Archive for August, 2009

The New York Times’ “Room for Debate” feature focuses on teacher education, specifically on the value of credentials from education schools. One of the commentators weighing in on this topic is Jeffrey Mirel, a UM professor of education and history: “For a long time ed schools did not focus specifically on how to teach challenging content to all students. But that is changing. Leading ed schools (e.g., Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford) have built their teacher education programs around the marriage of subject matter and methods. This is one of the most promising developments in American education today.” [Source]

Rob Cleveland

One thing is certain in the automobile business. When you start peeling back the onion on the performance claims and quality ratings made by and for all of the automobile manufacturers, you better have a bottle of ibuprofen at the ready. General Motors’ recent announcement that the Chevrolet Volt will get 230 miles per gallon (mpg) certainly is no exception.

First, some disclosure for your reference. I have been a big fan of GM’s efforts to create its hybrid electric vehicle and felt for some time that the car could be a positive step forward for transportation in general. I’ve been a strong supporter of GM’s many efforts in alternative transportation, from hydrogen to ethanol, as well. There are plenty of detractors around these programs – and some of the criticism is warranted. But for a company so maligned by the public as being out of date, I’ve always felt GM got a bad rap seeing how they are doing at least as much as any other car company to find solutions that take petroleum out of the transportation equation.

With that said, I found myself scratching my head trying to absorb this latest news out from GM. In principle at least, it seemed as if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had just given the Volt a 230 mpg fuel economy rating, more than 10 times the average fuel economy of other cars on the road. Fantastic or fantastical? [Full Story]

The city of Ann Arbor's CFO, Tom Crawford, prepares his laptop to make projections – which were blue, in both senses. (Photo by the writer.)

Ann Arbor City Council work session (Aug. 13, 2009): Towards the end of the city council’s Thursday evening work session on a possible city income tax, city administrator Roger Fraser asked the council for some direction. Here’s what he wanted to know: Should city staff place an item on the council’s Aug. 17 agenda that would allow the council to put the tax before the voters in November?

In response to Fraser, Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) said she wanted more dialogue on the exact percentage of the tax to be levied, even if the ballot language specified “up to 1%.” Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) followed by saying it was clear that his colleague, Sandi Smith (Ward 1) had requested additional case-study scenarios for individuals and that he himself had wanted some cross-checking of commuter numbers with the city’s transportation staff. “We don’t do the community any favors by taking the conversation to the next level without more information,” Hohnke said. Sabra Briere (Ward 1) then advised that she thought an emotional reaction could be addressed, if people first became more knowledgeable – she herself had had problems correctly interpreting the charts in the city income tax study.

Finally, Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) declared, “Let’s cut to the chase. I think there’s a consensus we should not have it before us on Monday.” And no one disagreed with him.

Barring surprise, then, the Aug. 17 council meeting will end without the council authorizing the placement of a city income tax on the November ballot. That will be the last opportunity council has to make such a decision. It’s therefore almost certain that the ballot in November will not include a question on a city income tax for Ann Arbor. Based on council discussion during the work session, a city income tax will, however, eventually be given serious consideration as a May 2010 ballot issue.

In light of the prospect of a May 2010 ballot question, it’s worth noting the kinds of issues councilmembers raised with Fraser and the city’s CFO, Tom Crawford. We’ve also folded into this report an account of a recent meeting sponsored by the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce about the proposed tax. [Full Story]

Julia Friedman, a member of the Sharks team coached by her sister Rebecca, scores a run. (Photo by Louise Chang.)

We were in the field and there was a runner on second. I yelled a reminder from the dugout that we could only get an out at first base. The batter hit a soft grounder right to my shortstop, who fielded it cleanly and made a perfect toss to the third baseman.

The two girls looked quite pleased with themselves. It would have been a textbook play – that is, if anyone had been running to third base. Despite our extensive discussions in practice of what makes a force play, some of the girls still seemed completely confused. I felt that no matter how much I tried, I was doing something wrong as the coach. I felt like I was in over my head and worried that I wouldn’t be able to help the girls. I began to wonder if I had made a mistake taking on a team as head coach.

My dad had been my sister’s Ann Arbor Rec & Ed softball coach since first grade and all I had asked was if I could help out occasionally. He instead offered me the head coach position and a group of 16 nine-year-old girls. Having absolutely no coaching experience, I thought the job sounded like fun and relatively little work. I accepted eagerly.

When it came time to start preparing for my first practice, I began to realize that it might not be as easy as I had anticipated. [Full Story]

The Mid-Michigan Dining blog posts a review of the Maize and Blue Delicatessen on South University: “I grabbed a turkey sandwich on toasted wheat bread first and was shocked at how good it was. I almost felt a little guilty going back for a second sandwich, but once I noticed I wasn’t the only one, I grabbed a roast beef on some kind of multi-grain that was also toasted. The meat was good and there was a lot of it.” [Source]

Forbes magazine published an op/ed piece co-authored by Amy Cohn, a UM associate professor of industrial and operations engineering, arguing against the so-called “Passenger Bill of Rights”: “We are by no means suggesting that the current situation is acceptable. Nor should the airlines be off the hook for these problems. But we should focus on a more fundamental question: Why are these tarmac delays happening in the first place?” [Source]

A handwritten sign at the entrance to the Firefly Club apologizes for the closing. (Photo by the writer.)

The Firefly Club, a jazz and blues nightclub at 637 S. Main, was closed down by the state last night and its assets seized for unpaid sales taxes. Owner Susan Chastain told The Chronicle that her bank account and other assets have been frozen as well, because she was unable to make full payments to the state over the past two months on a debt of $120,000 – an amount in arrears for assessed sales tax dating back several years.

“We’ve always struggled,” Chastain said. It’s historically been difficult for blues and jazz clubs, she added, but the economic downturn has made it even more difficult to keep up.

Chastain opened the Firefly nine years ago at 209 S. Ashley, where the Bird of Paradise, a now defunct jazz club, had been located. Recordkeeping problems – dating back to the club’s opening – caused the state to assess the Firefly’s sales tax, plus penalites and interest, at about $160,000 several years ago. Chastain said that about three years ago her current accountant negotiated a payment plan, and she started sending the state $2,000 each month to put toward the unpaid sales tax. [Full Story]

The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog looks at a new report by UM professor and breast cancer specialist Daniel Hayes, who argues that giving MRIs to women with early-stage breast cancer too often results in their getting more aggressive surgery than necessary. Says Hayes: “I’ve spent most of my life as a medical oncologist helping women keep their breast, and I’d hate to see us going the other way in the absence of evidence.” [Source]

In an introduction to Paul Saginaw’s letter about his recent heart attack, we incorrectly stated that it occurred last week. He suffered the heart attack in July. We note the error here, and have corrected it in the original article.

The Baltimore Sun publishes a gardening column by Susan Reimer about crocuses – it’s bulb-ordering season, and these flowers can be planted in early fall. The column quotes Scott Kunst, owner of Old House Gardens heirloom bulbs of Ann Arbor: ”I love that they are so early. And they are among the iconic flowers: tulips, lilies and lilacs. Winter aconite is not the stuff of legends or poetry. Crocuses are. Every elementary school kid knows what a crocus is.” [Source]

View of construction site (Ed. note: corrected from "sight") for proposed underground parking garage looking east to west. Herb David Guitar Studios and Jerusalem Garden are located in the upper right corner of the block. (Image links to Microsoft's Bing Maps for full interactive display.)

As The Chronicle previously reported, at last week’s city council meeting, Ann Arbor CFO Tom Crawford announced that bonds for the 677-space South Fifth Avenue underground parking garage had been sold on Aug. 5.

And on Friday, Aug. 7, the Downtown Development Authority’s capital improvements committee conducted interviews with four candidate companies for the job of construction manager of the garage.

Then, by Wednesday morning of this week, references and financials for the Christman Company had checked out to the satisfaction of the DDA staff and Carl Walker – the design firm that’s been hired for the project. DDA executive director Susan Pollay is working out a time for a special meeting of the whole board to award the job to Christman.

But the day before, on Aug. 11, a lawsuit in connection with the parking garage project – which had previously been threatened by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center – was actually filed. The complaint alleges violations of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act, the Michigan Open Meetings Act, as well as nuisance and trespass violations.  Herb David Guitar Studio and Jerusalem Garden restaurant are plaintiffs in the suit, along with GLELC. [Full Story]

The Brouhaha reviews Jamaican Jerk Pit on Thayer. It’s under the new ownership of Robert Campbell, who also owns Irie Caribbean Cuisine  in Canton: “Robert himself was manning the grill, and the first thing I noticed was how tidy everything looked. ‘Guess how long it took us to get this place clean?’ Robert asked. ‘Two months!’” [Source]