Candy-throwing politicians, a bike choir, baton twirlers, horseback riders, more politicians, clowns, a fife & drum corps and others marched the route as entries in this year’s Ann Arbor Fourth of July parade, which drew thousands of spectators to line the streets of downtown Saturday morning. The Chronicle enjoyed the spectacle and snapped a few photographs.
A crowd at the northeast corner of Main and Liberty awaits the next parade entry.
Air sirens sounding in Pittsfield Township (Ann Arbor-Saline and Lohr).
Red helium-filled balloons wafting up into the stratosphere – hundreds more below, held by kids with firmer grips at the Ann Arbor Fourth of July parade. Based on the logo, looks like they were passed out by KeyBank.
Kerrytown Farmers Market. Cherries everywhere!
Joel Goldberg
It’s a summer weekend. The household to-do list is out of the way, or else you’ve set it to “vibrate only” for another week.
So what now? That’s easy – it’s time for a winery road trip.
Luckily for us, four wineries have taken up residence within an hour’s drive south and west of Ann Arbor; a fifth opens its tasting room later this summer. You can plot a circle route to visit all of them in a single day, with time left over for lunch in Jackson or Tecumseh, or a picnic under Cherry Creek Winery’s new pergola. Alternatively, target one or two wineries for an easy afternoon jaunt. [Full Story]
Bus shelters and benches have been removed from the pullout inside the mall property and installed along Washtenaw. Legally reaching the stops on the south side of the road requires crossing 3 separate crosswalks and a total of ten lanes of traffic (3 at the Arborland exit drive, 4 at Washtenaw, and 3 at Pittsfield). The author timed this traverse at four minutes, not including the additional 1-2 minutes necessary for reaching the site of the former stops.
Downtown Development Authority board meeting (July 1, 2009): The Ann Arbor DDA wound up its current fiscal year with a frank and transparent disagreement about its future governance as a body, both in terms of its officers and its appointments. The disagreement was also reflected in connection with the specific substantive issue of raising parking fees at the 415 W. Washington lot.
An expected controversy over variable parking fees elsewhere was avoided when a scheduled resolution to introduce new variable-rate on-street parking fees – which would have increased parking rates and generated around $250,000 in extra revenue – was postponed until September, the board’s next scheduled meeting.
September is also when the question of who will be the board’s treasurer will be decided, with the board unable to choose between Sandi Smith and Roger Hewitt for that position during board elections. The board did arrive at selections for its new chair (John Splitt), vice-chair (Joan Lowenstein) and secretary (Keith Orr).
In other business, the board granted nearly $400,000 to the getDowntown program for the go!pass, extended a $50,000 arts grant re-directing the money towards performing arts organizations, authorized $25,000 for additional recycling containers to be placed downtown, approved $16,000 in grants to merchant associations to encourage attractive window displays, and authorized sponsorship for travel to the International Downtown Association Conference.
In the course of the meeting, city councilmember Leigh Greden’s attendance and vote in place of Mayor John Hieftje, who is a member of the DDA board, generated discussion of interest to specialists in civics. [Full Story]
About six people carrying parade-type items: several colorful, handmade peace signs on wooden sticks and an American flag, with a peace symbol in place of stars. Maybe from Michigan Peaceworks, which has an office in that area?
Permit saying facade will be kept and building torn down – CVS Pharmacy moving in?
Discussion of the role of the Downtown Development Authority morphed into venting about panhandlers at Thursday morning’s meeting of the Main Street Area Association. Saying that customers are complaining, several merchants are concerned about panhandlers becoming more aggressive since the city pulled its beat cops from the street earlier this week.
The topic came up after a presentation by DDA executive director Susan Pollay, who was filling in for Rene Greff, a DDA board member and co-owner of Arbor Brewing Company and Corner Brewery. Greff had been scheduled to give the same talk she gave at a DDA retreat in May, outlining the organization’s history, how it works and what it has accomplished.
So how did panhandling usurp parking as the most-discussed topic related to the DDA? Why aren’t beat cops patrolling downtown? What do merchants think about “Arthur,” one of the regulars who asks passers-by for change along Main Street? It all comes down to money. [Full Story]
The Freep reports that Ann Arbor-based M Den lost the contract it’s held for 17 years as the official store of UM sports. A 10-year deal was inked with Dallas-based eSports Partners. The article quotes M Den co-owner Doug Horning: “It didn’t come as a surprise because we were in a bidding situation going on for six months or so. We knew there was a possibility. We didn’t expect a national company to get involved, so that probably came as a surprise. We more than doubled our previous bid.” [Source]
The Lansing State Journal publishes an op/ed piece by Kara Rumsey, who works for the advocacy group PIRGIM in Ann Arbor. Rumsey argues that there should be a public option for health care, in addition to private insurers. She writes: “The reality is that the public option will be well positioned to implement the type of smart cost controls that private insurers should have adopted long ago. It could create incentives for primary care and prevention; pay doctors for outcomes, not just the number of tests run and procedures performed; and create incentives for utilizing research on which treatments work best, silencing the hyperbolic sales pitches of drug company salesmen.” [Source]
What appears to be fertilizer has been spread over the vast field of dirt that is the Broadway Village site.
Want to know who to thank for getting July declared as Michigan Craft Beer Month? That would be state Rep. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, the primary sponsor of House Resolution 117. The resolution states, in part: “Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body designate July 2009 as Michigan Craft Beer Month as a celebration of the contributions that Michigan craft brewers have made to the state’s communities, economy, and history; and be it further Resolved, That we commend Michigan craft brewers for providing jobs, improving the balance of trade, supporting Michigan agriculture, and educating residents about the history and culture of beer while promoting the responsible consumption of beer as a beverage of moderation.” [... [Full Story]
The author of the Plotbox blog writes about “Skate Witches,” a film he made in the mid-1980s in Ann Arbor: “The film was inspired by my friend Dana. She had skated a bit and wanted to bring her board to Ann Arbor as a way to get around town. But since she was a girl, she figured she’d get hassled by the boy skateboarders. Jokingly, I suggested she start a female skateboard gang as a way to address that problem. Within minutes our friend Karen, who claimed to be a good skater, joined up, as did our friend Jenny, who openly admitted to never having skated. A gang was formed, a movie script was plotted, and the back of a … [Full Story]
Green Grand Voyager with the license plate “YODAVAN”
Green bell peppers litter the gutter on the hill next to the Fleetwood Diner. [photo]
“Coming Soon” posters in the former Kaplan and Instant Furniture Rental buildings depict new restaurants and intensive computer-generated foot traffic.
A few blocks down the street, Karl Pohrt welcomes someone, with a smile, into the old Shaman Drum, now closed.
Noon: Sonic Lunch in full swing at Liberty Plaza – Red Arrow Highway on stage, lots of folks milling around, some eating lunch.
Flyer for the July 25 Pie Lovers Unite! in Ypsilanti.
I’ve been thinking about pies.
Literally, in one case. A couple of weeks ago I stopped by the local food tent at Top of the Park and talked to Kim Bayer, one of the organizers of Pie Lovers Unite! – “an old-fashioned hootenanny glorifying Great Michigan Pie,” according to their promotional materials.
The price of admission for this July 25 event is a pie. They’ll be having a “pie-ku” contest, too, which inspired me to write this:
Flakey double crust/hides media fruit or meat/splats soft in your face [Full Story]
In an article about a proposed Main Street business improvement zone (BIZ), we incorrectly listed the corporate affiliation of Rob Spears, a member of the BIZ initiative’s transitional board. He is with Cabrio Properties. Additionally, Keith Orr is a tentative board member, but is not currently on the board. We also clarified that a portion of Liberty Street on either side of Main is included in the proposed BIZ district. We note the errors here, and have corrected the original article.
Recent tree trimming activity in Ann Arbor’s Virginia Park in connection with the filming of the movie “Flipped” had drawn scrutiny from neighbors. But more significantly, tree removal and pruning in the general neighborhood had raised concerns among residents about the city’s tree management policy. Why were apparently healthy trees being removed?
On Monday evening, city staff met with 80-100 residents in the auditorium of Slauson Middle School. Kerry Gray, coordinator for urban forestry and natural resources planning, was on hand to clarify that an initiative to develop an urban forest management plan – Gray’s main goal in the coming year – had been accelerated. Instead of beginning the public process in the fall, Monday’s meeting was effectively the kickoff to a public engagement process on developing a tree management plan for the city. [Full Story]
Former participants in the Ann Arbor Art Center's Artmakers Teens summer outreach program mug for the camera at an awards ceremony in the Ann Arbor City Council chambers on June 1. Ducking down by the table are Jan Onder, Ann Arbor Public Art Commission vice chair, left, and AAPAC chair Margaret Parker. The teens had just been presented with a 2009 Golden Paintbrush Award for a mural the Artmakers created last summer.
In the hallway outside the city council meeting room last month, a group of teenagers leaned into each other and grinned as multiple cameras flashed. People passing by paused to say “Congratulations!” The teens – former participants in the Ann Arbor Art Center’s Artmakers Teens summer outreach program – had just received a 2009 Golden Paintbrush Award from the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission for a mural they created last summer.
Standing and smiling with them was Sarah Winter, an Ann Arbor Public Schools art teacher and project coordinator for the teens who created the mural. Winter said she was happy about the award, and called working with the Artmakers a “truly amazing experience.”
However, it was also bittersweet, she said.
“There’s no funding for the program this summer,” Winter explained. “It was great for the teenagers in a lot of ways this past summer, and now it’s over. I’m very sad it’s not happening this year.” [Full Story]
7:40 p.m. Call it the Day of the Deer. There’s one standing in a driveway, and it’s not clear whether it or the bicyclist is more surprised at the encounter.
USA Today reports on the 10th International Submarine Races in Bethesda, Maryland, in which UM competed. The article quotes Stephen Curtis, a UM senior studying mechanical engineering: “The underwater environment poses just a completely unique set of design challenges, so it stretches you as a designer and an engineer to build something that makes you think of things in a whole different perspective.” [Source]
Artisan Bistro is dark, and there’s a “for lease” sign in the window.
3:11 p.m. A spirited game of foursquare is underway on the Diag.
Moving boxes piling up outside Shaman Drum.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that an FDA panel is recommending more precautions for the drug acetaminophen, including lowering the recommended dosage levels. The article quotes UM associate professor Cesar Alaniz, who co-authored a study looking at acetaminophen overdoses. He said the panel’s recommendations make sense: ”You don’t really ever know for sure whether you need to take higher doses, so if you can relieve a headache with one tablet, that’s better than two.” [Source]
Writing in the Chicago Reader, Miles Raymer reflects on the death of Michael Jackson, and says the first person he thought of was Brian Woolridge, the Ann Arbor man who dances to Michael Jackson tunes in the alley next to Michigan Theater: “You can watch him for hours, literally: he’s there all day every Sunday. I don’t know what to call that kind of devotion except religious. Woolridge’s obvious spiritual dedication and the physically demanding form his worship takes are like something out of a medieval monastery. He probably has more in common with holy men on the other side of the globe than with the people who stop on the sidewalk to watch him for a minute.” [Source]
