The Washtenaw Health 
Initiative 
Opioid 
Project 
hosted 
the 
Washtenaw 
County Opioid Summit on 
Tuesday, 
where 
various 
state and local stakeholders 
came 
together 
for 
the 
discussion focused on the 
county’s high, but declining, 
rate of opioid overdoses and 
the link between trauma 
and addiction. Participants 
learned 
about 
opioid 
use in the county, heard 
testimonials and attended 
breakout sessions relating 
to 
primary 
prevention, 
pain 
management, 
harm 
reduction, treatment and 
recovery.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, 
D-Mich., 
shared 
a 
few 
words 
on 
her 
personal 

relationship 
to 
opioid 
addiction, 
discussing 
how her father suffered 
from 
prescription 
drug 
addiction, and her younger 
sister died from a drug 
overdose. Dingell stressed 
opioid 
addiction 
affects 
many people and said it is 
necessary to reduce the 
stigma associated with the 
illness.
“This is really real to me. 
It’s not easy for me to talk 
about. I talk about it more 
than I did, because you 
look at me and think I’ve 
got this great life,” Dingell 
said. “And I am lucky, I’ve 
got a lot of friends, I’ve got 
a lot of family, they keep me 
going. But I do talk about 
it, because it happens in 
every family, it happens 
in 
every 
community, 
every neighborhood, and 
you cannot imagine the 
desperation.”

As 
the 
warm 
weather 
continues, areas of Michigan 
are increasingly at risk for 
Eastern Equine Encephalitis 
(EEE) virus, according to the 
Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. This rare brain 
infection is spread through 
mosquitoes and approximately 
one third of people infected die 

from the disease. There is no 
cure or vaccine for the virus.
Nine 
people 
have 
been 
infected in Michigan, including 
three fatalities. Thirty-three 
animal cases of EEE have also 
been confirmed in 15 Michigan 
counties, 
including 
Allegan, 
Barry, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, 
Genesee, Jackson, Kalamazoo, 
Kent, 
Lapeer, 
Livingston, 
Montcalm, Newaygo, St. Joseph 
and Van Buren. 
Katherine 
Spindler, 

professor of microbiology and 
immunology at the University 
of Michigan, explained that 
though EEE is not a particularly 
new virus, it has been more 
prominent this year.
“Is this going to become an 
epidemic?” Spindler questioned. 
“I suspect that’s not the case … 
We’re approaching winter, and 
a hard frost is going to kill off 
many, if not all, mosquitoes that 
are fostering this virus.”
LSA sophomore Nicole Lin 

of Grand Rapids, a recently 
affected area in Kent County, 
said in light of the virus, she 
has growing concerns for her 
family and friends. 
“It’s been pretty scary hearing 
about it,” Lin said. “I have a lot 
of friends and family there, and 
my mom is worried. I’ve talked 
to my friends to make sure 
they’re staying safe, especially 
since a lot of them get out late 
from work and school.”

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 2, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Author of the New York 
Times best-selling trilogy 
“Divergent” 
Veronica 
Roth spoke at the Ann 
Arbor Public Library about 
her 
new 
book 
Tuesday 
night. Residential College 
lecturer 
and 
author 

Alexander Weinstein led 
the conversation in front 
of a crowd of nearly 200 
people. 
Roth’s new book, “The 
End and Other Beginnings,” 
published Tuesday, is a 
collection 
of 
dystopian 
short stories. In addition 
to the “Divergent” trilogy, 
Roth 
has 
written 
other 
dystopian novels including 

“Carve the Mark” and “The 
Fate Divides.”
The night began with a 
reading of a selection from 
Roth’s book and Weinstein’s 
new 
book, 
“Universal 
Love.” They then opened up 
a conversation surrounding 
the topics of writing and 
dystopian novels. 
Roth and Weinstein both 
said growing up in the 

Midwest had a significant 
impact on their writing. 
“I feel like when I try to 
write about other places, I 
don’t feel like I know those 
places,” Roth said. “I’m 
always a visitor in those 
places. I’ve lived in the 
Chicago area since I was six 
years old and this is home.”

The City of Ann Arbor Planning 
Commission convened Tuesday 
night to discuss several zoning 
projects for the city. 
The first proposal brought to 
the table was the Hideaway Lane 
Planned Project, which asks the 
commission members to amend a 
previous site plan. Originally, the 
plan was to build an additional 
17 single-family homes, but the 
designers of the complex want 
to convert them to two-family 
homes in order to make them more 
affordable for first-time owners. 
This would increase the number 
of homes on this site from 29 to 45. 
Community 
member 
Mike 
Gustafson asked the commission 
to reject the proposal. He cited 
safety hazards regarding narrow 
streets, traffic and a lack of 
sufficient room for fire trucks in 
the case of an emergency. 
“As members of the community, 
as citizens of Ann Arbor, as your 
constituents, we urge you to reject 
this petition,” Gustafson said. 
“Traffic per day is substantial 
given the very tight quarters 
there… Many of us are concerned 
about fire engines getting in there 
in the event of an emergency. We 
feel that, given those dimensions, 
this could be very irresponsible 
and very dangerous.”

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 3
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

County tackles 
opioid crisis, 
addiction at 
WCC summit

Government officials, community 
organizations address epidemic

State Rep. Steven Johnson, 
R-Wayland, introduced a bill last 
week that would allow the sale of 
20mg or less of flavored nicotine 
in the state, undercutting the 
ban Gov. Gretchen Whitmer 
placed on flavored e-cigarettes 
in early September. 
Whitmer 
declared 
the 
ban after Joneigh Khaldun, 
Michigan’s 
chief 
medical 
executive 
and 
chief 
deputy 
director 
for 
health 
at 
the 
Michigan 
Department 
of 
Health and Human Services, 
determined youth vaping was a 
public health emergency.
However, critics of the ban 
believe this will only push 
children and those who are 
trying to quit smoking to start 
smoking cigarettes again. In 
an interview with The Daily, 
Johnson said he agrees this is 
a problem for young people, but 
explained that he does not think 
this ban properly addresses the 
issue. 
“The governor identified a 
legitimate problem that there 
is a youth vaping problem,” 
Johnson said. “Now as far as 
how do we address that, I don’t 
believe that her unilateral ban 
on flavored vapes is the right 
solution.”

Two state 
bills seek 
to thwart 
vape ban

GOVERNMENT
Veronica Roth discusses latest 
novel, upcoming work at book talk

‘Divergent’ author, ‘U’ lecturer Alexander Weinstein read from new projects

Planning 
proposals 
divide A2 
citizens

ANN ARBOR

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Authors Alexander Weinstein and Veronica Roth talk about Roth’s new book “The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future” at the Ann Arbor District Library 
Tuesday evening.

Concerns rise as state experiences 
increase in reported cases of EEE

Outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis prompts government response 

FRANCESCA DUONG
Daily Staff Reporter

JASMIN LEE
For The Daily

See AUTHOR, Page 3A

DESIGN BY JONATHAN WALSH

statement

See VAPING, Page 3A
See ZONING, Page 3A

REMY FARKAS & 
ZAYNA SYED
Daily News Editor & 
Daily Staff Reporter 

See SUMMIT, Page 3A
See EEE, Page 3A

ALYSSA MCMURTRY
Daily Staff Reporter

Sleeping in the cell

GOP representatives 
introduce legislation to 
defy embargo on sales

Residents speak out on 
change to building code 
at commission meeting

EMMA STEIN
Daily Staff Reporter