Archive for June, 2009

In the background before the council meeting started, Jayne Miller (city of Ann Arbor community services director), Scott Munzel (attorney for the developer of City Place), and Stephen Postema, city attorney.

Ann Arbor City Council Meeting (June 1, 2009): In a move that contradicted expectations based on the previous evening’s council caucus, at which Mayor John Hieftje had indicated that the council would be voting on the City Place site plan, the item was postponed.

The remaining content of the meeting could be roughly divided into two major themes: (i) transportation – from a new transportation safety campaign, to walkable sidewalks, to street closings, to parking meters, and (ii) environment – from an update on the dioxane plume, to imminent demolition of the former Michigan Inn, to another postponement on the proposed plastic bag ordinance.

Receiving no discussion from councilmembers were two items added to the agenda on the same day as the meeting, involving a redirection of some $17 million from VEBA pre-funding into the retirement pension system.

Introductions to council included numerous awards made by the historic district commission as well as the public art commission. Chronicle coverage of the public art commission’s Golden Paintbrush awards will come in a separate article. [Full Story]

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the closing of GM’s Willow Run Powertrain in Ypsilanti Township, interviewing UAW workers and township officials. The article quotes township clerk Karen Lovejoy Roe, who says officials are trying to find out who made the decision: “We think maybe some mistake was made. Our folks did everything right and they didn’t get rewarded. They got slam-dunked.” [Source]

Near the finish of the Dexter-Ann Arbor run, this green-sock clad foot prompted the cheer from a spectator, “Go green socks!” 

If it’s possible to compare the operation of an online newspaper to running, then it’s more like a marathon than a sprint. Today, The Ann Arbor Chronicle passes the nine-month mile marker, and my thoughts are similar to those I had some years ago as a first-time marathoner … at about mile 20 of 26.

I completed the final six miles in a survival shuffle. Spectators along the way at such events provide encouragement to runners like me – mostly they clap or they yell things like, “Looking good!” and “You can do it!”

If you’re wearing green socks, a green-sock enthusiast might yell, “Go green socks!!” even if they don’t know you. I’m not making this up – that’s what the woman standing next to me yelled to a kid wearing green socks at Sunday’s Dexter-Ann Arbor run. To be clear, the kid was bouncing along, not doing a survival shuffle.

Fewer spectators dish out the tough love: “C’mon pick it up, get your butt in gear, this is not a walk in the park, it’s a marathon!”

And the feedback from Chronicle readers has spanned that same range – from unabashed enthusiasm, to the expectation that we “pick it up” and expand the breadth and depth of our coverage to provide a replacement to The Ann Arbor News. [The News is shutting down in a couple of months, in case you're new around these parts.] Replace The Ann Arbor News, huh? Okay, but I have a stitch in my side,  and a blister on my toe, so the surge in momentum might not blow you away. [Full Story]

The Wall Street Journal reports that lawmakers are lobbying General Motors’ management regarding the location of plant closings, among other things, now that the government owns a large share of the automaker. The article quotes Gerald Myers, a UM business professor and former chairman of American Motors Corp.: ”What bothers me about what’s happening at GM is the obvious democratization of the company’s management. You can already see GM making decisions in response to outside pressure groups.” [Source]

Writing on his There Is No Gap blog, Karl Pohrt reports on a symposium titled “Bookishness: The New Fate of Reading in the Digital Age,” held last month at UM: “Tom Fitzgerald, who writes on social policy, talks about the closing of our local newspaper and asks Liu [one of the symposium's speakers] if he thinks the loss of newspapers is a problem in a democratic society that depends on an informed electorate. Liu says he’s heard that argument before and doesn’t think it’s true. ‘When I go into Starbucks I see people all around me reading the news on their laptops,’ he says. I ask him about people who don’t have laptops or access to Starbucks. He tells me he doesn’t … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday caucus (May 31, 2009): At its caucus held last night, the topic of the City Place site plan dominated discussion, with indications that the “by right” proposal will be approved on Monday.

Site plans available for inspection at city hall in Ann Arbor.

However, Scott Munzel, the attorney for Alex de Parry’s 24-unit proposal for Fifth Avenue, expressed disappointment that the project had become a “battle to the death.” He was alluding in part to a letter that council had received asking it to return the project to planning commission to be re-heard and re-voted on by that body, because of a technical violation of rules concerning the public accessibility of drawings in advance of public hearings.

The Chronicle used the occasion of Sunday caucus to pose questions to councilmembers on a range of other topics besides City Place, including the availability of the analyses regarding alternatives to the police early-retirement incentives, the openness of the budget and labor committee’s meetings, the possible re-appointment of Rene Greff to the board of the Downtown Development Authority, and a recent arrest of a citizen for carrying a handgun openly. [Full Story]

Maria LoCicero and Leandra Blander, students at Summers-Knoll School, read from the book "Moon Wolf," which they helped illustrate. They helped with a book reading on Sunday at the Crazy Wisdom Tearoom.

The Chronicle has no idea how often howling echoes through Crazy Wisdom Bookstore & Tearoom, but customers there definitely heard wolf-like sounds on Sunday afternoon. The occasion was  a reading of “Moon Wolf,” a children’s book illustrated by students at Summers-Knoll School and written by the head of school, Joanna Hastings.

The book is a classroom project turned fundraising venture – it’s now sold at several local stores. “Moon Wolf” tells the story of a wolf who lives in the moon and leaps to Earth when the moon is full, enjoying many adventures and raucous howling along the way. [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports that the GM powertrain plant in Ypsilanti Township will be among those to close next year as part of its effort to cut costs as it moves into bankruptcy protection. The plant is slated to close in December 2010. [Source]

A Detroit News article on GM’s expected bankruptcy filing today quotes UM economist Don Grimes, who comments on how many people underestimate the automaker’s economic impact: “Partly because people don’t see the big plants in their area. But a lot of these little parts plants employ 100 to 200 people and are selling to the auto industry. People don’t recognize the tourism dollars spent by people who work in the auto industry spills over to them.” [Source]