Archive for February, 2009

Collection bin at Eberwhite Elementary's Sock Hop on Friday.

When Jane Ferris led her class of first-graders through their math lesson on Monday, they counted underwear and socks – not their own, but a batch donated at a sock hop held Friday at their school, Eberwhite Elementary.

Once tallied, the items will be added to donations from around the county, part of the Education Project for Homeless Youth‘s Sock Drop Drive to provide basic clothing for kids whose families can’t afford it on their own.

Peri Stone-Palmquist, coordinator for the Education Project, said this is the first time they’ve done this type of clothing drive, and that the economy is a factor: A lot more people are asking for basic clothing, while local thrift shops don’t have as much, because of the higher demand. And, she added, “who wants to get underwear at a thrift shop?” [Full Story]

Writing on the Lima Beads’ Fresh Daily blog, Matt describes why he loves riding the bus in Ann Arbor: “Riding the bus is one of the most rewarding things I do on a daily basis. On the way to work, I get to see U of M’s North Campus, Lower Town, the Huron River, the Amtrak station, the Gandy Dancer, Kerrytown, the Farmer’s Market, city hall and finally the Ann Arbor News. Not to mention all of the environmental benefits to using public transit.” [Source]

Audio files are available of the Feb. 7 Lucy Ann Lance Show on WLBY 1290-AM. Among her guests: Matt Naud, Ann Arbor’s environmental coordinator, Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, and Rich Griffiths, coach of the Pioneer High School crew team – all discussing the future of the Huron River and Argo Dam; and Bob Guenzel, Washtenaw County administrator, talking about the county’s budget crisis. [Source]

The Freep reports that Rep. John Dingell expects to hold a discussion on health care reform at UM’s Ann Arbor campus on Feb. 16 – details are pending. Says Dingell: “I don’t think my constituents want to see me dress up and head to parties. I think they want to talk about how we will solve our healthcare crisis, fix the Food and Drug Administration, and get our economy back on track.” [Source]

On the Wild Fox Zen blog, Dosho Port writes about his recent weekend at the Ann Arbor Buddhist Temple: “I had a lovely time hanging out with Haju (a delightfully tender and pithy iron woman of the dharma) and joining in with the practice of the seminary students. The role of the teacher at the Ann Arbor center combines the Soto roles of head monk and work leader and teacher. In other words, Haju’s energy is clearly the driving force behind all that happens. At the same time, Haju is skilled at delegating - for example, asking the students what needed to be done on Sunday morning rather than assigning jobs.” [Source]

In a writeup of a recent DDA board meeting, we mis-spelled the name of a city of Ann Arbor park planner, who has recently taken a job with the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Department. His name is Jeff Dehring. We note the mistake here and have corrected the spelling in the original story.

Even though Congress hasn’t figured out the details of its proposed federal stimulus package, it’s hard to attend a local government meeting these days without some reference to it – the topic was discussed last week at both the Ann Arbor city council and Washtenaw County commission meetings. But with some economic recovery deal expected this week, local officials already have wish lists in hand. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Feb. 4, 2009): Most of Wednesday night’s board meeting was devoted to a discussion of the county’s budget crisis, but commissioners also heard an update from Josie Parker of the Ann Arbor District Library about the transition of the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and tabled voting on a facilities contract in order to have a later discussion about vendor preferences. They also met some of the administration’s interns. [Full Story]

Occasionally, we like to remind readers of the reason The Ann Arbor Chronicle is able to keep publishing: Advertisers have invested their dollars in ads that appear in the sidebars of the site. So every once in a while we’ll highlight those advertisers here in the center column. [Full Story]

Greg Dooley of MVictors.com, posting as a guest on MGoBlog, writes in detail about the background of some Michigan football memorabilia that was recently for sale on eBay – part of his “eBay Watch” series. The writeup of items from a 1979 event celebrating 100 years of Michigan football includes a photo of the 1879 team from UM’s Bentley Library archives, an audio clip of Bob Ufer, and a copy of a ticket to the 1979 event, which got printed with a grimace-inducing error: “I don’t know who chaired the Ticket Committee but calling the venue Chrysler Arena at the event celebrating the history of the football program is a major foul. It’d be one thing if this were a ducat … [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports that Michigan State University has decided not to let the Bank of America solicit its undergraduates for credit cards, leaving the University of Michigan as “the only university in the state to share student information with Bank of America and permit direct marketing to undergraduates.” [Source]

Mark Maynard provides some updates on urban farming issues in Ypsilanti: “According to our friend Brackache, it looks as though local farming rights activist Peter Thomason has lost his court case with the City. Now it looks as though it’s up to City Council, who will be discussing the legalization of urban chickens, goats and bees during their February 17 meeting.” [Source]

A Jan. 27 article about the Jan. 26 Ann Arbor District Library board meeting stated that the library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but that the goal, according to board member Prue Rosenthal, is to work within a budget of 1.55 mills. The library does levy the entire 1.92 mills – we clarify that point here, and have made the clarification in the original article as well.

On the Wordarrangement blog, Chloé Yelena Miller writes about her trip to a bridal show at V2V in Ann Arbor: ”When we walked in, the woman gathering the tickets said that we had to try the meatballs right away. I wasn’t sure what she meant until we walked up the stairs and saw the vendors sharing samples of their foods. Who knew we should have come on an empty stomach? We wandered around the tables of vendors. After tastes of almond cake, raspberry chocolate truffles, meatballs, apple cider and more, we felt like we were at an exclusive party dedicated to crafting original and sincere weddings.” [Source]

The Freep reports about the new housing market for university students in Ann Arbor, including 411 Lofts, Zaragon Place and The Courtyards. Says Eric Bronstein, one of the developers of the 411 Lofts project: “Students don’t want to have to get together and combine their parents’ old furniture. The whole concept involves the most convenience and the least hassle. They don’t even need to call a utility.” [Source]

Tom Walsh, a business columnist for the Freep, reports that former UM president Jim Duderstadt led a Brookings Institution study and on Monday will present the think tank’s proposal for a major boost in federal energy research. Says Duderstadt: “There’s a strong case to be made that we are way underinvested in energy research.” [Source]

As part of a feature on Rep. John Dingell and his record-setting tenure in Congress, the Freep runs an article interviewing former challenger Lynn Rivers of Ann Arbor. She faced Dingell and was defeated in a contentious 2002 race. Says Rivers: “I have a lot of respect for John Dingell. I didn’t like all the things his campaign did. But I don’t bear him any ill will. He’s a fantastic legislator.” [Source]

Christopher Taylor's hand holding an orange mug.

Christopher Taylor, one of two Ann Arbor city council representatives for Ward 3, rode the totter a couple of weeks ago. His conversation is ready to read.

I would highlight the discussion of city-university relations as a topic of broader significance that was touched on while teetering. For details, read Taylor’s Talk.

Other topics on the totter included the orange mug he drank from on the occasion, the CTN mugs from his recent appearance on CTN’s Conversations, getting stuff done at the individual constituent level, snow removal in Ann Arbor, and how Taylor came to live in Ann Arbor. [Full Story]