Archive for September, 2009

On MVictors, Greg Dooley delves into a piece of history regarding the Little Brown Jug, noting that this year marks the 100th season that football teams at Michigan and Minnesota have battled for the trophy. But what happened when the jug went missing in the 1930s? [Source]

WDIV-Channel 4, Detroit’s NBC affiliate, filed a report from Tuesday evening’s neighborhood meeting about an increase in break-ins on Ann Arbor’s northwest side. The segment quotes police chief Barnett Jones: “We need to get our citizens to tighten up and understand that this is bigger than just our community – it’s the economy and there are some desperate people doing desperate things we need to be mindful of.” [Video]

PrideSource publishes a Between the Lines Q&A with playwright/actor Jeff Daniels, discussing the third in his “Escanaba” trilogy – a show now playing at Daniels’ Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea. Says Daniels: “The play deals with home, what is home, does everyone has a home somewhere, what it means to have or to not have a place to be; what I think are universal questions for all of us.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on the announcement that Systems in Motion, a California tech firm, was awarded state tax credits and local incentives to open a service center in Pittsfield Township. The tax credits are linked to the 1,085 jobs the firm plans to create over the next five years: “The company’s new center will serve clients that are outsourcing their IT work, which often goes to China or India. The business model calls for Systems In Motion to provide a low-cost U.S. location at a price similar to offshore vendors.” [Source]

An artist in a cherrypicker whitewashes the brick facade of The B.O.B. to prep for painting a mural there. The Big Old Building, known as the "Bob," will be an ArtPrize venue for more than 150 artists, including eight from Ann Arbor. (Photo by Dave Askins.)

Starting on Wednesday and running through Oct. 10, the city of Grand Rapids is turning itself into one huge urban art gallery. The concept is ArtPrize – an art competition open to anyone who wants to enter, at any location offered up as a venue, with a $250,000 top prize that’s awarded by people who actually visit the city and take the time to vote. Another $200,000 will be given out in smaller amounts, also based on votes.

It’s about as public as art can get.

The Chronicle has been covering Ann Arbor’s own public art initiatives, reporting on the monthly meetings of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, which oversees the city’s Percent for Art program, and tracking the saga of German artist Herbert Dreiseitl, who’s being commissioned – for over $700,000 – to make three art installations at the new municipal center. So the question of how another city in Michigan is promoting public art was a natural one to pursue.

That led The Chronicle to Grand Rapids last weekend.

Over two dozen Ann Arbor area artists are among the 1,200 or more who’ve entered the ArtPrize competition. We hoped to observe artists setting up their work prior to Wednesday’s opening, and to motivate others to make the two-hour trip up I-96 to check out what happens when a city opens itself quite dramatically to art. Here’s a sampling of what we encountered. [Full Story]

Michigan Radio reports that last week 40 to 50 students a day visited UM student health services with flu-like symptoms. Says medical director Robert Ernst: “There is circulating influenza within our patient population and all of the influenza that is circulating currently is the H1N1 virus.” [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday caucus (Sept. 20, 2009): It’s a caucus worth attending when the editor of The Ann Arbor Observer gives the assembly a personal glimpse into a recent spate of  break-ins on the northwest side of the city: burglars of a neighboring property left something interesting behind in his backyard.

But the city council’s Sunday night caucus again found Mayor John Hieftje offering what’s become a customary explanation to the public for the absence of the majority of council members: many of them have family obligations, and it’s not a required meeting of council.

So along with Hieftje, it was only Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Mike Anglin (Ward 2 Ward 5) who heard brief remarks from residents and the development team on the subject of the Near North affordable housing development on North Main Street. The City Place development team – which is bringing its “matter of right” proposal for housing on South Fifth Avenue back to council – also made themselves available for questions from councilmembers.

Council received an update from Alan Haber, who reported that a group of citizens had met and resolved to respond to the city’s request for proposals for development on top of the underground parking structure to be built along Fifth Avenue.

Finally, the council had no further updates on the communication the city clerk has received from her counterpart with the county, to the effect that revisions to the charter amendment ballot language they approved at their last meeting could not be accommodated – they missed the Aug. 25 deadline. [Full Story]

Automotive News reports that a German auto supplier is suing Chrysler Group because the automaker’s production levels have fallen far short of its forecasts. The article quotes David Cole of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research: “Suppliers quote their prices based on volume forecasts. That’s real difficult when the economy defines the market.” [Source]

Mid-Michigan Dining posts a favorable review of Zingerman’s Roadhouse, but notes that food is pricey: “Just about everything on the menu was over ten bucks and some of [the sandwiches] could have been higher depending on the cheese. Along with the menus, we were handed a card with the cheese they had on hand that day and price per slice. The price of a grilled cheese or a cheeseburger depended on what cheese you chose.” [Source]

Matt Schroeder, president of the Ann Arbor firefighters Local 693, spoke to UM regents at their Sept. 17 board meeting about how possible firefighter layoffs could affect campus safety. (Photo by the writer.)

University of Michigan Board of Regents (Sept. 17, 2009): UM regents heard two presentations at their Thursday board meeting that closely linked the university and the community of Ann Arbor. Jim Kosteva, UM director of community relations, gave an update on the ways that the university is involved with the city, including payments as well as partnerships. And Matt Schroeder, president of the Ann Arbor firefighters Local 693, spoke during public comment on the possibility of additional layoffs among city firefighters and the potential impact it would have on the university.

Regents also heard several other reports and updates: from the director of the Life Sciences Institute; an architect working on the new basketball practice facility at Crisler Arena; and two alumni who hope to get the university more involved in an effort called Patriot Week.

And during her report on the board’s personnel, compensation and governance committee, regent Andrea Fischer Newman said that UM president Mary Sue Coleman had requested – and the committee agreed – not to raise Coleman’s salary this year.

We’ll begin with the issues most directly related to the Ann Arbor community: Kosteva’s report, and Schroeder’s public commentary. [Full Story]

The Traverse City Record-Eagle publishes an op/ed by columnist George Weeks, who makes two Ann Arbor-related notes in his roundup of state politics. Former UM football coach Lloyd Carr is on the campaign trail stumping for Jay Riemersma of Zeeland, a former Michigan player who recently announced his candidacy as a Republican for 2nd District state representative. Also, Weeks notes that Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder was endorsed for governor by former longtime Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob and Jerry Zandstra, president of the Pro-Life Federation of Michigan. [Source]

Fox 2 News has a video report on recent flashover training that Washtenaw County firefighters received  at Ann Arbor Fire Station 6. [Source]

Marianne Rzepka

When Royer Held decides which tomatoes to plant in his garden each year, he doesn’t look through seed catalogs. He simply sorts through a collection of plastic bags that hold his own private stash of tomatoes-to-be.

He’s a seed-saver, cleaning and saving seeds from his own stock of plants and trading with others who have varieties he’d like to try. It’s his way of saving the flavorful tomatoes he loves and maybe even developing a new strain by working with generations of hybrids.

“Seed-saving is the ultimate source of local food,” says Held, a computer programmer who’s been involved in gardening since he was a child.

Held’s slightly disheveled garden at Greenview Park – one of the Project Grow gardens there – is a library of tomato genetics, but with wood-and-wire frames in the place of shelves, and instead of handing you a volume to read, he might give you a tomato to taste – maybe a Lollipop cherry tomato or a sausage-shaped Pirkstine Orange. [Full Story]

Wearing stickers that say "Protect Our Safety Net," Mimi Harris, left, and Randi Friedman came to Wednesday's county board meeting to support funding for human services. The paper plate was one of over 1,100 with messages written by people who receive aid from local nonprofits that are supported by the county. Harris and Friedman are board members for the Interfaith Hospitality Network. (Photo by the writer.)

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Sept. 16, 2009): Leaders of local nonprofits and people who’ve been helped by their services packed the boardroom Wednesday night, urging Washtenaw County commissioners to continue support for the area’s most vulnerable residents.

The meeting marked the first time that county administrator Bob Guenzel made his official budget recommendations to the board, which include cuts aimed at closing a projected $30 million deficit over the next two years. The county funds a range of local nonprofits – this year, a total of $1.7 million was awarded to agencies like Food Gatherers, the Shelter Association, Interfaith Hospitality Network and SafeHouse, among others. The proposed budget calls for 20% cuts in funding for human services nonprofits in 2010 and another 20% in 2011.

Proposed cuts to these nonprofits were the most difficult part of his budget recommendations, Guenzel told the board. “Those dollars have been well spent – they are the safety net.” Yet he didn’t feel he could ask for concessions from employees and squeeze the county’s mandated services without including cuts to nonprofits as well. He reminded commissioners that when he was hired as administrator 15 years ago, the county spent $300,000 to fund local nonprofits. Even with the proposed cuts, he said by 2011 the county will still be awarding about $1 million to these groups.

Commissioners responded to both the emotional public comment session and to the proposed budget recommendations, which they’ll have two months to review before adopting a final budget in November. Several commissioners cited their support for a human services millage. And commissioner Kristin Judge – saying that there were more creative ways to cut expenses – turned in her county-paid cell phone. [Full Story]

John U. Bacon

Mascots are supposed to inspire those who play for the team, but just as often they provide amusement for those who don’t.

On college campuses nationwide there are no fewer than 107 teams named for Lions, Tigers and Bears – oh my – but only the University of Idaho dares calls its teams the Vandals. I only wish the Vandals of Idaho could engage in macho combat with, say, the Ne’er Do Wells of Nevada.

With some teams, it’s hard to tell just whom they’re trying to scare. Take the Centenary College Ladies and Gentleman – the actual mascots. Are they intended to intimidate the ill-mannered? Or, how about the Brandeis University Judges, named after Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. Who’s afraid of the big bad Judges – the Parolees of Penn State?

And what are we to make of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons? What are they, Demons or Deacons? I think they should pick one, and stick to it. Their oxymoronic mascot reminds me of a chant I once heard at a Friends School in Pennsylvania, where the seemingly oblivious cheerleaders broke into the classic mantra: “Fight, Quakers, Fight!”

This otherwise silly subject takes a serious turn when we start talking about Native American nicknames. Some 600 high school and college teams have dropped such names, but over 2,400 still use them. [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports that several UM coaches have mortgages or lines of credit with the Bank of Ann Arbor, a business which athletic director Bill Martin helped found. He currently serves as chairman of its board of directors. According to the article, the “disclosures raise questions about whether Martin can be objective about the coaches’ performance at U-M when their dismissal could affect their ability to repay the bank.” Says Martin: “I don’t suggest banks to any coach. I don’t ever get involved in their financial affairs in any way, shape or form. I believe it would be a conflict of interest (to do so).” [Source]

A clipping from the April 3, 1973 Ann Arbor News newspaper. Headline was: "Bus System Linking City With Ypsilanti Gets Push"

At a meeting of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s planning and development committee on Wednesday evening – attended by some members of Ypsilanti’s city council, plus the mayor – the possible elimination of Ypsilanti’s bus Route #5 became far less likely.

The committee recommended that federal stimulus money be used to cover a shortfall between the amount that Ypsilanti’s city council allocated to transportation, and the cost of the city’s purchase of service agreement (POSA) with the AATA through June 2011. If the recommendation to use federal dollars is approved by the full AATA board at its Sept.23 meeting, the elimination of Route #5, plus reductions in service on Routes #10 and #11, would not be necessary.

On Sept. 8, Ypsilanti’s city council had voted 5-1 (with dissent from Mayor Paul Schreiber) to propose the service reductions – chosen from a “menu” of options provided by the AATA. The Ypsilanti council resolution also included a request that the POSA rate not increase, and that about $100,000 in federal stimulus dollars – part of a $6.45 million grant to the AATA – be used to make up the remaining difference.

The willingness of the AATA’s planning and development committee to increase the federal dollars allotted to around $200,000 was based on a key condition, which is actually built into the language of the Ypsilanti council resolution: either there will be progress towards a dedicated countywide funding mechanism for mass transportation, or else the city of Ypsilanti will put a millage proposal (a Headlee override) on the November 2010 ballot. [Full Story]

On her Talk with Tanya blog, Tanya Hilgendorf, executive director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley, applauds Ypsilanti Township for passing a dog ordinance: “Of critical importance to us at HSHV is the section that deals with the encouragement of spaying and neutering through differential dog licensing fees – in this case a $12 fee for a sterilized dog and a $120 fee for an unsterilized one. With its passing, Ypsilanti Township now has one of the most progressive animal ordinances on the books, not just in Washtenaw County, but in the State of Michigan.” [Source]