Archive for September, 2008

Crain’s Detroit Business quotes two UM experts for an article on the impact of AIG’s federal bailout. Don Grimes, a researcher with UM’s Institute for Research Labor and Industrial Relations: “The fundamental problem was the credit market was way too loose. There were too many crazy loans, and anybody who wanted a credit card could get one. The auto industry went to leasing arrangements to make sure people had enough money to buy cars. They aren’t doing that anymore.” Michael Barr, a UM law professor, has this to say: “The administration’s failure over the last eight years to provide the necessary regulatory and supervisory oversight of our financial markets, and their failure last year to stem the crisis with a … [Full Story]

This video shows Heather O’Neal helping a young girl play the Star-Spangled Banner on the bells at Kerrytown. (It’s an opportunity open to everyone on Wednesdays & Fridays from noon to 12:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 10:30-11:00 a.m. [Source]

Susan Crawford, a UM law professor and founder of the Sept. 22 OneWebDay, posts on The Hill’s Congress Blog to remind people about the event, described as “Earth Day for the Internet.” She writes: “The Internet is becoming as vital to our civic health as the environment is to our physical health, which is why Earth Day was my model when I founded OneWebDay in 2006.” [Source]

A Freep article reports that “fine beers” are gaining popularity at upscale restaurants and specialty shops. Says wine and beer rep Adam Schultz, of Ann Arbor wholesaler Rave Associates: “This is the thing of the future. We’re starting to see more demand for ageable and high-end beers.” [Source]

Cynthia Sellinger, a hydrologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Ann Arbor, is quoted for a Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana article on how aging sewer systems are standing up to heavy rains. “Usually in the Great Lakes, the average amount of water that falls per month is two inches. That’s in a whole month. You got more than that in a day or so. In a year you’d get 30 inches. That much really will flush the system like crazy. Agricultural pesticides, nutrients, fertilizer. That goes right into the water.” [Source]

A UM study found that most drugs prescribed for children haven’t been approved for use in kids, according to an article in the Freep. Matthew Davis, a pediatrician at UM’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and coauthor of the National Poll on Children’s Health, says: “The major benefit of having FDA approval is that approval indicates significant information about safety and dosing.” [Source]

I miss my daily newspaper as I remember it. Beginning at age 8, I delivered the Detroit Free Press starting at 5 in the morning. It was a small town that depended on two bikes and two people to get the paper out before the milk was delivered to most doorsteps by Alward’s Dairy. It was my world.

I still remember the streets and house numbers as well as some of the more scandalous family entanglements on “my route.” It was hard to keep anything from the paperboy since things seem to either happen or clear out just before daybreak. Recently, a retiree in Ann Arbor said that she grew up at 126 Tyrell Street in my home town. I blushed … [Full Story]

Eileen Pollack of Ann Arbor writes an opinion piece for the NY Times, taking the pulse for the presidential election: “Judging the political climate in my state by walking around lefty Ann Arbor is like a polar bear judging global warming by staring at the ice cube beneath its feet. And so, on a misty Sunday not long ago, I drove 30 miles northwest to Howell, a town that is still trying to live down its reputation as the former home of a Ku Klux Klan grand dragon.” [Source]

WOLV-TV, UM’s student station, files a report on the reality show Real World’s recent casting call in Ann Arbor, held at Scorekeepers. Casting director Evan Majors, who’s from Ann Arbor, is interviewed: “We love Ann Arbor. We always get a good turnout here, so we wanted to come back.” [Source]

William J Remski of the blog Some Knowledge describes a meeting of the  Student Enterprise Club at Washtenaw Community College: “I talked to the leader of the club after the presentation and thanked her for the information. I have been thinking of going into business for myself. In a way, this blog is my attempt at a writing business. So, I got some free information out of this meeting and a free cookie. All it cost me was the gallon of gas it took to drive into school.” [Source]

Roadfood.com reviews the Jefferson Market & Cakery. “A big brownie square was dark and indulgent, more cake than goo, and a well-nigh perfect companion to a cup of Ann Arbor’s Mighty Good Coffee. I thought the pecan pie bar too sugary, being basically the filling of a pecan pie without the savory crust to balance its intensity.” [Source]

Gov. Jennifer Granholm met with Toyota executives during her recent trip to Japan, according to Free columnist Tom Walsh. He quotes her: “Toyota is primed to do some of the R&D for their next-generation hybrids and electric vehicles in Ann Arbor. We said we’d like to see some production in Michigan, too.” [Source]

Brandon Johns, left, buys produce from Mark Wilson of Wilson's Farms at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market earlier this summer. The chef and partner at Vinology is committed to buying local ingredients for the restaurant.

This morning you might spot Brandon Johns at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market around 7 a.m., in Saline’s market a bit later, and up at Brighton by 10 (actually, if you spot him at all three places, let’s hope you’ve got a good reason to be following him around). Since becoming partner and chef for Vinology restaurant in May, Johns has pushed to use as many locally produced ingredients as possible, from radishes and rabbits to peaches and pigs.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, he’ll put an even brighter spotlight on locavores with a 100-mile dinner – no food allowed from farther than 100 miles away. Most of the food actually comes from within a 25-mile radius of Ann Arbor, Johns says. The only totally non-local ingredients are olive oil, pepper and salt, though “I could probably get Michigan road salt and purify it,” he quips. Uh…no, thanks. [Full Story]

"Vita with Argus C-4. Adrian Wylie. Argus C-4 Geiss modified with 100mm Lithagon lens, Sliver-Gelatin Print. $100."

The Chronicle missed the opening on Friday, Sept. 12, of the Crappy Camera Club exhibit at the Argus Building. Called “Vintage Argus: Contemporary Images,” the exhibit features contemporary photographs made with Argus cameras, which until 1962 were manufactured right there in the Argus Building. But the exhibit runs through Oct. 12, and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so we headed over to check things out.

The exhibit is easy enough to find on the second floor of the building, with temporary signage clearly indicating where the pretty pictures can be found. There’s also clear signage indicating that the white barrels on both floors are containers for the Argus Building Food Drive for Food Gatherers. But if Chronicle readers throw their empty cupcake wrappers or other assorted litter into one of those barrels before noticing the signs, it’s good manners to fish that stuff out before heading up to the exhibit on the second floor. [Full Story]

A couple hundred people filled the Michigan League ballroom Friday morning to hear Roger Newton, one of Ann Arbor’s most successful entrepreneurs, who was keynote speaker for UM’s Entrepalooza 2008 – and yes, he’s sort of a rock star.

The people gathered there, many of them MBA students or other aspiring entrepreneurs, wanted to hear what anyone wants to hear when they listen to someone who’s done so well: How did he do it, and what can I learn so that I can do it, too?” [Full Story]

The Michigan Daily reports that financier T. Boone Pickens, who is championing alternative energy sources though his “Pickens Plan,” will be speaking on Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. at the UM Diag. His appearance is part of the university’s homecoming week festivities, themed “Go Blue, Live Green.”  [Source]

Freep business columnist Tom Walsh writes about efforts to bridge the political and cultural divide between west and east Michigan (i.e., Grand Rapids and Detroit). “Concerned about a possible east-vs.-west schism among Michigan business groups, leaders from both sides of the state met quietly in August in Ann Arbor.” Walsh reports that the meeting included Bill Ford, who lives in Superior Township, and Domino’s CEO David Brandon, a Barton Hills resident. The effort is spearheaded by the business group Detroit Renaissance, led by Doug Rothwell (who also lives in the Ann Arbor area). Says Rothwell: “We’re all suffering from a damaged Michigan brand.” [Source]

On ArborUpdate,  an interesting comment thread is developing on the possibility of the People’s Food Co-op expanding to the Liberty Lofts retail location at First & Liberty. [Source]

You can pack a lot into a two-hour meeting if there’s virtually no discussion on any of the agenda items, and the University of Michigan Board of Regents did just that on Thursday afternoon.

UM President Mary Sue Coleman, at the head of the table, talks to regents at their Thursday board meeting. To her right is Rebecca McGowan. On her left are Larry Deitch, Andrea Fischer Newman, Olivia Maynard and Kathy White.

[Full Story]

In an op/ed for the Freep, Ann Arbor resident Brian Pappas writes about what it might take to keep young people in Michigan. “A region-wide public transit system can unite us and reframe the map over the long term, creating new centers of commerce and providing the infrastructure for long-term advancement. At a bare minimum, young people do not want to drink and drive, and don’t want to battle traffic on the way home. Public transit addresses those concerns. The Woodward and Ann Arbor corridors are great starts, but we need to think big!” [Source]

The gardening columnist for the Dallas Morning News writes about hyacinths, noting that Ann Arbor-based Old House Gardens “is dangling some of the rarest hyacinth bulbs in front of gardeners’ noses. Bulbsman Scott Kunst has so few that he can’t offer them through his mail-order catalog – only online.” Varieties include Menelik, Mulberry Rose (“like raspberry ice cream swirled with raspberry sorbet”), Grace Darling, Grand Monarque and double Dreadnought. [Source]

The Chicago Tribune has a Q&A with actor Jeff Daniels, who’s starring in a play in that city called “Turn of the Century.” In response to a question about how he got started in acting, Daniels says, “In Chelsea, I was a sophomore in high school, the choir director was putting on ‘South Pacific’ and she needed guys. I was on the basketball team, walking past the auditorium after a three-hour practice, and she called me in. ‘Damn,’ I thought. She had me read some part and do a little dance, and she cracked up. Do it again, she said. And I got cast.” [Source]