Archive for October, 2008

In Ann Arbor to campaign for his alternative energy plans for the U.S., 80-year-old Oklahoma billionaire T. Boone Pickens took center stage at the Power Center (appropriately enough) last Wednesday to a near packed house. Introduced to the predominately student audience by the president of the Michigan Student Assembly, Sabrina Shingwani, as part of Homecoming 2008, “Go Blue, Live Green,” Pickens wasted no time outlining the magnitude of the problem from our reliance on imported oil. [Full Story]

Bake sale for Obama at Third and Liberty. In background, Carrie Hatcher-Kay, with Elijah and Amelia.

“John McCain says he supports cider in the fall, but …,” joked Benjamin Paloff on his walk back from the Farmers Market, stopping at the Obama bake sale at the corner of First and Liberty. Saturday was Day Two of a projected three-day effort to register voters, sell some cookies and cider – plus some art – and enjoy the beautiful weather, all in support of Barack Obama’s campaign. Actually, as the sign made clear, it was half in support of the campaign: “Full Disclosure 50% for Obama 50% shared amongst the kids”

Two of the kids, Elijah and Amelia, belonged to Carrie Hatcher-Kay, who was providing the on-site adult supervision. She related how explaining to a three-year-old why their family supports Obama had to be reduced to basics.

That means Obama: looks for other energy besides oil; inspires everyone to get involved; loves the air, the trees, the water, and wants to keep them clean. Plus, John McCain has eight houses and he doesn’t like to share. [Full Story]

College On The Record posts photos and a recap of Saturday’s Mud Bowl. “In the end, SAE kept their poise and closed the game with two touchdowns of their own, winning 36-16 and extending their ridiculous winning streak to 11 years.” [Source]

A dozen distinguished alumni from the University of Michigan Department of Economics gathered for a panel discussion yesterday at Lorch Hall to discuss the current financial crisis. The focus of the panelists’ remarks as well as the questions from the audience mostly reflected the title of the event, “Upheaval in Financial Markets.” That is, the emphasis was on “markets” in the biggest sense: the home market, the capital markets, the credit market, the global market. All of the markets that are now in crisis as a result of questionable mortgage lending practices that gave many people access to buying a house, who would have otherwise not been able to contemplate such a purchase.

But one audience question came from a voice for the “local market,” specifically the “ordinary folks who have one of these mortgages who are suffering.” “What are the techniques,” wondered that voice, “that are available to keep people in their houses? … Or do you believe that they should be out of these houses? This is a social disaster in our community.” The voice posing the question would be familiar to observers of local Ann Arbor affairs.

[Full Story]

Peter Michaelson, an Ann Arbor psychotherapist, has an essay on OpEdNews.com about how most Americans are handing over power to the “filthy rich.” He writes: “Without even being aware of it, a whole lot of us concede to the filthy rich the notion that they are somehow superior to the rest of us. We do that especially when standing in their presence. ‘Look at how successful they are!’ we mutter to ourselves, as we regret all the ways it failed to happen for us. Never mind that their love of money has made their success a triumph of bad manners.” [Source]

Katherine Salant has an op/ed in the Washington Post about downsizing from her Ann Arbor home to a much smaller New York City apartment, where she and her husband are living during his sabbatical from UM. “We’re in a brand-new building with brand-new everything in our apartment. I finally have a kitchen with a granite countertop. But when I try to imagine permanently moving to something comparably sized – from our 3,000-square-foot house to a 1,000-square-foot apartment with no garage, basement or attic to absorb the overflow – I see some hard choices ahead.” [Source]

A Detroit News article about starting your own supper club quotes Antoinette Benjamin, chef/owner of Food For All Seasons in Ann Arbor, who is part of a supper club. “You have to have people that have an interest in food. That’s a real requirement.” [Source]

WOOD-TV8, the NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, posts an AP article about the election of State Board of Education members. Incumbent John Austin of Ann Arbor is running for re-election. One of the issues the board faces is the financial health of Detroit Public Schools. Austin said: “My best sense is this process is likely to produce some good teamwork with Detroit. That may get the job done, in terms of a budget plan that is acceptable.” [Source]

With barely a vacant seat in the audience at their Wednesday evening meeting, Washtenaw County Commissioners debated how to fund veterans services, while most of the public comment focused on concerns over the transfer of the county’s Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled to the Ann Arbor District Library. [Full Story]

Among the highlights of Thursday night’s Ann Arbor Ad Club meeting was the revelation that the group’s president, Tracy Lindsay, looks like Sarah Palin/Tina Fey. Especially when she pulls her hair up – as she was exhorted to do by several attendees.

But the club’s main event was a presentation by consultant Colette Chandler, who spoke about how to “green” your business. Here’s a summary of her remarks: [Full Story]

San Antonio News-Express sports columnist Lorne Chan writes about game 3 of the WNBA finals being played at EMU’s Convocation Center on Sunday. The Detroit Shock are playing the San Antonio Silver Stars. The piece includes a Q&A with Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber. Q: “So you’re the mayor of the town with the world’s most phallic building?” A: “Oh great. You heard about that. That water tower still works, by the way. You can laugh about it all you want, but I respect a building that was built of stone in 1890 and still works.” [Source]

On the YpsiHistor blog, James Mann posts an Ypsilanti Daily Press article published in 1908. The story profiles a bakery at 348 Huron owned by James Clark, who said: “Ypsilanti consumes about 1,200 loaves of Detroit bread daily. If that bread were baked in my shop it would give employment to three men and one boy. I can see how Ypsilanti would be benefitted if her citizens patronized home industries.” [Source]

A wounded scooter, after being hit by a van outside of the Old Town. Not to worry – the owner of the scooter wasn't on the scene when it was hit.

Let’s say you’re out walking and you see a scooter parked on the street get creamed by a van. And then, let’s say the van drives off. What would you do? To be clear, it’s not your scooter. And the scooter’s actually parked illegally. And it’s raining – not cats and dogs … but you’ve got your dog on a leash along for the walk. What would you do?

Or let’s say walking at 8:30 p.m. in downtown Ann Arbor, a young (and in your estimation, scruffy-looking, down-on-their-luck) couple who are seeking shelter from the rain under the Clover Leaf awning asks you, “Do you have a cell phone?” What would you do? [Full Story]

Melodie "Mel" Gable reacts to the vice presidential debate on Thursday.

For the 20 or so Republican women who gathered Thursday night to watch the vice presidential debate, the event was all about rooting for their candidate – and having some laughs while they were at it. Actually, a lot of laughs.

The women, who met at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites on Boardwalk and graciously allowed The Chronicle to join them, enthusiastically supported Sarah Palin while gleefully deriding her Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

The banter began from the moment Biden started speaking, when he turned to Palin … [Full Story]

Brian Generazio was killed earlier this year after being hit on his bicycle by a car on Rawsonville Road. Now, his family has taken down a “ghost bike” memorial that appeared at the site of the accident. The Freep reports that his aunt, Helen Kaufmann, said, “Not a memorial where he died. He would want people to remember where he lived, how he lived.” [Source]

Richard Kurtz, CEO of Ann Arbor-based Advanced Photonix, is interviewed for a Bloomberg News article on how companies are being affected by the current credit crisis. Kurtz said the firm was notified by Fifth Third Bancorp that it would end their line of credit, but they were able to secure another credit line from PrivateBank Corp. “We ended up going out and talking to the same banks we had spoken to previously, who had all given us term sheets, and found them very reluctant.” [Source]

An AFL-CIO blog reports that registered nurses at UM hospitals have ratified a three-year contract, covering 3,800 members of the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council through the Michigan Nurses Association. According to the report, the deal “raises wages, increases safety and health protections and maintains health care benefits.” [Source]

If you’re looking for any random excuse to uncork champagne, here’s one: Today marks the 1-month anniversary of The Ann Arbor Chronicle.

It’s been a wild, gratifying, exhausting month. A shout-out to those of you who’ve generously helped us spread the word about our publication, who’ve offered words of support and encouragement … or who’ve made a financial sign of support by buying ads. There’s no guarantee that we can make this a financially viable business, but if we can, it will be thanks to individuals at local companies and organizations who think we’ve got something worth paying for, and who are willing to take a chance on a new venture like this.

For me, the experience of leaving an institution like … [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports on efforts by the GOP to revamp the Michigan Business Tax. The article quotes George Levy, CFO for GDI Infotech of Ann Arbor, who says the firm’s tax bill is jumping from $4,000 to $45,000. “The tax rate is high and there are all these credits, but they’re only usable by capital-intensive companies. Knowledge-based companies like ours get no credits and some are being chased out of state.” [Source]