Liz Hornyak: On this week’s episode, the city of Ypsilanti announces that it will temporarily suspend parking meter payments, and Washtenaw Community College announces that it will be suspending its Culinary and Baking/Pastry Arts Program.

On July 30, the City of Ypsilanti announced that it will temporarily suspend parking meter payments due to a national coin shortage. According to the Federal Reserve, the coin shortage is a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic shutdowns. Even though payments are suspended, time limits on meters will still be strictly enforced.

On July 27, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell announced that the Ypsilanti District Library and the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development received federal grants totaling $490,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. These grants aim to enhance library services and community connection, and improve the quality of libraries and broaden diversity in the field.

The Ypsilanti District Library received $249,788. This money will be used to improve its youth literacy text messaging service: Text and Learn for Kindergarten. This service gives parents ideas and activities that they can do at home to prepare their child for school.

The University Corporation for Advanced Internet and Development received $242,640 and will expand their Broadband Toolkit and the Broadband Improvement Plan. These programs allow both librarians and the public to learn about their broadband and IT systems.

Washtenaw Community College announced on July 9 that they will be discontinuing their Culinary and Baking/Pastry Arts Program. The college came to this conclusion due to the fact that this program has low enrollment, low graduation rates, and costs a lot to maintain. WCC is offering students enrolled in the program 12-18 months to finish their credentials or degree, change programs, or get assistance transferring to Henry Ford or Oakland Community College.

Culinary students Nana Kubo, and Samatha Evens along with culinary alumni and faculty started a petition and a Facebook group called “Save the Culinary Program at WCC”. As of July 29, 1,000 people have signed the petition. Prior to this announcement, WCC’s culinary program was consistently rated one of the top ten culinary schools in the state of Michigan.

The Michigan State primary election takes place tomorrow, on August 4! If you’re doing some last-minute research on local candidates, be sure to check out our Ypsi Votes series. Our managing editor Austin Elliot has written quite a few articles about the candidates up and down the ballot in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. 

Script: Jasmine Boyd

Host: Liz Hornyak

Produced: Lauren Smith

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