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Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football national champions parade through Ann Arbor

www.mlive.com 13-01-2024 11:27 3 Minutes reading
ANN ARBOR, MI - Shirtless 300-pound linemen. Cowboy hats. A Toucan Sam mascot, for some reason. Most importantly, accolades from Michigan football's national championship season, including running back Blake Corum's "Business is Finished" shirt. The Wolverines, fresh off Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship Game victory, paraded through Ann Arbor near campus on Saturday, Jan. 13, to celebrate the title with thousands of cheering fans. The parade started at 4 p.m. at President Santa Ono's house on South University, turned onto South State Street and ended after a little less than an hour at the team facility at Schembechler Hall. With police escorts bookending the parade, the celebration was led by the Michigan Marching Band only a couple of weeks removed from their performance at the Rose Parade in Pasadena before the Rose Bowl. In between the escorts were members of the football team standing on the backs of pickup trucks as they slowly moved down the street. Some of the vehicles were vintage firetrucks from the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti. With wind and snow swirling, offensive linemen, such as Trevor Keegan, Giovanni El-Hadi and Karsen Barnhart, opted to brave the conditions without shirts. Keegan caught a beverage thrown to him by a fan and chugged it amid roars from the crowd. Keegan was in one of the final cars at the back of the parade alongside Corum, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, head coach Jim Harbaugh and others. Some of the loudest cheers came with this group, as well as Harbaugh's signature "Who's got it better than us...Nobody!" chant. For fans such as Stephanie Frankel, the parade was a throwback to the one she attended as a freshman at University of Michigan after the program's last national championship in 1997. That team split the title with Nebraska, while the 2023 team won the title outright, making Saturday's parade more special. "It was different then also because we didn't know until the next day that we were national champions," she said, pointing to the coaches and Associated Press polls that decided champions at the time. "It's also amazing to be celebrating now with my family versus when I was a freshman," she said, surrounded by numerous children, family and friends. Some of Frankel's children are old enough to understand the Wolverines have come a long way to reach this pinnacle of success. It was 10 years ago that former coach Brady Hoke's last team was 5-7, and it was less than four years ago in 2020 that the team went 2-4. "This has been what we've been waiting for," her husband Andy Frankel said. "To be able to experience these last six weeks, from the Ohio State game to the Rose Bowl to the national championship, with your children with the joy and excitement in their eyes, it was exciting." Adam Kellman was a cheerleader in the 1980s when Harbaugh was the Wolverines' quarterback. Those years under Bo Schembechler were successful, including a Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl appearance, but this year's title is on another level, he said. "Unfortunately my family and I couldn't make it to Pasadena or Houston," Kellman said, referring to the College Football Playoff semifinal and final. "I felt I needed to see (the team), and I'm happy and proud to be here." Fans such as Terrance Still dressed up for the occasion in his trademark maize and blue "Medicine Man" attire. His horned headdress is a nod to his Native American roots, he said, plus it helped him with the elements. "I'm definitely feeling warm," he said. Alongside his wife and children, Still reveled in the chance to share a special day with them. "My younger kids probably don't know what's going on," he said with a laugh. "But they'll appreciate it later on." The parade ended at Schembechler Hall, and fans either opted to either head home or wait in line for extra tickets to Crisler Center for the indoor celebration starting at 7 p.m. That event will be televised on Big Ten Network.

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13.01.24 03:35
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Audit shows Ypsilanti Community Schools budget wasn't properly monitored

YPSILANTI, MI - An annual audit of district finances revealed Ypsilanti Community Schools had not established appropriate controls to ensure its budget was properly monitored. A presentation of a draft audit to the YCS School Board by Finance Director Damien Butler during a special Jan. 8 meeting showed auditor Yeo & Yeo had four findings of "material weakness" on internal controls of district finances that need to be corrected. While it had not officially been completed at the time, the presentation of the 2022-23 fiscal year audit findings was given to update board members on what corrective actions are being taken to address the district's internal financial controls. Although the school board initially moved to approve the audit in its draft form, the motion was rescinded after some board members expressed concerns about approving it as presented. A finalized version of the audit is expected to be up for approval during the board's next meeting on Jan. 22. Turnover in the district finance office, including the four-and-a-half-month gap between his arrival and former finance director Priya Nayak's departure, resulted in financial information that was incorrectly entered into the the system, Butler said. "There was information that we created that wasn't (entered)," Butler said. "We got that information in after the year closed. We have to pay more attention to that moving forward." There were material weaknesses in the district's financial reporting, as YCS incurred overages in instruction, general administration, operations and maintenance, transportation, athletics and community services budgets during the past year, one finding of the draft audit showed. The draft audit also showed the 2022-23 budget presented to the YCS School Board for approval did not follow classification outlined by the Michigan School Accounting Manual and it was not imported into the district's accounting software. "The school district has not established appropriate controls to ensure that the budget is maintained during the year," the draft audit states. "The budget was not properly monitored allowing the overages to exist." Despite the findings of material weaknesses, Butler noted the audit does reflect the district is in good financial standing with a current fund balance of more than $9.2 million. "The audit has taken longer than usual because of gaps in training internally," Butler said. "It is not a reflection of our financial standing." Butler outlined steps the district plans to take to correct the issues, including training with new software for all business office employees, completing amendments for all updates to budgets and collective and individual training focused on year-end close out procedures. Transitions in the finance department resulted in some gaps in the audit that are "to be expected," expressing confidence in Butler that the issues would not persist, Board President Celeste Hawkins said. "We know our path to get these findings corrected will be resolved," Hawkins sai...

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