Archive for January, 2009

On VoipTechChat.com Fred Posner has summarized how he spent part of yesterday morning: devising a way to get real-time parking information for Ann Arbor over the phone. Try it yourself: dial (212) 937-7844 and then press 6. Do it now. (This is a prototype).  [Source]

The Freep looks at the implications of a provision in the federal loan to automakers, which would require GM and Chrysler to return the funds if the UAW went on strike. The article quotes John Pottow, a UM law professor, who likened the provision to ones found in debtor-in-possession financing used in bankruptcy. ”They’re not preventing the union from striking. The union can … strike if it wants to. They’re simply letting GM, the company, borrow money and saying as a creditor, ‘Your loan is in default if your employees strike.’ ” [Source]

The Ypsilanti Citizen reports that the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti, a Frontier Baseball League team playing this coming season at EMU’s Oestrike Stadium, has announced its 2009 schedule. Exhibition games begin on May 11 and the season opener is on May 29. [Source]

In our report of the Jan. 7, 2009 Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting, we incorrectly stated that Jeff Irwin was the only commissioner to vote against a change in the board’s rules and regulations that shortened the amount of time and limited the topics for public commentary at the Ways & Means Committee meeting. Rolland Sizemore Jr. also cast a no vote. We note the error here, and have changed it in the original article.

Rolling Stone posts two short videos of guitarist Ron Asheton, a founding member of the Stooges, talking about his musical influences: “In June 2004, photographer Peter Norrman shot Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton at the Weber Family Restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was the guitarist’s favorite restaurant, which was just minutes from the home he grew up in – and the very same house where he died earlier this week.” [Source]

A New York Times article reports on how the flu virus this year has become resistant to Tamiflu, the leading antiviral drug. The article quotes Dr. Arnold S. Monto, a flu expert at UM’s School of Public Health. “The bottom line is that we should have more antiviral drugs. And we should be looking into multidrug combinations.” [Source]

The gentle brown S-curve in the diagram denotes a "social street" which is envisioned by the Old West Design Group to connect Washington and Liberty streets as part of a re-development plan for 415 W. Washington. Margaret Wong spoke at council against the idea of a motorized vehicular connection between Washington and Liberty. (Image links to larger resolution file.)

City Council Meeting (Jan. 5, 2009, Part II) This article reports the portion of council’s Monday evening meeting that did not relate to the City Place PUD, which is covered in Part I.

This piece is organized thematically, not chronologically.

• Laptop computers – what do they cost the city?
• Liquor – why do they get a liquor license, when we’ve heard so much negative news about them?
• Easement for public utilities – what, if anything, do the public schools have against electricity?
• Public Art Commission – an unexpected wrinkle in a garden-variety appointment.
• City Income Tax – a previous study to be updated.
• Streets and Snow – includes a ride-along in a snow plow reported by councilmember Marcia Higgins; also Stadium & Pauline and Huron Parkway & Nixon have construction planned starting in the second half of April 2009, to be completed by end of August 2009.
• Waste – commercial recycling and wastewater treatment (can you say “bio-solids”?)
• Public Commentary – against a street, for social justice, and for unbiased reporting on the bombing of Gaza.

[Full Story]

Rolland Sizemore, right, newly elected chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, confers with Curt Hedger, the county's corporate counsel, at Wednesday night's board meeting.

County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 7, 2009) In an uncharacteristically short session, members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners were sworn in. They then elected new leaders, adjusted their rules to cut the amount of time given to public comment – and adjourned in less than an hour.

Rolland Sizemore Jr., whose district primarily covers Ypsilanti Township, was elected to chair the commission, replacing Jeff Irwin, who represents District 11 in Ann Arbor. Both are Democrats. Any drama that occurred over the change in leadership happened behind the scenes – no dissenting votes were cast in the election of any officers on Wednesday night. [Full Story]

Coral and Opal, “a blog for the Buckeye State disability community,” writes about Michigan Stadium and the university’s resistance to increasing the number of seats for disabled fans. They note that with increased seating available this past season, more people in wheelchairs started coming to games: “This is a classic example of why you can’t let ‘demand’ dictate accessibility. If you build them they will come. If you don’t, they never will. Thanks to the ADA, you will build them. Of course, if Michigan goes 3-9 again next year, I don’t understand why anyone in a wheelchair (or anyone else) would want to go at all – other than to see the Buckeyes roll them on November 21.” [Source]

In a piece about the upcoming auction of a ’54 Dodge Hemi Firearrow Coupe, the only concept car known to be a land speed record holder, Hotrod Magazine quotes the woman who drove the car for that record, Betty Skelton: “I remember in 1954, one of the executives from the Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation called me and asked if I would come to their new proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan to take their new 1954 Dodge concept car around the track to see if I could break some records. When they picked me up at the airport they brought me immediately to the proving grounds in my high heels and party dress and asked me to take the car … [Full Story]

On her blog the deletions, Pam Brown writes that she’s reading “Loiterature” by Ross Chambers, UM’s Marvin Felheim Distinguished University Professor of French and Comparative Literature. She quotes extensively from the book, including this excerpt: “These verses might have been written (or composed, or generated) only a few yards from where I sit, at the intersection of N. University and S. State in Ann Arbor, the suture point (in my personal myth of the city) where the campus meets the town. No campus dogs in evidence (expensive animals on leashes don’t qualify). Times change. When Frank O’Hara came to Ann Arbor in 1950 he was amused by the Midwestern candor of the cafeteria signs that read, bluntly, FOOD; today they’re … [Full Story]

Impose Magazine posts a review (and lots of photos) of last month’s Mittenfest in Ypsilanti: “Lightning Love was the first band to feel the warmth of an increasingly dense crowd. Lightning Love sprinkles its bashful whimsical words over über-catchy indie pop sounds, delivering an entire set’s worth of potential iPod commercial jingles. Personally, I never feel the social ineptitude that most indie-pop girls tend to share, but I will keep this criticism to myself since everyone is enjoying the choruses about missing friends, doing handstands and opening umbrellas indoors.” [Source]

The Ann Arbor Area Community foundation has updated its website to include information on several different scholarships with approaching deadlines.  Among them is the Morse B. Barker Memorial Scholarship, which provides approximately 50 awards of $1000-$1500 each per year to students attending Washtenaw Community College or Cleary University. Deadline for the Barker Scholarship is April 17. [Source]

Kevin McDonald, from the city attorney's office, explains how the protest petition was vetted, which forced the requirement of an 8-vote majority on the City Place PUD.

City Council Meeting (Jan. 5, 2009, Part I) At a meeting where dozens of citizens have gathered to take a turn speaking their piece at a public hearing, it is somewhat odd to hear an elected public official declare: “The problem is the speaker.”

In context, though, that made perfect sense Monday night, because the speaker in question was the one spewing static in the council chamber’s sound system, used by CTN to record the proceedings.

As previously reported in The Chronicle, Monday’s council meeting resulted in a 0-10 vote for the City Place planned unit development (PUD) application. The public hearing on the matter, plus deliberations on a possible postponement, followed by discussion of the substantive issues, took up the majority of the meeting, which lasted until around 11:30 p.m [Full Story]

Among the many tributes to musician Ron Asheton, a founding member of the Stooges who was found dead in his Ann Arbor home this week, is a fan’s post on the Music Networking Blog: “One cool thing we had in this no horse town was Ron Asheton! And its really strange because there is a handful of us here that know who the man was and always took pride that Ron and the Stooges were from Ann Arbor (NOT Detroit!). And I could tell people I lived across the highway from Ron Asheton (I-94), just a Stroh’s bottle throw away.” [Source]

In a report on the possibility of Sanjay Gupta being named U.S. surgeon general, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Karin Muraszko, chair of UM’s Department of Neurosurgery, who helped train him when he attended UM Medical School and who remains a friend: “He’s an extraordinarily honest person. He very much wants to provide information to people in a way which is constructive and helpful. ..You want someone who can be vibrant in this role.” [Source]

The Detroit News, in article about changing your spending habits to save money, interviews Rich Cox, owner of Orion Automotive Service in Ann Arbor. Cox discusses the importance of regular auto maintenance, like getting your oil changed: ”It’s one of the most important things you can do for your car. And have it done by somebody qualified. We always say a car needs to get its feet off the ground every six months. When a mechanic’s got it up on the hoist, he can check around for other issues.” [Source]

The Detroit News reports that there were more than 30 crashes in Washtenaw County by 10 p.m. Tuesday night, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department. A portion of eastbound I-94 was closed. Freezing rain caused accidents throughout the metro Detroit region, DetNews reports. [Source]