Archive for August, 2009

An overflow crowd in the lobby of the county administration building arrived too late for a seat in the boardroom, and watched Wednesday's Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting on TV. (Photo by the writer.)

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting (Aug. 5, 2009): As Washtenaw County grapples with a staggering budget deficit, 4-H supporters – including local farmers, teens and club leaders – packed Wednesday’s county Board of Commissioners meeting, urging commissioners not to cut funding for that program. They were joined by many others who use master gardening, financial counseling and other services of the county’s MSU Extension program, which could see dramatic funding cuts as the county tries to balance its budget.

As The Chronicle previously reported, the county faces a $30 million deficit over the next two years. Last week, county administrator Bob Guenzel released a list of options for cutting another $12 million out of the budget, and eliminating up to 181 jobs. Those options – which he stressed are not his recommendations at this point – target non-mandated services, ranging from Head Start to a variety of mental health programs. On Wednesday, Guenzel gave a formal presentation about the options to commissioners, who will be the final arbiters of any budget decisions. The discussion following Guenzel’s presentation could aptly be summarized by this statement from commissioner Conan Smith: “It sucks.” [Full Story]

The Detroit Free Press reports that General Motors was able to shed its polluted properties as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. The article quotes UM bankruptcy law expert John Pottow: ”It’s one of the largest liquidations. The real largest liquidation is Lehman Brothers, but investment banks don’t tend to have lots of environmental liabilities. Manufacturing companies – things that use gooey chemicals – do.” [Source]

We spelled Luis Vazquez’s name incorrectly through a recent report on city council caucus.  We note the error here and have corrected it in the original article.  It was originally misspelled in every instance, but we have red-lined only one of them, so as to leave the text readable.

In the GoBlueWolverine magazine, Greg Dooley of MVictors.com writes about the UM athletic department archives housed in the Bentley Historical Library, and the saga of how they came to be stored there. The article quotes Bruce Madej, the department’s sports information director, who described how the historical documents, prior to the mid-1980s, were kept in a basement that sometimes flooded: “You’ve got to remember, people never understood the need for the archival of information back then. There weren’t the ESPNs when Don Canham started. There was a whole different idea of publicity.” [Source]

John U. Bacon

Three years ago, a few folks in Dexter, Michigan – a small farming town just west of Ann Arbor – were buzzing with rumors that the only house for sale in their neighborhood might finally be sold.  

I found out from my mom, who found out from her hair-dresser, Chantel Williams, who lived next door to the vacant house, that Shani Inge and her husband, Brandon, had bought it. They moved to Dexter even though it’s a full hour from his office. He works at Comerica Park, in Detroit, playing third base for the Tigers. In fact, he just played in his first All-Star game. But you’d never guess it from the way he looks – and certainly not from the way he acts. [Full Story]

County clerk, Larry Kestenbaum, is the lede in Belinda Luscombe’s Time Magazine piece on the death of the Ann Arbor News: “When Larry Kestenbaum, clerk of Washtenaw County, Michigan, was in Lansing for a meeting recently, he saw something unfamiliar on the faces of the other clerks: pity.”

A clarification is in order. Ann Arbor Chronicle editor, Dave Askins, is quoted in that article in a way that suggests he coded the HTML for The Ann Arbor Chronicle.  To be clear, credit for all the coding and design of The Ann Arbor Chronicle goes to Laura Fisher, a.k.a. mitten, and to no one else. [Source]

A Bloomberg News article about GM’s plug-in Buick SUV quotes Brett Smith, an alternative-technology analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, who says it’s likely meant to replace GM’s previously planned plug-in electric Saturn Vue SUV. Says Smith: ”Buick is probably a better fit because it’s more of a premium brand and they can charge more.” [Source]

The Ann Arbor Police Department has posted its latest weekly crime bulletin – incidents include three cases of strong arm robbery, two cases of felonious assault and one armed robbery. [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council caucus (Aug. 5, 2009): The city council caucus, which typically falls on the Sunday before council’s regular Monday meeting, was rescheduled for Wednesday this week to match the rescheduling of the council’s regular meeting to Thursday. That schedule change had been prompted by the Democratic primary elections held on Tuesday.

Four council members attended caucus – John Hieftje (mayor), Sandi Smith (Ward 1), Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5). They heard from residents on a variety of issues, from a complaint about thaw-and-bake products at the farmers market, to the Near North PUD proposal that is on council’s agenda for Thursday night, to questions about the constitution of the council’s budget and labor committee.

Also on council’s agenda is a moratorium on new development in districts zoned R4C (multi-family dwelling), and councilmembers heard from one resident at caucus in support of that moratorium, which was postponed from council’s last meeting.

Rounding out caucus topics were two plant-related issues. There’s an oak tree in Wurster Park that councilmembers were advised could have its life prolonged considerably. Finally, a resident framed problems with foliage obscuring sight lines for vehicles as a bicyclist safety issue. [Full Story]

Utility workers marked up the sidewalk on the southwest corner of Liberty and Division, in preparation for the DDA's Fifth and Division streetscape project. CLR means there aren't any lines in that location for the utility corresponding to the color of the marking . (Photo by the writer.)

We began with a question: What do the new multi-colored letters and symbols along Division Street mean?

Yes, the stretch of Division between Madison and Detroit streets is getting an overhaul – as part  of an Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority project. And yes, utility workers have been marking up the sidewalks for weeks.

But how to decipher these urban hieroglyphics?

In the process of answering that question, we also learned the answer to this one: What’s the connection between deer hunting and asphalt?

And along the way, we got an update about the work, which started this week on South Division, between Packard and Liberty, as well as a more general overview of progress on the DDA’s Fifth and Division streetscape project.  [Full Story]

On her blog Relish, Myra Klarma documents – in words and photos – her experience helping build a hoop house for Brother Nature Produce in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood on Aug. 1. The project, which allows the urban farm to extend its growing season, is supported by Friday Mornings @ SELMA, an Ann Arbor group raising money to support local farm initiatives. The group plans to hold another hoop house-raising on Aug. 15 at the farm of Tomm Becker and Trilby MacDonald, off of Joy Road north of Ann Arbor. [Source]

In the Chicago Sun-Times, travel editor Lori Rackl writes about her experience taking the recent four-day Zingerman’s Bakehouse “World Tour Bake-cation,” which drew people from around the country. Writes Rackl: “Bake-cations are designed for all skill levels, from Martha Stewarts in the making to those whose baking experience consists of popping open a tube of refrigerated cookie dough. Like most people in the class, Sarah Jones from West Virginia fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. Her son, a strength coach for the University of Michigan football team, bought her a bake-cation as a Christmas present. ‘I think he knew we got to bring home whatever we make,’ Jones said on the first day of class. ‘I’m guessing the … [Full Story]

An Associated Press article looks at the impact that the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program – which is taking gas guzzlers off the road – will have in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The answer: Not much. The article quotes Bruce Belzowski, a scientist at UM’s Transportation Research Institute: ”There’s 260 million vehicles on the road and you’re talking a quarter-million vehicles. It’s not even close. It’s just a drop in the bucket. It’s really small numbers. But if you don’t start somewhere, where are you going to start? It heads the country in the right direction.” [Source]