadth of history the property had witnessed.

On a summer day some 30 years ago, a car pulled into the driveway with an older man in the passenger seat. He had stayed at the home as a boy, explaining the rear was the “summer kitchen.”

“He also remembered when World War I troops were marching down Pontiac Trail, can you believe that?” Marian recounted.

She still admires the home’s woodwork, long hall windows and recessed Philadelphia gutter system built into the roof (even after multiple, expensive rebuilds).

The Volkmans met Szcodronski when she and her firm Firefly Preservation Consulting were hired to complete a survey of some 60 historic properties in the township through a state grant obtained by Washtenaw County on behalf of the Northfield Township Historical Society.

At a presentation on the survey’s findings just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Victor got her business card and eventually recruited her to finish the work he had started.

The process usually takes about 12 to 18 months, Szcodronski said, and her work usually begins with a detailed site visit to produce reams of photos, sketches and notes.

“Does its physical appearance tell the story of its history?” Szcodronski asks of structures.

In the case of the Sutton House, the answer was yes.

It was nominated as an intact, rural interpretation of the Italianate style of architecture, known for its characteristic bay windows and small, elaborate porches, Szcodronski said.

Its imposing, monumental feel reflects the wealth and social position of the family that inhabited it, she said.

Nathan Sutton, like his father George before him, served as a township politician, representing the area on the Washtenaw County Board of Supervisors, before being elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, according to the nomination paperwork.

His son Daniel carried on the tradition, serving as Washtenaw County sheriff and also completing two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives.

The oldest section of the home, its central block on a stone foundation, was built around 1864, according to the nomination form.

Around 1880, the large Italianate-style addition was built on the front of the house, and the home retains its original five-panel wood doors. A rear addition was added by 1940, near pear and apple orchards on the property.

According to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, it is one of 90 Washtenaw County properties to have received the Historic Register designation, an honor bestowed to some 2,000 buildings and places across Michigan.

Property owners typically pursue the listing because it validates significance of historic buildings like the Sutton home, said Todd Walsh, state coordinator for the National Register.

“Part of the honor is the process,” he said, explaining applications go through a state review board before their official nomination and review by National Park Service historians.

In addition to the national designation, the Volkmans’ home has been recognized by the Historical Society of Michigan through its Heritage Home program.

The couple can’t avoid reminders of the home’s past, whether through the thick division between the living and dining room, once an exterior wall, or the repairs that have been necessary over the years (two new roofs, an overhaul of the septic system and thousands spent combatting dry rot, among other projects).

Despite its age, the home doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. “It’s like a fortress,” Marian said.

She has another project on her to-do list.

“I always thought I would call up every Sutton in the area and say, ‘Hey were you related to Dan and Bessie,’ the last of the Sutton family to own the house, up until 1942, Marian said.

“I would love to talk to you.”

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – New data Washtenaw County officials unveiled on Wednesday, Feb. 16 shows at least 82% of the county government’s nearly 1,300 regular employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

On the flipside, at least 11%, or some 147 employees, reported skipping the shot, according to the figures current as of Monday, Feb. 14.

The numbers are incomplete, with 5% of the county’s regular workforce not submitting their vaccination status.

While the employee vaccination rate is an “incredible number” — some 19 percentage points higher than in county’s population as a whole — “it is not where we want to be or where we need to be,” County Administrator Gregory Dill said at a Wednesday county board meeting.

The board last year OK’d a strict vaccination mandate for all employees, after several county commissioners pushed for the measure, citing similar rules instituted by the City of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan.

But as MLive/The Ann Arbor News requested the vaccination data, which covers employees working in the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, county parks, Health Department and other offices, the implementation of those rules continued to be delayed.

County officials are still negotiating with four labor unions, covering Sheriff’s Office and courts employees, that haven’t been willing to approve the mandates for their members, according to Deputy County Administrator Diane Heidt.

Kenneth Grabowski, legislative director for the Police Officers Association of Michigan, the union representing some county deputies and courts staff, previously told MLive he didn’t think a strict vaccination mandate was needed, arguing the vaccination rate was already high and employees deserved choice.

Read more: Employee COVID vaccine mandate rollout delayed in Washtenaw County

Another 14 labor units representing county employees haven’t formally signed off on the policy, but the county has negotiated with them and reached verbal agreements on the rules, Heidt said.

The vaccination data released on Wednesday also include separate figures for some 742 temporary county employees. But among that group, 62% haven’t responded to requests for vaccination status, which could be because many work seasonally, according to the deputy administrator.

At least 56% of regular employees have received a booster shot in addition to their primary vaccination series, the figures show.

The county originally planned to institute a rule requiring unvaccinated employees to get tested for COVID weekly, according to the policy OK’d in December. The effective date for that measure was set to be timed with the Biden administration’s vaccination rules for large employers.

But in mid-January, the US Supreme Court blocked those rules from going into effect.

The implementation phase for Washtenaw County’s vaccination policy is now still in a holding pattern as negotiations with the labor units continue, Heidt said on Friday, Feb. 18.

As for the 65 regular employees who haven’t responded to requests to report their vaccination status, Heidt said the county will continue to reach out to them.

More from The Ann Arbor News:

Ann Arbor ups pay for low-level city jobs to avoid being ’employer of last resort’

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ANN ARBOR, MI — Whether you drink Miller Lite or brew your own stouts, one Ann Arbor teacher’s new book is set to teach you about Michigan’s boozy history.

Patti Smith, a teacher with the Ann Arbor Public Schools, recently published “Michigan Beer: A Heady History,” her fifth traditionally published book and fourth historical book. Smith also wrote “Vanishing Ann Arbor,” “Downtown Ann Arbor” and “A History of the People’s Food Co-op Ann Arbor.”

“Michigan Beer” starts with Michigan immigrants in the mid-1880s and goes through what she calls “the new wave” of beer with the return of brewpubs to the state in the 1980s.

The historical guide, which Smith calls her “pandemic book,” starts in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, turning its way through each area of ​​the state and walking through readers through immigration, “financial panics,” different breweries, Prohibition and the World Wars.

“In some cases, some of the cities, a lot of the information stopped at Prohibition, but for bigger cities like Grand Rapids and Detroit, I had information post-Prohibition into World War I and post-World War II,” Smith said, adding that available information tapers off in the 1950s and 1960s and picks up again in the 1980s.

While the book covers primarily Michigan beer history, there is also something for those who are less interested in brewing or specialty beers, Smith said.

“I think there’s some really interesting stories about people and about Michigan as a whole,” Smith said. “We owe so much to these people, these literal pioneers, who built these industries from nothing. Some were trained in Germany; a lot weren’t. They just came here and said, ‘Well, I got to do something,’ and that’s what they did. And they really laid the groundwork for this amazing scene that we have today.”

Smith, who is preferential to stouts and seasonal beers, has been writing about the boozy beverage since 2010, has even dabbled in brewing herself. Despite her familiarity with both beer and historical books, the process for writing “Michigan Beer” was different than she expected. Shortly after she wrote her proposal, libraries and other research facilities locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Writing about the history of beer during the pandemic also gave her new perspective, she said. While the term essential service “didn’t really mean anything” to her pre-pandemic, it took on new significance after she discovered breweries were declared essential services during World War II, with the United States government telling breweries to direct 15% of their products to the military.

“Essentially, it pretty much guaranteed that the men overseas would receive beer in their rations,” Smith said.

The breweries were then able to tout beer’s nutritional properties — pointing to its Vitamin B and yeast content — as well as brand themselves as patriotic, helping to boost their image post-Prohibition.

“So that was something I had not known and was pleasantly surprised to discover,” Smith said.

Writing the book during the pandemic, with many libraries closed, also highlighted a lack of access to information, which is increasingly hidden behind paywalls, Smith said.

“We’re talking about articles that are 150 years old. And the people who wrote the articles are long gone, the photographers are long gone. Their families are not getting the money,” Smith said. “The hardest part of me is watching knowledge, especially this kind of historical knowledge, getting hard to find and more restricted.”

She hopes her book, available both in the library system and in various stores, will help inspire others to continue writing about Michigan’s beer history.

“I want to honor these folks who came before us,” Smith said. “That’s kind of my driving thing.”

Michigan Beer: A Heady History is available through Literati Bookstore or through Arcadia Publishing. Connect with Patti Smith through her website or through social media.

Read more from The Ann Arbor News:

Michigan offering $25K grants to homeowners behind on mortgage, utility payments

At-fault driver smoked marijuana just before fatal Thanksgiving crash in UP, police say

Judge sentences man who shot friend in the face to 8-20 years in prison

28

Arbor Prep host Detroit Edison in girls basketball

ANN ARBOR, MI — Detroit Edison came out on top after a tight game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, winning with a score of 60-52.

Widely regarded as two of the top teams in the state, both Edison and Arbor Prep are expected to compete for state titles in their respective divisions and both have contenders for the prestigious Miss Basketball award. Edison’s candidate is Ruby Whitehorn and Arbor Prep’s candidate is Mya Petticord.

Scroll down to see our 6 favorite photos from the game. Click here to see all 28 photos from the game or to purchase prints.

Detroit Edison’s Ruby Whitehorn reaches for the rebound during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

Arbor Prep’s Mya Petticord shoots a basket during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

Detroit Edison’s Ruby Whitehorn shoots a basket during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

Arbor Prep’s Stacy Utomi hangs onto the ball during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

Arbor Prep’s Mya Petticord passes the ball to a teammate after diving for it during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

Detroit Edison’s Ruby Whitehorn (right) smacks the ball away from Arbor Prep’s Mya Petticord (left) during a girls basketball game at Arbor Preparatory High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Ann Arbor. Detroit Edison won over Arbor Prep, 60-52.Meg Potter | MLive.com

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ANN ARBOR , MI — For Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers, the owner and chef of Pilar’s Tamales, creating good food is as much about love as it is about ingredients.

Pilar’s Tamales, 2261 W. Liberty Road in Ann Arbor, specializes in Salvadoran tamales and pupusas, among other Central American dishes.

“The food is food from my homeland,” Nolasco-Rivers said.

Nolasco-Rivers and her family first came to the United States in the 1980s to escape a civil war in El Salvador, changing their birth names to false ones to protect themselves. Nolasco-Rivers was just 9 years old at the time.

The restaurant is named after her aunt, who still goes by her refugee name, Pilar.

“I felt it would be really a great way to honor not only her as a woman and leader in our family, but also a way of remembering the story and how we all got there,” Nolasco-Rivers said. “…It reminds me … of our lineage of our family, how we got here. And also, Pilar means a pillar, so the pillars of strength is how I look at it.”

Pilar’s Tamales serves a variety of the masa-based dish, with filling options like chicken, chicken and cheese, pulled pork, black bean and cheese, and organic tempeh. The pupusas have many of the same flavors available.

“Tamales vary from country to country, from region to region,” Nolasco-Rivers said. “There are hundreds of different styles of tamales.”

Central American tamales, such as those served at Pilar’s Tamales, tend to be larger, with a flavorful corn masa dough. The dough for her tamales is “butter and just soft and tender,” Nolasco-Rivers said.

Pilar’s Tamales also serves fried plantains, refried black beans and a variety of drinks, including horchata and hibiscus tea.

“The creation of wonderful food is not only the ingredients but the love that you put into it. I always tell my children: ‘Don’t just stir something, pray over it, sing to it,’” Nolasco-Rivers said. “Put your wonderful love and energy into it and that’s going to come through, and I think that’s really the key of any cooking.”

Pilar’s Tamales, 2261 W. Liberty Road in Ann Arbor, is open from noon to 6 pm Tuesday through Friday and from noon to 5 pm on Saturday. Find the restaurant online, on social media or by phone at 734-929-4161.

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Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Try authentic Cuban food at Ypsilanti’s Latin American Cuban Cuisine

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Light, fluffy donuts are the specialty at DJ’s Bakery in Ann Arbor

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Try everything from brats to tots at Ypsilanti’s The Wurst Bar

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Curry On offers Indian-American fusion in Ann Arbor

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Ypsi Boxcar, Aperol Spritz on cocktail menu at Ypsilanti’s Mash

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Plate Sushi and Chicken served up bento boxes, sushi rolls

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: From sweet to savory, Crepe Nation serves up variety of options

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Ricewood keeps barbeque simple with salt and pepper rub, Asian-style sides

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Familiar flavors find new life at Matty J’s Bakery and Cafe in Saline

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Cooking to order, dry brine is secret to fried chicken success at Ma Lou’s

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: TeaHaus serves up scones, macarons at Full English Tea

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Apple pie, sausage stuffing accent Eat’s ‘Reheat and Eat’ Thanksgiving takeaway menu

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Mahi-mahi, Korean tacos among the specials at Oscar’s Sports & Grill

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Beet burgers, Indian-inspired grain bowls help you eat well at Hutkay Fusion

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Giant burritos, nachos on the menu at Ypsilanti’s STUFD

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Peppers, pumpkin spice kick up classic French recipes at Ellen’s Fine Goods

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Belly-busting Bomber Restaurant meal has 3 pounds of potatoes, 10 slices of bacon

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Golden falafel, ‘shawafel’ sandwich among dishes at Haifa Falafel

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Taste Michigan honey, apples in meads, ciders at Bløm Meadworks

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: A Taste of Soul by Biggie’s serves up ‘wholesome’ soul food

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Franky G’s Jamaican Restaurant serves up authentic jerk chicken, oxtail

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Family recipe guides Nick’s Original House of Pancakes’ from-scratch meals

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Cosa Sabrosa in Ann Arbor offers unique birria tacos

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Ypsilanti’s Crazy Crab specializes in Louisiana-style crab boil

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ANN ARBOR – Michigan senior captain Nick Blankenburg has played dozens of home games at Yost Ice Arena during his four-year career, but he can’t recall a crowd as emphatic as the one in attendance for Friday’s showdown against Ohio State.

With the second-ranked Wolverines zeroing in on their first Big Ten title since the conference was formed in 2014, Blankenburg gave the sold-out crowd of 5,800 an assist for the team’s pivotal 5-3 win over the 11th-ranked Buckeyes.

The defenseman’s power-play goal with 6 minutes, 41 seconds remaining gave the team a 4-3 lead and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The fans didn’t relent the rest of the game as the Wolverines’ staved off the Buckeyes in the final minutes, including killing a penalty late in the game. Freshman defenseman Luke Hughes stamped a 5-3 victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute as Michigan extended its win streak to six.

“I was telling the guys, I will have chills for the rest of my life hearing how loud that crowd was the last two minutes,” Blankenburg said postgame. “I don’t think I had ever heard it this loud before.”

Friday’s matchup was the Wolverines’ second-to-last home game of the regular season, and head coach Mel Pearson said it was evident the crowd knew what was at stake. Michigan (24-7-1, 15-6) maintained its two-point lead over Minnesota for first place in the conference and it also eliminated the Buckeyes (21-10-2, 13-8-2) from title contention.

“Just an unbelievable crowd,” Pearson said. “The crowds have been outstanding. I’ve been all over college hockey and new buildings and this and that, but nothing rivals Yost Ice Arena and our fans. They make a difference. I thought the roof was gonna blow off this place after our fourth goal.”

Michigan has surged since Jan. 1, winning 11 of 12. It has been without its two Canadian Olympians – defenseman Owen Power (2021 No. 1 overall draft pick) and forward Kent Johnson (2021 No. 5 overall selection) — for the past five games and its two American Olympians – forwards Matty Beniers (2021 No. 2 overall pick) and Brendan Brisson (2020 first-round selection) – for the past three.

But the team hasn’t missed a beat, outscoring opponents 29-11 over the past five games.

“Just the positivity,” Pearson said of what’s stood out during the team’s win streak. “It’s interesting — we don’t talk about who we’re missing; we don’t talk about being in first place or the Big Ten championship. All we’re just really focused on is getting better and working hard. Practices have been really good.”

The Wolverines fell behind Friday for just the third time during its win streak, but they came storming back with three goals in the first seven minutes of the second period after allowing the icebreaker in the last 30 seconds of the first period.

Although OSU rallied to tie the game, Pearson and players said the team never wavered.

“Everyone’s just having fun,” said freshman forward Mark Estapa, who set up Blankenburg for the game-winning goal. “Everyone’s playing together. I think the chemistry in the room right now is awesome.”

Meanwhile, Hughes, the 2021 no. 4 overall pick, continued his torrid stretch with two more goals, giving him 15 this season. He passed Dean Turner on Friday for the most goals by a freshman defenseman in program history.

RELATED: First-round pick Luke Hughes dazzles in Michigan’s sweep vs. Michigan State

The 6-foot-2, 186-pounder has eight points in the past three games and leads all NCAA defenseman with 32 this season.

“He’s a special talent,” Pearson said. “He’s a gamer. From where he was at the start of the year to now, his growth has been incredible.”

Michigan and OSU conclude the two-game series at 8:30 pm Saturday at Yost.

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Women’s Lacrosse | Fri, Feb. 18, 2022 at 6:35 PM

Download Game Notes (PDF)

OTTAWA, Kan. – The Ottawa University women’s lacrosse is set to open the 2022 season on Sunday against #9 Concordia Ann-Arbor at AdventHealth Field

The Braves are coming off a 10-4 season in 2021 and 7-4 in KCAC play. The 7-4 record earned OU a fourth place finish and the Braves made it to the Semifinals before being defeated by the KCAC Champions, Benedictine College Ravens.

Samantha Aucoin returns for her fifth season at the helm of the women’s lacrosse program. She has a 26-22 overall record as Head Coach of the women’s lacrosse program. Paige McAllister is also returning as assistant coach for the fifth season as well.

Ottawa is returning 13 players from the 2021 season including All-KCAC Second Team members Cecily Anderson and Felicia Dixon. Anderson, Dixon, Jasmine Roybal, Shannon Carroll, Paulina Pompa, Meagan Gilstrap, Mackenzie Simmons, Mya Chatelin, Quinn Crandall, Ashley Santillan, Ayriannah Elgin, Analysa Ortiz-Cloninger and Alyssa Jenne.

There are six newcomers for the Braves in the 2022 season, Dinah Hinson, Shelby Bearden, Oriona Moore, Hailei Gregg, Ashley Stitzer and Isabella Pagliei.

Cecily Anderson led Ottawa in 2021 with 51 goals and had 27 assists. Mya Chatelin finished with 94 saves, Quinn Crandall had 23 assists in 2021 and Felicia Dixon caused 24 turnovers.

Ottawa is Receiving Votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Top 10 Poll with five points. OU was picked to finish fourth in the KCAC Preseason Poll.

This will be the first time in program history that Ottawa will face Concordia Ann-Arbor. The Concordia University Ann Arbor Cardinals are playing their first game of the contest at Ottawa. The Cardinals are coming off a 7-2 season in 2021 and are ranked ninth in the Preseason Poll. Autumn Moore will coach in her first game as Head Coach of Concordia Ann-Arbor on Sunday. The top two players returned for the Cardinals, Greyson Papp and Madisyn Fox. Fox and Papp led the team in goals scored, Fox scored 24 and Papp had 23 goals in 2021.

Live Stats and Video will be available at www.ottawabraves.com.