Archive for August, 2009

As The Chronicle receives unofficial vote counts of the city council races in Ward 3 and Ward 5, we’ll publish them.  See also the Washtenaw County clerk’s unofficial vote counts. [Full Story]

The Associated Press reports that the post office on South University in Ann Arbor is among the 27 locations in Michigan that might be closed by the U.S. Postal Service as it struggles to overcome a budget deficit. [Source]

Today is election day in Ann Arbor. But that only matters if you’re voting in the Democratic primary election for city council – there are no Republican primary candidates. And even if you’re inclined to vote in the Democratic primary, it only matters if you live in Ward 3 or Ward 5, where the elections are contested.

In Ward 5, the two candidates are Mike Anglin and Scott Rosencrans. In Ward 3, there’s a three-way race between Leigh Greden, LuAnne Bullington, and Stephen Kunselman.

The two wards combined comprise 20 precincts. In the 13 hours between 7 a.m. when the polls open and 8 p.m. when they close, The Chronicle aims to visit the polling locations for all 20 precincts. We’re pretty sure that we’ll run into some Chronicle readers along the way – we figure the sort of people who’ll read 5,000 words about a city council meeting will also find their way to the poll on election day.

See you soon.

And track our progress after the break. [Full Story]

The New York Times reports on growing frustration among consumers using travel sites, including sites for airlines and hotels, to book their trips. The article quotes UM business professor Claes Fornell, creator of the widely used American Customer Satisfaction Index, which tracks airlines and other industries: “The airline score has gone up a little, but it’s still not very good. Compared to most industries, the airlines continue to underperform.” [Source]

Doug Kelley's wife made this shirt out of material that has pictures of all U.S. presidents, except for Obama. So Kelley wears his Obama T-shirt underneath. He was also selling the T-shirts at Saturday's meeting of the Obama Caucus of Ann Arbor. (Photo by the writer.)

The 16 people who gathered in Judy Dooley’s living room on Saturday came by different paths. Some had talked to Dooley or other volunteers with the Obama Caucus of Ann Arbor at a table they man each week at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. Some had received a flyer about the event, distributed by volunteers who regularly canvas city neighborhoods. Three of the people there – Dooley, Gus Teschke and Daniela Gobetti – are coordinators for the local Obama group.

We’re pretty sure U.S. Rep. John Dingell didn’t hear about the meeting from a flyer in his door, but he showed up too. He’s using the August recess in Congress the same way other legislators are – returning to their districts to mobilize support or opposition to the health care reform bill that both the House and Senate will tackle in the fall.

The focus of Saturday’s small neighborhood gathering was President Barack Obama’s health care reform efforts, including legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced by Dingell that proposes a public health insurance option. People attending the two-hour meeting raised a lot of questions about what the proposal entailed, and many shared their own experiences with problems they’ve encountered under the nation’s current health care system. [Full Story]

An editorial in the Michigan Daily has endorsed Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election. [Source]

Detroit News business columnist Brian O’Connor looks at how men and women respond differently to hard financial times. He interviews Michael Rudy, an Ypsilanti financial planner and psychotherapist: ”A man will do virtually anything to keep from finding himself powerless. To avoid falling into depression, they need to be able to preserve their illusion that nothing has altered their real degree of power.” [Source]

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on whether the current recession is reshaping spending habits. The article quotes UM marketing professor Scott Rick, who studies the topic: “I was expecting huge changes, and I’ve tested and retested people to see how they’ve reacted to the crisis. I had to recheck the data, because I was surprised. The numbers weren’t moving.” [Source]

[Full Story]

Newspapers in Ann Arbor in 1882 when Washtenaw County boasted a population of 8,061: News, Argus, Courier, Democrat, Die Washtenaw Post, Register, Chronicle, University. (Photo of book page made possible by Barbara Tozier.)

Our monthly milestone message, written by either the editor or the publisher, is an occasion to touch base with readers – to bring folks up to date on any new developments with The Chronicle and to engage in a bit of self-reflection as a publication.

Self-reflection once a month is healthy. But self-reflection that persists for a whole month – which has been a natural consequence of the continuing community conversation about the closing of The Ann Arbor News so that AnnArbor.com could be launched – threatens to become a distraction.

Yet here we are at a monthly milestone – a fitting and proper time to reflect on significant questions like: Where does The Ann Arbor Chronicle fit in a media landscape without The Ann Arbor News? In last month’s Tenth Monthly Milestone Message, Chronicle publisher Mary Morgan analyzed that media landscape in terms of pie. As in: Is there enough pie to go around? How big is the media pie?

But given a choice between pie and cake, I prefer cake. In particular, I prefer chocolate cake with white icing – those are more or less traditional newspaper colors, now that I think about it.

But I’ll eat a piece of pie, if there’s not a piece of cake to be had.

As far as media choices go, residents of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County these days don’t have a choice just between pie and cake – Mary Morgan  lists out various media alternatives in last month’s milestone. And as it turns out, the 8,061 residents of Washtenaw County in 1882 had a few choices as well.  [Full Story]

Politico takes a look at how the economies in four states – including Michigan – are dragging down the Dems. The piece quotes UM economist Don Grimes, who says that state officials have the misguided focus of trying to revive manufacturing. Nor have efforts to revitalize the state’s metro areas worked, he says, “because it always comes back to trying to save the past.” [Source]