Sarah Bond

But she had asked the city to remove this tree and they'd said no.

She still can't get over how the city made her feel.

Like she didn't even own the house that she supposedly owned.

The story of Sarah Bond versus the tree and the story of Canton, Michigan, these are two stories about, on one hand, the right to do what you want with your own property versus, on the other hand, your obligations to your community, to your neighborhood.

It's the latest in this tug of war between property rights and zoning laws.

For a long time, zoning laws were winning.

But with the backlash over these tree laws, maybe property rights are gaining back some ground.

Now, there is one piece of good news.

Their cat, Binks, who went missing during the storm, they didn't give up on him.

They left a can of food for him in the basement.

And about a week after the tree fell, they found him, shivering.

A little dusty, but mostly okay.

Hey, so we have got a special event for our NPR Plus supporters.

If you couldn't make one of our book tour events back in April, you're in luck.

We are doing one more, and this time it is a live virtual event.

It's on Thursday, June 25th at 3 p.m.

Eastern.

I'll be there, the main author of our book, Alex Mayasi, will be there, and we will have some special guests.

If you've already joined NPR+, we'll tell you how to register for the event in an upcoming bonus episode.

If you haven't joined yet, make sure you're signed up by June 24th to get the invite.