Paul Rodos posted this on his Notes from the Ann Arbor Food World blog at 11:46 p.m. on the 6th, so it almost qualifies for a July 7th entry. It’s a rerun of his Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffin recipe from June, and provides a good way to use up strawberries that are about to go bad. The July 5 entry is worth a read, too – a review of Ann Arbor’s Café Zola. [Source]
The Jerusalem Post reports that U.S. university presidents taking part in a recent trip sponsored by the American Jewish Committee’s “Project Interchange” were impressed by the quality of Israeli research. The article mentions that UM’s president was among those who came, but it doesn’t cite Mary Sue Coleman by name. [Source]
Ken Lieberthal, a UM professor of Asian studies and former member of the Clinton administration’s National Security Council, is quoted in Bloomberg piece about the relationship between China and Japan. It’s in the context of these nations’ top leaders meeting during the Group of 8 summit. Lieberthal doesn’t see things warming up, at least not enough to threaten U.S. interests in that region: “This is not about to become a warm and fuzzy relationship.” [Source]
Jeff Hollobaugh of MichTrack Speaks provides a nice roundup of how Michigan athletes are faring in the recent track & field Olympic Trials. “The Trials are now history,” he writes, “and I don’t know who is more tired: the athletes or the every-day spectators?” [Source]
The Independent – a newspaper in Cape Town, South Africa – interviews Pallo Jordan, the country’s minister of arts and culture. Jordan is “Jordan is playful, a fabulous raconteur, dramatic, alternately hilarious and derisive,” reports Maureen Isaacson. The article states that his mother, Phyllis Ntantala, who is described as “an eminent academic and writer,” lectures at UM. However, her name doesn’t show up in the university’s online directory. [Source]
Today’s Boston Globe Shelf Life column devotes a section to Borders new “multimedia” stores: “The concept has stirred debate. An editorial in Library Journal noted that the new Borders store in Ann Arbor, Mich., bears a striking resemblance to a library with the latest technology. Other critics have questioned the wisdom of offering online services easily accessible from a home computer. Borders appears to be betting on customers who want a little hand-holding on the technical front.” [Source]
The son of Ira Fisher, founder of the Michigan Language Center in Ann Arbor, got a coveted wedding announcement in the New York Times today. The Times reports that Alexander Philip Fisher married Tiffany Anne Egnaczy on Saturday at Wesleyan University – the couple met at Harvard. [Source]
Nancy Shore pedaling north on 4th St. then Kris Talley pedaling east on Washington St. about 5 seconds later;
raccoon in westbound Liberty bike lane is rapidly decomposing from fresh sloppy kill two days ago
sailor in dress whites walking down Liberty from Main St.
Artist Leslie Sobel writes about the work she’s doing for the Ecology of Place project, set to debut at the Townie Street Party on July 14th. It’s a collaborative 4-panel piece, she writes, formed from “images and words of many people living in the area.” [Source]
Ypsilanti’s Camaro Superfest is highlighted in today’s Detroit News. One person describes the event at Riverside Park as “Camaro heaven.” The Superfest continues through Sunday. [Source]
Local attorney John Eggertsen is quoted in a Freep article about the growing popularity of self-insured health plans. Too bad they misspelled his name. [Source]
The Chicago Tribune picks up a Jackson Citizen Patriot piece about sentencing in an incident called the “worse case of road rage in the history of Michigan.” The ride began in Washtenaw County last year, eventually forcing 10 vehicles off the road. The driver got 13 years. (It’s also the lead story on WDIV’s Web site today.) [Source]
Marijuana.com posts the AP rewrite of an Ann Arbor News article on pot plants found at Matthaei Botanical Garden last week. [Source]
The photography blog 8frame has several pix from the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, mostly focused on the Dream Engine’s evening Cone Dance. The blogger also links to photos by the festival’s “official” photographer, Myra Klarman. [Source]
Ann Arbor’s Cobblestone Farm is featured in a minimalist posting on Waymarking, a site that lets you tag and search for “interesting and useful locations around the world.” [Source]
A DetNews profile of NFL trainer and agent Da-l Shudo Ping mentions Ping’s strong ties to Ypsilanti, where he lived, attended EMU, taught and coached. [Source]
Two articles – in the Baltimore Sun and Columbus Dispatch – quote different UM researchers about their work with the Mercury space mission. George Glooeckler tells the Dispatch that finding water-group molecules is the most surprising discovery so far. Thomas Zurbuchen, quoted in The Sun and apparently a king of understatement, says water on Mercury’s surface is “very interesting.” [Source][Source]
Today’s Jamaica Gleaner reports on a panel discussion that includes Richard Curtin, head of the UM Survey Research Center (most noted for its consumer confidence survey). “More than any other component of firms’ outlook, how firms judged their future profit has shown greater instability, in part reflecting the outlook for the economy and government policies,” Curtin told the group. (As a bonus, this site also gives like commentary on the Australia/West Indies cricket match.) [Source]
Going to the Beer-BQ? The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild wants to know, so they’re taking a poll. (It’s set for July 12 at a Zukey Lake park….are you bringing beer?) [Source]
Austin Smith, editor of The Ypsilanti Courier, reports on an awards dinner where students received scholarships from the Capt. C. Robert Arvin Foundation. Arvin was a Vietnam war hero, according to the article. [Source]
The International Herald Tribune features The Rev. Uwem Akpan, and talks about why UM’s creative writing program hesitated to admit him. Now Akpan, a Nigerian and Jesuit priest, is getting attention for his first collection of stories, “Say You’re One of Them.” [Source]
Another Ann Arbor connection surfaces in Detroit’s scandal du jour, this time about corruption in awarding a sludge-hauling contract with the city’s waste incinerator. Here’s the relevant graf: “Brad van Guilder, an organizer with the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor who regularly attends the incinerator’s board meetings, said the company wanted to avoid any conflicts of interest so it could bid on future work with the authority.” Regularly attends the incinerator’s board meetings? [Source]
A post on the blog Apt. 3W by Ann Arborite “Zev” excerpts a letter sent to the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan (annarborminyan.org). In it, UM prof Robert Savit asks for money to help undocumented workers caught up in a raid on the Agriprocessor plant in Postville, Iowa. “It is our intention to collect donations as quickly as possible from the Ann Arbor Jewish community and send those funds, on behalf of the entire Ann Arbor Jewish community, to the relief organization in Postville in support of their work with the families of the former employees of Agriprocessors.” [Source]
The Transcontinental Schlepp posts “Crimewatch: Brown Man Lures Public Out of Safety”: “Some poor Latino asks a parking attendant for help, ’cause his friend is injured in a soccer field nearby. Instead of helping the guy, she calls the cops, reporting that a “Hispanic man” speaking “poor English” tried to “lure” her from her car. (”Lure”? For real?) The bulletin goes out, and Ann Arbor residents are put on high alert.” [Source]
Dexter-Ann-Arbor road towards Dexter many limbs down; hum from generators means some people don’t have power
Old Stollhaus Furniture store is Obama HQ here in Ann Arbor; Michael and Tommy happy to chat; looking to set up house meetings; takers?
The Washtenaw County Dems are recruiting people to walk in the Ann Arbor July 4th parade, “both for the Obama campaign and for the LGBT community.” [Source]
Oh, this is special: A UM law prof gets dissed by Rush Limbaugh. It’s an indirect hit, as Limbaugh takes aim primarily at Newsweek columnist Joe Klein, who quotes Edward Parson in “Kill Your Air Conditioner.” But there’s plenty of snark to go around – Limbaugh describes Parson as “an environmentalist wacko” as in “what is an environmentalist wacko doing at the University of Michigan Law School?” [Source]
