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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com News 2 — Wednesday, July 27, 2022 Newsroom Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 opt.3 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com or visit michigandaily.com/letters Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com Magazine statement@michigandaily.com Advertising Phone: 734-418-4115 Department dailydisplay@gmail.com Lindsay Budin and Connor Earegood Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com Emilia Ferrante Managing Arts Editor arts@michigandaily.com Senior Arts Editor: Emilia Ferranti Serena Shen and Lys Goldman Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com Senior Layout Editor: Lys Goldman Sarah Boeke and Julianne Yoon Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com Julia Verklan Maloney Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Abbie Gaies and Lizzie MacAdam Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com Matthew Bilik Managing Online Editor webteam@michigandaily.com Nithisha Kumar Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Anchal Malh and Andy Nakamura Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com Mishal Charania and Martina Zacker Audience Engagement Managing Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com Akshara Koottala Chair of Culture, Training, and Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com Quin Zapoli Editorial Page Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Eli Friedman and Riley Hodder Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com Michigan Court of Claims restores 2018 petition initiative, increases minimum wage Judge Douglas Shapiro restores two public acts from 2018, increases minimum wage and paid sick leave The Court of Claims restored two public acts (P.A. 368 and P.A. 369) from 2018 that sought to raise the minimum wage and increase paid sick leave on Tuesday. Judge Douglas Shapiro’s Mothering Justice v. Dana Nessel (2022) opinion reinstates the acts in their original form, removing amendments put in place in 2018, increasing the current $9.87 minimum wage in the state of Michigan to $12 an hour, with the tipped minimum wage increasing from $3.75 to $9.60. One Fair Wage is a national coalition of service workers which sponsored the minimum wage initiative, while the MI Time to Care coalition backed the paid sick leave initiative. One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman said the restoration is a victory for minimum wage advocates in a statement. NIRALI PATEL Summer News Editor GOVERNMENT “Workers have been fighting this subminimum wage, which has been a source of sexual harassment and racial inequity, for decades …,” Jayaraman said. “Today, the courts in Michigan vindicated the rights of these millions of workers, and millions of voters, to demand that workers in Michigan be paid a full, livable wage with tips on top.” In Sept. 2018, two ballot initiatives, one for increasing the minimum wage to $12 and another mandating paid sick leave for employees, were passed to the state legislature after receiving 400,000 signatures from Michigan voters. Rather than passing the initiatives as they were, then-governor Rick Snyder and the Republican-led legislature preemptively adopted the two initiatives and went on to pass other bills that weakened them. Read more at michigandaily.com Regents hold first meeting in UP to discuss research, appoint interim Dean of Public Policy Celeste Walkins-Hayes will serve as interim dean effective July 19, 2022 The University of Michigan Board of Regents met Thursday afternoon at Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace, MI, marking the first time the regents have held a meeting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Interim University President Mary Sue Coleman attended the meeting virtually after testing positive for COVID-19, an announcement she made at the beginning of the meeting. Regent Paul Brown related the location of the meeting to the University’s Inclusive History Project, which is focused on engaging and understanding the University’s history with diversity, equity and inclusion. “We’re here today because all of the Regents are acutely aware of the debt that the University owes all of the citizens of Michigan,” Brown said. “For our 200 year history, we’ve been supported by the taxpayers, and because of that obligation, we’re here hopefully to present … the value that we create for your tax dollars, as well as listen to each of you in person from this region, what we can do to serve you better.” Adele Bromfield, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, shared a presentation regarding the Northern Michigan and UP admissions enrollment data, which showed an increase in students from Northern Michigan and the UP — 5% and 18%, respectively — graduating from the University over the past five years. ANNA FIFELSKI & IRENA LI Summer News Editors Rent hike roils Ann Arbor South Grove community Residents of suburban apartment complex in Ann Arbor affected by increased rent prices Editor’s Note: The sources Ethan Jones, John Doe and James Leo, referenced in this article, have had their names changed in order to protect their identities and housing. The Michigan Daily has verified their identities and their stories. When Ethan Jones moved out of his apartment due to unaffordable rent and started searching for a two-bedroom unit over a decade ago, South Grove Apartments, a 1970s suburban apartment complex, immediately stood out to him. Sitting near the city limit with several major bus routes passing by, South Grove (formerly Pheasant Run Apartments) offered easy access to the University of Michigan, where Jones was employed. According to Jones, his monthly rent then was around $600, whereas the median rent in the city was around $900. “We were just looking around on Craigslist when we found this place, and it was cheaper than anything else by a couple of hundred dollars a month,” Jones said. “So we’ve basically been here the entire time, and the buses are just as convenient (as they were before).” Jones said he felt a sense of impending doom earlier this year. In recent years, the rents in many previously affordable suburban apartment complexes were adjusted to the market rate. South Grove recently switched their management from Hartman & Tyner to Village Green, a rental CHEN LYU Daily Staff Reporter ANN ARBOR company with one of the largest portfolios in Ann Arbor. Jones said the switch alarmed him. “I checked the website, trying to get an idea of what the rent increase for next year is going to be, and then I noticed that (our rent) went up to $1,350,” Jones said. “I’m thinking, ‘Holy cow, that’s like a $350 increase. That’s a big jump over (the) $45 (increases in past years).’” Village Green did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment. In interviews with The Daily, multiple residents of South Grove confirmed the rent hike; their rent increases ranged from 20% to 33% based on room types. In comparison, the city’s median rent increase is 13.6% from last year, according to the data published by Apartment List, a rental research website. The rent hike could potentially affect more than 800 people currently living in the community. John Doe, who has lived in South Grove for almost seven years, told The Daily he believed the rent increase was unjustified. He said the property’s rebranding effort with the name change seems inconsistent with its declining amenity and service quality. “Everything’s…expensive in this area, but it used to be like Pheasant Run was outdated,” Doe said. “Since (Village Green) took over, the outdoor pool hours have been reduced and indoor pool was done away with. The washer and dryer prices have gone up. So I kind of felt like it went from bad to worse.” Read more at michigandaily.com Read more at michigandaily.com Jennie Vang/Daily