The Eastern Echo

The Eastern Echo The independent student voice serving EMU and Ypsilanti. Established in 1881.

Happy National American Eagle Day from Scoop!
06/21/2026

Happy National American Eagle Day from Scoop!

Eastern Michigan University alumni are set to lose access to all non-Gmail Google services and files associated with the...
06/20/2026

Eastern Michigan University alumni are set to lose access to all non-Gmail Google services and files associated with their emich.edu accounts starting July 1, 2026. An extended deadline was initially announced in January in light of changes to Google's Workspace for Education licensing model.

EMU's division of IT released an FAQ June 12, 2026, with new details about how these changes will be rolled out.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/eastern-michigan-universitys-it-department-releases-google-alumni-account-update-before-deadline

Writer: Laura Meriweather
Photo: Laura Meriweather / The Eastern Echo

Ypsilanti kicked off its three-day Juneteenth celebration with opening ceremonies on June 19, 2026. Mayor of Ypsilanti, ...
06/20/2026

Ypsilanti kicked off its three-day Juneteenth celebration with opening ceremonies on June 19, 2026. Mayor of Ypsilanti, Nicole Brown, Washtenaw County Commissioner, Crystal Lyte, and other elected officials spoke at the ceremony. Headlining the night will be Alise King, a Detroit soul singer; local artist DJ Buff1; and a performance by Formula 734.

For more information about this three-day event and to see the schedule of events: https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/ypsilanti-to-honor-juneteenth-with-3-day-celebration

Photo: Lee Hammock / The Eastern Echo


From June 19-21, 2026, Ypsilanti will celebrate its sixth annual Juneteenth celebration, Juneteenth Rising: Liberation T...
06/19/2026

From June 19-21, 2026, Ypsilanti will celebrate its sixth annual Juneteenth celebration, Juneteenth Rising: Liberation Through Unity, at University Bank Commerce Center in downtown Ypsilanti.

Juneteenth, or June 19, is a federally recognized holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. June 19 recognizes the day that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

In Ypsilanti, community members can join in local events honoring the holiday. Through the three-day celebration, guests can expect performances ranging from genres such as soul, jazz, hip hop, and gospel, as well as food and family-friendly activities.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/ypsilanti-to-honor-juneteenth-with-3-day-celebration

Writer: Laleh Walker
Photo: Lee Hammock / The Eastern Echo

A former correctional officer at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility has been sentenced this week for crimina...
06/19/2026

A former correctional officer at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility has been sentenced this week for criminal sexual conduct.

According to a written statement from the Michigan Department of Attorney General, 22-year-old Joshua Lee, of Wyandotte, pled guilty on April 23, 2026, to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a state prisoner. Lee was sentenced today, June 18, 18 months to 15 years with the Michigan Department of Corrections, Jim Gallagher told The Eastern Echo. Gallagher is the judicial attorney for Judge Arianne E. Slay in the 22nd Circuit Court in Washtenaw County. Lee already has 80 days of jail credit, Gallagher said.

Criminal sexual conduct is defined as non-consensual sexual touching of an intimate part of another person. It primarily involves intentional, unauthorized sexual contact that does not involve physical pe*******on. When in the second degree, it usually involves additional circumstances, such as using force or authority to coerce a victim.

Prosecutors said Lee engaged in multiple sexual acts with several prisoners while working as a corrections officer at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Township.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/former-huron-valley-correctional-officer-sentenced-for-criminal-sexual-conduct

Writer: Sam Peterson
Photo: Sam Peterson / The Eastern Echo

Clowns Out: Clothes Off! is a night of improv, drag and clown burlesque performing to fundraise for Ypsi Pride and Black...
06/18/2026

Clowns Out: Clothes Off! is a night of improv, drag and clown burlesque performing to fundraise for Ypsi Pride and Black Pride Ypsi.

The event is at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, 2026, at hear.say brewing + theater at 2350 W. Liberty St. in Ann Arbor. Tickets are available for purchase online for $15 or at the door for $20.

The show will consist of improv performers guided by a comical host. After the improv performers are finished, The Good Trouble Makers troupe will perform a set of original performance art, event organizer Kulkiran Nakai said.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/clowns-out-clothes-off-event-to-raise-money-for-ypsi-pride-black-pride-ypsi

Writer: Hannah Borders

Eastern Michigan University web services began to resume service around 3 p.m. on June 16, 2026 after a damaged fiber op...
06/17/2026

Eastern Michigan University web services began to resume service around 3 p.m. on June 16, 2026 after a damaged fiber optic cable near campus took access down for over an hour.

Brian Arnold, a support center analyst for Merit Network Inc., said that the damage was likely the result of a burning electrical line. Merit describes itself as "an independent nonprofit corporation governed by Michigan’s public universities."

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/eastern-michigan-university-web-services-resume-after-cable-damage

Writer: Laura Meriweather
Photo: Laura Meriweather / The Eastern Echo

Looking for something to do this week? The Eastern Echo has its readers covered with this list of upcoming events.🎤 Depo...
06/17/2026

Looking for something to do this week? The Eastern Echo has its readers covered with this list of upcoming events.

🎤 Depot Town Comedy Open Mic - June 17, 2026

Feel like laughing? 734 Brewing Company is back with its weekly comedy open mic, open to all comedians no matter their skill level or experience. Sets are scheduled in 5-10 minute increments, with exceptions based on request and the length of each night's sign-up sheet.

🖊 Observational Drawing Class - June 18, 2026

Hosted by the Ypsi Art Supply, Ypsilanti's resident affordable art supplies store, this blind contour event offers local artists, no matter their experience level, the chance to practice drawing figures without looking at the paper. Attendees can register online or show up at the door at the start of the event. While ticket prices range from $5-25, all attendees will be admitted no matter how much they can pay. To get some practice putting pencil to paper, stop by the Ypsi Art Supply June 18, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

🎶 (Dead) Daisies: Music Performance and Juneteenth Fundraiser - June 19, 2026

Q***r alt band "(Dead) Daisies" is set to perform to help raise funds for the Joy Project; a Black queer-owned space aimed at offering members of the community a chance to embrace indigenous practices, taste rarely grown produce and listen to stories about Black and Brown individuals' relationship with the soil it is grown on. The suggested donation is $10, with the event running from 8-10 p.m.

🎉 Ypsilanti Juneteenth Soulful Celebration - June 20, 2026

Hosted at the University Bank Commerce Center, Ypsilanti's 6th Annual Juneteenth Celebration Weekend aims to offer inspiration through culture, music, community and Black excellence. Headlining the show is Lady Sunshine and The X Band, an award winning R&B band first formed in 1994. The group is also joined by Marcus Cole, as well as a lineup of other featured performers. Running from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/whats-the-move-june-16-23

Writer: Gray Connor
Photo: Lee Hammock / The Eastern Echo

Reaching 20 years in business, The Rocket continues to be a place of nostalgia, gifts and candy for all. After graduatin...
06/16/2026

Reaching 20 years in business, The Rocket continues to be a place of nostalgia, gifts and candy for all.

After graduating from Eastern Michigan University and settling down in Ypsilanti, owners Eli Morrissey and Paul Balcom decided to open The Rocket in Downtown Ypsilanti. Initially seeking to be a gift novelty store, they decided to incorporate candy, expanding their customer base and bringing a “nostalgic candy corner store feeling,” Morrissey said.

Over the years, the business has expanded, moving from the original building in 2010 to one across the street, opening a second store in downtown Ferndale in 2014, and in 2018 making an investment in the shop's website, which they consider their third store.

Morrissey recalls seeing the local kids come into The Rocket as babies, with their parents pushing them in their stroller or being on their dads back, and now those same kids coming in as adults headed off to college.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/ypsilantis-the-rocket-owners-reflect-on-20-years-in-business

Writer: Laleh Walker
Photo: Laleh Walker / The Eastern Echo

This year Ypsilanti will be holding its 96th annual 4th of July parade, and one of Ypsilanti’s oldest residents, Gordon ...
06/15/2026

This year Ypsilanti will be holding its 96th annual 4th of July parade, and one of Ypsilanti’s oldest residents, Gordon Cahours, will be riding in Michigan's longest-running independence day parade.

This year, Ypsilanti is the lucky one, getting to experience Cahours' mighty parade cruise. The parade’s co-chairperson, and former mayor of Ypsilanti, Cheryl Farmer, has known Cahours for many years and asked him to be in the parade.

Farmer treated Cahours' wife and got to know him when they came in for appointments. Throughout those years, Farmer listened to Cahours' stories and they became friends, she said. After having WWII vets in the parade and them having a blast, Farmer said she thought of Cahours.

Farmer and Cahours are hoping to find more centenarians — anyone who has reached the age of 100 or older — who live in Ypsilanti to ride along with him. Anyone who is interested in being in the 96th annual parade can email Farmer at [email protected].

For anyone who would like to see the parade, it will be held Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 11 a.m. The route proceeds down West Cross Street from Oakwood Street to Rice Street.

Click the link for more information:
https://www.easternecho.com/article/2026/06/106-year-old-man-to-ride-in-ypsilantis-96th-annual-4th-of-july-parade

Writer: Lauren Holloway
Photo: Lauren Holloway / Eastern Echo

Address

228 King Hall
Ypsilanti, MI
48197

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Eastern Echo posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Eastern Echo:

Shortcuts

Share

Category