Freep columnist Susan Tompor writes that the federal agency which guarantees the nation’s pension plans might itself be in trouble financially. The article quotes Ann Arbor attorney Andrew Stumpff, who says that despite its deficit, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is “not in an immediate cash-flow crisis like General Motors.” [Source]
In describing the possible sites for location of replacement units for those lost at the site of the old YMCA, we named the wrong intersection for one, and invented one that doesn’t exist for another. The correct descriptions of the three sites are: A at the southwest corner of Fourth and Anne; B at the southwest corner of Fourth and Catherine; C at the northwest corner of Fourth and Catherine. We note the mistake here and have corrected it in the original piece.
Under a posting titled “Hope for Michigan?” Mae’s Food Blog describes Chelsea Milling Co. – makers of Jiffy Mix – and a few other places in Chelsea, as an antidote to what’s happening in the state’s economy: “Here’s a little ray of hope: the Jiffy Mix plant, which has been in business longer than the auto industry, is still sending little blue boxes of cornbread mix, muffin mix, and many other products out to all 50 states and to military stores abroad.” [Source]
Fly on the wall at Detroit Metro airport: Lots of Ann Arbor area residents travel to exotic places. Smack dab from the middle of America, we long for a change of scenery, and Midwesterners are friendly types.
But Rwanda?
In 2007-2008, three local couples, well into their careers, traveled to the heart of Africa, landing in a country about half the size of Michigan. For differing missions, David and Valerie Canter, Andrea Sankar and Mark Luborsky, and myself and Rob Pasick stepped onto the warm black tarmac of modern Kigali airport, and began to work. [Full Story]
Miss an event held at the Ann Arbor District Library? Video on demand of some of those events is now a part of the Ann Arbor District Library’s website offerings, including a recent A2D2 briefing given by city planner Wendy Rampson. [Source]
The Outlaws blog by the UM Law School LGBT Students & Friends Association responds to a recent New York Times ad signed by UM law professor Douglas Laycock: “Outlaws and the Law School want to use this occasion to stress that Michigan Law School is an institution that is welcoming of LGBTQA students and that the Law School values the diversity that our community helps provide. Below, please see a copy of the email that Admissions Dean Sarah Zearfoss wrote to a prospective student in response to his concerns with the advertisement.” [Source]
According to the Ypsilanti Gentleman’s Club, among the 25 guidelines of Ypsilanti Gentlemanism are “a gentleman always towels off the elliptical trainer when he is done working out” and “a gentleman knows at least one dinosaur joke to tell the kiddies.” [Source]
Sites A, B, C, identified as possible locations to build affordable housing units. The image is linked to a higher resolution file in which dimensions are legible.
Ann Arbor City Council Working Session (Dec. 8, 2008) At a council working session on Monday evening, attended by all councilmembers including the mayor, one option (consisting of three different sites) was presented for how to replace the 100 units of affordable housing previously provided by the YMCA building at Fifth and William streets.
The three sites that were offered by city staff to council for consideration have some different constraints, but the proposed construction on each site is similar. All three sites are located along a roughly one-block long stretch of Fourth Avenue from the south side of Ann Street to the north side of Catherine Street.
Based on official council action to date, this set of three sites can be fairly seen as one option of three still under conceptual consideration for a replacement location for the 100 affordable units: (i) the old YMCA site, (ii) an alternate downtown location, and (iii) a location outside of downtown.
We begin with some brief background of the history of these 100 units before December 2007, trace the interaction between council and the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board between December 2007 and May 2008, and finally summarize the presentation and council discussion from the council’s working session on Monday in customary Chronicle meeting-watch style. [Full Story]
The Chronicle attended rehearsals of the Ypsilanti Community Band and the Ypsilanti Community Choir in preparation for their joint concert last Thursday night. We enjoyed the concert. Here we would like to observe and commemorate the absence of one of the band’s charter members, clarinetist Lorne Kennedy, who passed away on Sunday. The performance did his memory proud.
Lorne Kennedy's first chair clarinet seat was graced with a rose for Thursday's concert at EMU's Pease Auditorium.
At Speedway station, pump with sticker “Sheriff Minzey says:” and something about prosecuting people who drive away without paying, now has been altered to read “Sheriff Minzey says: I need a job!”
John Roos writes on his blog that another “Art in the Barn” event has been scheduled for Sunday, at 416 W. Huron: “The Yellow Barn is re-having their Holiday Art Show ‘Art in the Barn’ as the first show was squashed by a Michigan Mixture of all the elements at once over the Thanksgiving weekend. Britten and Bill have re-doubled their efforts to gather an eclectic showing of cottage industrialists.” [Source]
Detroit News columnist (and Ann Arbor resident) Michael Hodges writes about seasonal drinks you’ll find at area coffee shops, including some at Espresso Royale in Ann Arbor. He quotes ER’s “pony-tailed barista” Rebecca Myric: ”A lot of people wait for the ginger drinks all year. The Caramel Dipped Gingersnap Latte is definitely our most popular and by far our longest name.” [Source]
The Detroit News talks to former UM football coach Lloyd Carr about what he’s been up to this past year: ”‘I’ve done a lot of traveling, I’ve done a lot of speaking, I’ve met with a lot of staff and athletes here, and I’ve had time for people that I never had time for. I’ve had a lot of wonderful discussions. Most of all I’ve had a lot more time for former players. But most of all, I miss the media.’ At that point, Carr broke into laughter.” [Source]
Two local experts give two very different takes on the auto industry crisis. Quoted in Bloomberg News, Dennis Virag of the Ann Arbor-based Automotive Consulting Group says that a GM or Chrysler bankruptcy “would be the start of a cascade of failures. The economy will be in chaos within weeks.” Talking to the Washington Times, Gerald Meyers, former CEO of American Motors Corp. and now a UM business professor and crisis management consultant, believes the crisis has been overblown, and that politicians should get out of the way. “I think the political interference has been nothing but muddying the waters and making the interested parties feel like they have power they don’t have.” [Source] [Source]
The Dolman Geiman blog shows some love to Vicki Honeyman and her Ann Street shop, Heavenly Metal: “Who else loves Ann Arbor, Michigan?! We do! And in no small part because of the terrific shop Heavenly Metal, kept stocked with an eclectic array of home items. apparel, and jewelry by the marvelous Ms. Vicki.” [Source]
A high school student writes that her disappointment at getting a deferment letter from Columbia was offset a bit by an acceptance email from UM: “Um yeah, I was pretty freaking happy. I know it’s just my safety, and I was sure that I was getting in, but still. It’s a relief to know I’m going somewhere. And even though Michigan is near the bottom of my list, I would definitely be okay with going there.” [Source]
The Suds & Soliloquies blog has a post titled “Why I Love Ann Arbor,” describing a conversation at the Fleetwood Diner around 2 a.m. [Source]
In a New Media Watch item, we erroneously identified the plaintiff in a lawsuit brought against GM in 1993 as the city of Ypsilanti, when it was in fact Ypsilanti Township that filed the suit. We note the mistake here and have corrected it in the original item.
The Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation blog has a post about a nationwide competion to design a honey bee garden for the University of California-Davis campus. The post includes photos of bees taken locally by Brad Orr and Nancy Munson. [Source]
Beep from bus driver indicates he is not happy to have me pull over my bicycle and cart to take a phone call, thus blocking his bus stop. A fair point.
The [munky bizness] blog posts a photo of Arcadian Antiques and a write-up of Nickels Arcade: “The stone arches with carvings and a serifed title proclaims it subtly with its grey tones but also with age. It looks forth with the dominance of being in the center of it all on campus. People who’ve been through Nickels probably come back to reminisce of old times. I would want to do that one day. It would be like travelling back in time.” [Source]
We are extremely grateful to the people who advertise with The Chronicle – they are the reason we’re able to do what we do. We hope our readers take note of them, too, especially if you’re a subscriber to our RSS feeds and don’t get to see their ads on our site. You can find our complete list of advertisers here.
Some of them – the Washtenaw Drain Commission, for example, or the Ann Arbor Public Schools – aren’t in the business of selling gifts in the traditional sense. But many are, and we’d encourage you to consider spending some of your holiday dollars in their shops. To that end, here’s a quick roundup of some of the things you’ll find at these local businesses. [Full Story]
Molly Notarianni, manager of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, was one of about 40 people at Wednesday's Slow Food Huron Valley annual dinner, held at Hathaway's Hideaway.
At Hathaway’s Hideaway on Wednesday night it was all about the food, as members of Slow Food Huron Valley gathered for their annual dinner with a potluck feast made mostly from … yes, locally grown food.
Potato chowder, cabbage salad, wild rice with Michigan cherries and walnuts, pumpkin pie, foraged greengage plum jam bars, wine from nearby Lone Oak Vineyard Estate – plates were full and so was a long dining table decorated with holiday garlands.
It was a night to talk about the year’s accomplishments – and there were many.
David Cole of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research is interviewed for an article by McClatchy Newspapers about the failed auto industry bailout. Says Cole: “I’ve talked to several Toyota executives and they are very concerned. The supply base is so tightly woven that you can’t separate them at all. Failure would have a devastating impact on all regions but particularly the Midwest and South. Because of the tightly knit web of suppliers, a failure of a GM or Ford would take the supply base down for a considerable time and create an economic tsunami.” [Source]
The Spawn of MZone posts an MSNBC interview with Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman’s. The Your Business segment interviews them and several of their managing partners about how their business got started and grew. [Source]
Lawnix.com posts the full text of the Ypsilanti v. General Motors case brief from a 1993 lawsuit that the city township brought against GM when the automaker decided to close its Willow Run Assembly Plant. The brief is from an appeals court ruling overturning a decision in favor of Ypsilanti Township that was made by the Washtenaw Circuit Court. [Source]
UM’s student government group, the Michigan Student Assembly, has voted to support a boycott of Studio 4 that was originally started by the United Asian American Organizations, according to the Michigan Daily. The boycott stems from a dispute that the Chinese Students Association and Filipino American Students Association had with management of Studio 4, a nightclub located at 314 S. Fourth Ave. [Source]
Jay Harris reports on an upcoming lunch for software developers: “The first Ann Arbor Nerd Lunch will be held next week, noon on Thursday, December 18th, at the Mahek Indian Cuisine restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. The plan is to change the meeting place every month to accommodate different taste buds, but to keep the meeting time consistently on the third Thursday.” [Source]
The blogger on “UMlud’s place” posts some photos of a nighttime walk along a stretch of railroad in downtown Ann Arbor. [Source]
Thomas Zurbuchen, director of the UM College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, writes about the 1,000 Pitches contest, and posts the remarks he made at Wednesday night’s event where the winners were announced: “My optimism is coming from what you all have shown in this competition – your thousand-plus ideas, and your willingness to pursue them! That’s what Michigan needs, that what the world needs. Because you are today’s entrepreneurs and tomorrow’s leaders!” [Source]
