Ypsilanti Township residents did everything they could to stop a massive new computing campus from moving in. But none of it mattered.

Now, a $1.3 billion University of Michigan project remains in the works as the community braces for the impact it will have on local resources like the power grid and the Huron River.

Today, The ’Gander’s Kyle Kaminski breaks down how the project was able to power ahead despite a chorus of opposition.

Plus, Michigan has joined dozens of other states that will receive millions of dollars from Meta as the social media giant implements stricter rules for its youngest users. 

Trial for former MI House speaker set for late September (Michigan Advance): Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield’s final pretrial hearing ended Monday without major developments, with prosecutors saying they remain on track for a Sept. 21 trial. Chatfield faces 13 felony charges alleging he misused political and social welfare funds, and he has pleaded not guilty.

‘Money Out of Politics’ measure taken up by state House (WGVU): The Michigan House passed a citizen-led ballot initiative 77-26 that would restrict political donations from certain public utilities and large government contractors. The measure now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Winnie Brinks says Democrats will not pass it, leaving the initiative on track for voters to decide in November.

Lawmakers announce plan to expand primary care (WILX): Michigan lawmakers are proposing an eight-bill package to address a primary care shortage, with nearly one in three patients reportedly unable to see a primary care doctor when needed. Provisions in the package include an increase in state investment for primary care, expanding workforce recruitment and retention programs, and setting a goal of directing 12% of state-contracted health plan spending toward primary care over eight years. The package has not been formally introduced.

(The ‘Gander TikTok)

Another data center is going up in Michigan, and Ypsilanti Township did everything you’re supposed to do to stop it. They packed the meetings, their board voted it down unanimously, their water authority cut off the taps, their congresswoman came out swinging, and a member of the developer’s own board publicly broke ranks. But this month, the developer picked this site anyway.

Here’s the deal: The site’s 144 acres run right up to the Huron River, and this time, the developer isn’t OpenAI or some out-of-state firm. It’s the University of Michigan, building a $1.3 billion computing campus with Los Alamos National Laboratory—the people who built the atomic bomb.

The university doesn’t want you calling it a data center. They say it’s a research facility. But it’s a building full of servers and GPUs that eats power and needs cooling, going up next to two parks and a housing development. And the community has the same concerns we keep hearing about with every other one of these projects: water, noise, grid strain, and what it does to the river. Michigan taxpayers put $100 million into prepping the site, and because the university is tax-exempt, the township collects nothing.

So here’s the roll call: last year, the city of Ypsilanti voted to oppose the project. This year, the township board voted unanimously to oppose it, too. Then the local water authority passed a moratorium on service for the whole project. Still, the university kept pushing forward.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell called it “deeply disturbing,” and three state representatives have now filed bills to claw back the $100 million and strip the university’s zoning exemption. Even a university regent—one of the eight people who govern the university—says it’s being shoved down residents’ throats in a way that looks like environmental racism.

The township attorney said it plainly: They would not try to do something like this in Ann Arbor. And this isn’t exactly a fringe position. In a poll paid for by the Detroit Chamber, a group that wants data centers here, most voters said they’d oppose a project like this within 25 miles of their home.

And here’s the kicker. None of it mattered. Not one bit of it. Public universities in Michigan are exempt from local zoning entirely. Ypsilanti Township never even had a vote to lose. Every meeting, every resolution, every unanimous no vote, was, legally speaking, just a suggestion.

So what? Well, developers say they plan to break ground sometime in the next year. Meanwhile, the township is still promising a legal fight. And they may end up landing something here. But the biggest decisions have already happened, and nobody who lives here was ever in the room.

Get the full story, and see what you can do to oppose data centers in this edition of so what? Michigan.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, leaves a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child safety online, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By Lucas Henkel

On Wednesday, after a yearslong legal battle, social media company Meta agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, ending a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settling claims filed by 47 states, including Michigan. 

The decision comes after researchers revealed a catastrophic failure rate for Meta’s security features for minors under 16, with nearly two-thirds failing or proving fundamentally broken—and multiple stories of young users facing deadly consequences as a result.

Attorney General Dana Nessel said the settlement, from which Michigan will receive at least $171 million, is expected to transform how the social media industry designs products for kids and teens. 

“For too many years, social media platforms have traded our children’s mental health for engagement on their apps. This historic settlement holds Meta accountable and puts critical, first-of-its-kind safeguards in place to protect Michigan kids,” said Nessel in a press release.

By Abby Deatrick

Michigan’s feeling the rippling effects of the Trump administration’s reconciliation bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which received the support of every Republican member of Congress. Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country have been forced to restructure their operations to continue care for the patients who rely on them.

In Michigan, escalating attacks on sexual and reproductive healthcare nationwide have led Planned Parenthood to close several locations across the state, expand telehealth services, and eliminate its education department.

Community action makes a difference. The closing of the three Planned Parenthood clinics in Warren, Livonia, and Lansing left Ferndale as the only facility in the area to provide critical healthcare. Following hours of public testimony, the Oakland County commissioners voted on Aug. 14 to allocate $1.5 million for healthcare services at the facility. The contract runs through August 2028. 

Here’s how you can get involved in the fight for reproductive rights in Michigan.

📣 Have an event to add? Email Abigail Deatrick, The ’Gander’s state organizing coordinator, with details. Please send submissions at least one week before the event.

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🚨The ’Gander wants to hear from West Michigan residents.

Has living near the J.H. Campbell Plant affected your health, home, work, or air quality? If so, email: jessicasimmons@couriernewsroom.com.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Karel Vega with stories from Kyle Kaminski, Lucas Henkel, and Abby Deatrick. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

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