Archive for November, 2008

Writing in the New York Times, Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at The New Republic, reviews a new book on the Schembechler/Hayes rivalry: “How exactly a left-leaning university could coexist with the militaristic culture of a football program is the subject of Michael Rosenberg’s ‘War as They Knew It,’ an absorbing account that describes the rivalry between a pair of larger-than-life coaches, Bo Schembechler of Michigan and Woody Hayes of Ohio State, within the social and political context of its time, 1969 through 1978.” [Source]

A Bloomberg News article by Mike Ramsey (former Ann Arbor News business reporter) looks at moves by domestic automakers as they await word on a possible Congressional aid package. Says Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor: ”The longer the debate goes on in Washington, the longer the stall on sales: Customers are waiting it out to see what’s going to happen. GM needs to take these production cuts.” [Source]

The Ann Arbor District Library board has called a special meeting for Monday morning, Nov. 24, to discuss the downtown building project. The meeting will be held in the conference room of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. with a closed executive session. It will reconvene in a meeting open to the public at 10:15 a.m. If anyone wants to come at 9:30 a.m. – though they won’t be allowed to enter the meeting – they’ll need to use the back entrance to the building. The main entrance opens at 10 a.m.

No further details are available about the meeting’s agenda. Earlier this year, the board hired Luckenbach Ziegelman Architects to work on designing a … [Full Story]

Joel Goldberg inspects a pouring of white wine – either from Michigan or Ohio – as Heidi Kabanuk, Vinology's wine director, brings out more offerings to be judged on Sunday evening. A similar wine judging took place the following night in Columbus, Ohio.

“Did you hear why the Michigan-Ohio State game might be canceled? Because Michigan can’t get past Toledo.”

David Creighton told the joke while sitting at a table in Vinology’s Bubble Room with Joel Goldberg and Claudia Tyagi, waiting to be served 30 glasses of wine. Each. Everyone laughed – and they weren’t even hammered.

In fact, despite the fact that plenty of people who are focused on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry this weekend will be intent on getting hammered, the gathering at Vinology on Sunday evening had an entirely different goal: To highlight the quality of each states’ wines, in the setting of a friendly competition staged in Ann Arbor and Columbus.

Here’s some words about the event for you to savor before we reveal the winners, but if you read The Chronicle like you drink your wine – straight from the bottle in one long chug – scroll right down to the bottom. [Full Story]

The Betty Brigade, an Ann Arbor concierge service, is profiled in a spot on WDIV-Channel 4 News. [Source]

Crain’s Detroit Business reports that the Ford Fund has notified UM it will delay the final payment in a $4 million pledge for at least a year. The $800,000 from Ford’s philanthropic arm was expected next June. Says Jefferson Porter, UM associate vice president for development: ”It may have been more of a cash management issue. And we’ll manage. The most distressing thing for us is knowing Ford is not doing well, and if they need us to work with them we can do that.” [Source]

The Chronicle arrived 20 minutes late to the AATA board meeting held Wednesday. But at 6:50 p.m. the board was already well into the discussion of its single agenda item listed under new business, which had been predicted on the published agenda to begin an hour later. The item was a resolution authorizing additional funding for a north-south connector study. After approving an increase in their contribution to the budget for the connector study from $100,000 to $160,000 (the total budget for the project increased from $250,000 to $640,000), the board heard from the public, and a few minutes later the meeting was adjourned.

So what happened? [Full Story]

The Lansing State Journal publishes an op/ed by David Poulson on the importance of Michigan’s newspaper industry, citing recent restructuring, buyouts and layoffs at papers across the state, including at The Ann Arbor News: ”The economic impact of any job loss hurts a struggling state. But in this case it’s the information void and the loss of public watchdogs that are most troublesome.” [Source]

Teapot on display at Yourist Studio Gallery.

Many readers of Teeter Talk will have surely seen Yourist Pottery Gallery’s sign from the Plymouth Road side as they’ve headed into or out of Ann Arbor across Broadway Bridge. A smaller number will have seen the signage from the more lightly traveled Broadway Street side. And some readers will have also seen the place from the inside. Last Friday, I took the totter to the potter: Kay Yourist.

Navigating a 12-foot long board amongst some really pretty pottery is not for the faint of heart. But we managed to do it without wrecking the place, preserving the perfect safety record of the totter to date.

Skeptics who think I must have busted a pot or two are invited to verify for themselves that the floor is not littered with shards of broken pots–when Yourist Pottery hosts its annual holiday sale. The opening reception for that (including wine and appetizers) is Friday, 5 December from 6pm-9pm. [Full Story]

Look for these signs to guide you to the Chapel Hill clubhouse, off of Green Road.

This year, Judy White organized her first holiday craft show, held today and Friday at the Chapel Hill Clubhouse on Ann Arbor’s northeast side. Here’s a quick Chronicle guide to how she pulled it off – we’d also encourage you drop by and check out the final result, where 15 local crafters will be selling wooden bird houses, jewelry, aprons, photographs, scarves, ornaments and other handmade items.

[Full Story]

A budget discussion, the renaming of three nature areas, another step in the skatepark project and a discussion regarding a comprehensive bylaws review were among the items on a full agenda for the Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission on Tuesday. PAC’s chair, Linda Berauer, noted that they had full attendance: “It’s been a while, so it’s great.” [Full Story]

Writes Voxphoto on his Flickr account about a photo he took of an “Obama for Truth” sign: “This stencil is painted on the fence in Ann Arbor where Kingsley turns the corner onto First street. Longtime townies will smile at the reference.” Why they will smile can be found at the [Source].

Andrea Smith of Ypsilanti is quoted in an MSNBC.com article about Facebook social etiquette. The 38-year-old received a Facebook friend invitation from a former junior high classmate: ”I found it kind of baffling. I knew who she was, but I don’t recall that we were ever friends. I don’t recall that we ever had a conversation.” [Source]

The Christian Science Monitor’s Patchwork Nation blog looks at the auto industry bailout, and quotes two sources from Ann Arbor. Chamber president Jesse Bernstein said: “The auto industry has made many mistakes, but they are being vilified and receiving the brunt of the frustration and fear that is ingrained in us because of the total global restructuring of the economics and financial systems we were accustomed to. Hopefully, calmer heads will prevail and a program of financial support with conditions requiring increased mileage standards soon, restrictions on executive pay, and requirements to pay dividends as soon as possible will be implemented.” Local attorney Paul Dimond told the Monitor that the country “can’t afford adverse ripples flowing from such major failure; but any loan should contemplate … [Full Story]

Here at The Chronicle, we enjoy any opportunity for a road trip, and we’ve spotted one in the form of a fundraiser that combines dining and donations.

The fundraising effort for SOS Community Services is called Dine Out to Help the Homeless. It’s a two-day affair, ending on this Saturday, Nov. 22. According to Kate Zellers, development associate for SOS, the nonprofit has teamed up with seven area purveyors of food and beverage to solicit contributions from diners this weekend. Customers can make their contribution to SOS in the form of an extra “menu item” for the donation – a special dish that will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside even if you only enjoy a small portion. [Full Story]

The Freep column Politically Speaking speculates about who might replace Republican state Chairman Saul Anuzis, if he gets the nod to head the Republican National Committee.”The most interesting new name circulating in GOP circles this week was Ann Arbor’s Ron Weiser, a real estate developer, former ambassador to Slovakia and, most importantly, a major Republican donor.” [Source]

Hilary Cohen and Sandy Ryder, co-founders and artistic directors of Wild Swan Theater, do a bit of improv at Tuesday night's Creative Connections event.

Hilary Cohen and Sandy Ryder stood in front of about 30 people, not saying a word. Then Ryder mimed the motion of stroking her whiskers – she’s a cat! Cohen mimed back, slapping her thigh – a dog! They teased, attacked, retreated, as their audience watched and laughed.

Then, however, it was time for the audience to pair up and try it themselves. “You know, there’s a reason why I’m a visual artist, not a theater artist,” someone quipped.

Tuesday evening’s antics reflected the setting – Wild Swan Theater – as well as the forum: Creative Connections, a monthly networking event for the area’s cultural community.

[Full Story]

You can tell it’s a longer-than-usual meeting of the Ann Arbor District Library board when it adjourns later than city council. The Monday evening meeting included a discussion of the board’s vision for the new downtown library building, and presentations by city planner Wendy Rampson about the A2D2 zoning proposals. Three staff members also briefed the board on a wide range of literacy programs offered by the library. [Full Story]

Due to what was probably a human error involving the same file being used by multiple users, the article published earlier today, Feedback Wanted: Downtown Zoning Revisions, was inadvertently truncated.

We thank Steve Bean for alerting us to this problem. It’s now been fixed.

The previously truncated portion contained, among other things, discussion of zoning for adult entertainment.