Archive for February, 2010

The Cousins Vinyl blog has a post about Ypsilanti musician John Ford’s “Just Wanna Dance”: “How can I even start with this song? I would say that it’s the find I’m most proud of, right up there with “Back to Ypsilanti”, the Pathway label, or the Ann Arbor Sun collection as far as off-the-radar ultra-local stuff goes. The thing is, I find and collect all kinds of obscure, local records from Michigan, but more specifically Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. I have a whole section in my own personal collection dedicated to local stuff. A lot of it has been discovered already. But I don’t think many people know about this.” [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council meeting (Feb. 1, 2010) Part I: Transportation was a major theme woven throughout Monday’s city council meeting – in part due to a presentation the council heard from SEMCOG’s Carmine Polombo about the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail project. Trains are supposed to begin rolling toward the end of 2010, but Polombo’s presentation made clear that early service would be very limited – day trips and special events – and there are a huge number of unknowns.

Sol Castell was asked to the podium by Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) to give an alternate view on the need for a runway extension at the Ann Arbor municipal airport. The topic came up during discussion of the city's capital improvements plan, which wound up being postponed. (Photos by the writer.)

But trains weren’t the only transit-related thread. The city’s bicycle ordinances were updated after having been postponed for a couple of meetings, and a revision to the city’s bicycle registration procedure was tabled and now appears to be on indefinite hold.

The council also approved on first reading a revision to its taxicab ordinance, designed to enforce expectations of larger cab companies.

Also related to transportation was discussion of an item in the capital improvements plan (CIP) for a runway extension at the Ann Arbor municipal airport. After Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) got his colleagues’ support to amend the CIP to delete the item, the council then voted, with some grumbles of dissent, to postpone consideration of the CIP.

Times and dates for upcoming meetings on the budget were also reviewed, with city administrator Roger Fraser telling councilmembers that the list of possible areas for cuts that city staff had generated were not the only items that could be considered. He challenged councilmembers to come up with their own ideas as well. The council received specific recommendations for budget strategies for the senior center and Mack Pool.

In Part I of the report, we restrict our focus to transportation and budget issues. In Part II, we’ll cover land use issues – including the resolution on 415 W. Washington, which we previewed in our report on the Sunday night caucus, plus a postponement on a greenbelt acquisition. [Full Story]

The Detroit Free Press reports that UM regents met in a special closed session this morning in the office of president Mary Sue Coleman, reportedly to get briefed on the NCAA investigation into possible training violations in the football program. From the Freep report: “The 8 a.m. session, which appeared to last about 90 minutes, focused solely on the highly charged NCAA probe, according to one person familiar with the situation. Although some have said the news could come any day, regents expect the university to announce the results of the NCAA investigation in a couple of weeks, another person familiar with the situation said.” [Source]

Feb. 3 is National Signing Day, and the Wolverine Liberation Army has a playful post titled “Ypsilanti Illuminati,” which looks at the “seedy underbelly of college football recruiting”: “Just how deep does this rabbit hole go? Who will shine a light on this most sinister of rituals? MGoBlog is the premier Michigan sports blog, but it’s strictly a straight shooter. It’s the Joe Friday of the Michigan Blogosphere: Just the facts, ma’am. Maize ‘n’ Brew? Too busy getting into blog slapfights over rawk muzik to give this proper attention.” A related video is included. [Source]

Tim McKay, Vic Strecher, Clinch Steward (as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Rusty Charlie, and Benny Southstreet) on stage at Tappan Middle School during a rehearsal of "Guys & Dolls."

“You’re not with props, are you?” a woman whispers to The Chronicle, soon after we enter the darkened auditorium at Tappan Middle School.

As we’re telling her no, a disembodied male voice calls out over the speaker system: “Spots! You’re going to do a Venn diagram on all three of them.” Spotlights flick on, directed toward three actors clustered on stage.

They vamp. “Spots, you’re not picking up each of them equally,” intones the voice, which turns out to be coming from the director, Mike Mosallam. Someone else yells: “They’re farther apart than we were told!”

It’s Sunday afternoon – Tech Day for the Burns Park Players, the time when technical glitches like these are worked out before “Guys & Dolls” opens on Feb. 5. The crew arrived around 9 a.m., followed by the 40 or so actors at noon.

They were set to log several hours doing “cue-to-cue” – an abbreviated run-through focusing on transitions of lighting and set – with a full show rehearsal starting at 4 p.m.

The Chronicle dropped by for part of this controlled chaos, joining local photographer Myra Klarman, whose behind-the-scenes shots captured some of the day’s activity. Enjoy. [Full Story]

Donald Staebler was without question the oldest resident to show up at a Jan. 26 public meeting on the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation master plan. And the 99-year-old farmer had a very specific reason why: He sold his farm to the county nearly 10 years ago, and he wants to see what they’re going to do with it.

The barns and out buildings at Staebler Farm, on Plymouth Road in Superior Township. Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation bought the farm in 2001, and will be developing a master plan for the property in the coming years. (Photos by The Chronicle.)

“I’m open to suggestions,” Staebler told The Chronicle, “and willing to give up plenty of what I know.”

During their presentation about a five-year master plan for the parks system, county staff outlined plans for the Staebler Farm – a proposed $2.3 million investment – as well as for several other county parks, recreational facilities and preserves. It was one of three public meetings to get input on the master plan; the next meeting will be on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Dexter Library, starting at 7 p.m.

A draft of the master plan – which is also available online – includes items in an extensive capital improvement program that was approved last year by the county’s Parks & Recreation Commission. Several of the largest projects are planned for Rolling Hills Park, including the addition of a dog park, an expansion of the water park and construction of softball fields and an amphitheater. The county also plans to invest nearly $12 million in greenway and non-motorized trails over the next five years. [Full Story]

The announcement of the shuttering of local discussion blog and discussion forum Arbor Update is made with a lighthearted headline “This site to be demolished, replaced with student housing.” The URL slug to the farewell post reveals an earlier headline draft: “Update? We don’t need no stinkin Arbor Update.” [Source]

The Eat Close to Home blog asks readers who are interested in the Preserving Traditions workshops to give feedback about some new workshop outlines: “The idea is to lay out everything a would-be presenter needs to know to run a workshop on a particular topic (assuming they are able to do the skill in question, but just need some help turning that into a workshop). I also hope that other people will take the template and start submitting their own workshops … for inclusion on the site.” [Source]

Editor’s Note: The monthly milestone column, which appears on the second day of each month – the anniversary of The Ann Arbor Chronicle’s launch – is an opportunity for either the publisher or the editor of The Chronicle to touch base with readers on topics related to this publication.

The last time I wrote this monthly column, I alerted readers that I’d might be taking the occasion of my Monthly Milestones to highlight some of the comments left by readers on articles we’ve published. Readers should bear in mind: While I do read all the comments as they’re posted by readers, I have not systematically re-read all the comments for the purpose of selecting some for this column. I have not ranked them with any kind of scoring metric to arrive at anything like the “best” comments of the last two months. There are no prizes.

The two comments I’ve chosen for this month address two dissimilar topics: skating on a frozen pond and hiring convicted felons.

I’ll try to wrap those two topics into a conclusion, in which I relate how I’m spending Groundhog Day (today) – an effort that could be described as trying (very gently) to crush people’s childhood dreams. [Full Story]

The New York Times takes a look at the increasing number of universities that are hiring athletic directors with business backgrounds, rather than ones who’ve made their careers in sports. The article’s prime example? David Brandon, the Domino’s CEO who was recently named athletic director at Michigan: “’That business experience is almost essential,’ said Mary Sue Coleman, the Michigan president, who said she also hired Brandon because he had strong ties to the university, having played football for the Wolverines and served as a university regent. Still, she said, ‘It’s hard for me to imagine a successful athletic director these days that doesn’t have a deep understanding and skills for the financial side of an athletic department.’” [Source]

The Detroit News is one of many media outlets reporting that Rick Snyder of Ann Arbor is launching his gubernatorial TV ad campaign with a 60-second commercial to run during the Super Bowl and pregame show on Sunday, aired on CBS. According to the report, the spots are produced by Fred Davis of Hollywood, Calif.-based Strategic Perception Inc., which did ads for Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign for governor of California. Snyder is vying for the GOP nomination in Michigan. [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday caucus (Jan. 31, 2010): At its Sunday night caucus, four city councilmembers heard thoughts from residents on a range of topics. In attendance were John Hieftje (mayor), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5).

Much of the conversation focused on a resolution added to the council’s Monday agenda on Friday, which calls for restarting a process to develop a city-owned parcel at 415 W. Washington. The land is currently used as a surface parking lot – net revenues from that lot were recently adjusted so that they go to the city of Ann Arbor, not the Downtown Development Authority.

Caucus attendees were generally skeptical about the 415 W. Washington resolution on the council’s agenda. They said it was merely a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the Library Lot, another city-owned property where some are advocating for an urban park. Hieftje disavowed the idea that there was a trade-off – open space at 415 W. Washington, but no urban park at the Library Lot. Hieftje left the Library Lot decision as still open, saying that he “would bet” that none of the submitted proposals would be adopted by the council.

Caucus conversation covered a range of other topics, including: golf, historic districts, and design guidelines for new construction in downtown Ann Arbor. [Full Story]

Nolan Finley of the Detroit News writes that Rick Snyder, the GOP gubernatorial candidate from Ann Arbor, will start airing TV commercials on Monday: “He’s the first candidate to ante up, and his Republican competitors are nervously gauging how much he’ll spend, and for how long. The answer appears to be: Whatever it takes. Rumors are that Snyder is prepared to spend $5 million to $10 million of his own money to secure the GOP nomination. Conventional wisdom is that Snyder has to get out earlier than the others because he has the least name recognition. He can build a lot of that with $5 million, particularly when everyone else is struggling to raise cash.” [Source]