Because the time previously scheduled on Saturday September 19 conflicted with Rosh Hashanah, the meeting on west side neighborhood and crime issues has been moved to Tuesday, September 22, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Community Center, 625 N. Main Street.
On its website, the AATA has announced that beginning on Sept. 23, the AATA will be piloting a real-time bus-tracking system. The pilot is limited to Route 6. It would allow a user to follow the location of buses in real time on-screen. The user-interface with the map and feedback system are available here.
Workers are pouring sidewalk concrete. This intersection is almost back to normal!
A New York Times article about the Senate’s health care proposal quotes UM business professor Erik Gordon, who notes that insurance companies “ducked a bullet” because the proposal doesn’t include a government-run health care plan. That makes it “a lower dose of poison than the other proposals,” he said. [Source]
The Tailgating Ideas blog posts a video of a bellydancer performing at a UM tailgating party: “I never thought to put ‘University of Michigan Bellydancing Tailgater’ on my list of The 14 Tailgaters Who Annoy the Crap Out of You but after seeing this video I am thinking it is time to amend that list.” [Source]
The Wall Street Journal reports on how Michigan’s economic struggles are affecting white-collar workers, noting the state’s 15.2% unemployment rate and the fact that Michigan leads the nation in labor underutilization. The article quotes UM economist Don Grimes: “To find a new job they’ll probably end up making less, probably substantially less. It’s going to be painful.” [Source]
At Tuesday's meeting of the Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission, Eli Cooper shows the original conceptual design for a proposed transit center on Fuller Road. A newer version (see below) includes two buildings and a possible roundabout at Fuller and Maiden Lane. (Photo by the writer.)
Tim Berla of the Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission has a suggestion to liven up the proposed Fuller Road transit center: Add a pub. You can bet that people who use the nearby city athletic fields would grab a post-game beer there, he told Eli Cooper at Tuesday’s PAC meeting.
Cooper, the city’s transportation program manager, was soliciting feedback from PAC members and giving them an update on the project known as FITS – the Fuller Intermodal Transportation Station. FITS is a joint venture by the University of Michigan and the city of Ann Arbor that would include 900 parking spaces in a multi-level structure.
Cooper made clear that the two partners are hoping to get more input from the general public, too. To that end, on Thursday, Sept. 17, the city will host two public forums at city hall, from 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. After incorporating feedback from a variety of stakeholders, Cooper said the city hoped to present the facility’s conceptual design for approval at the city council’s Oct. 19 meeting.
Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s meeting several PAC commissioners had questions about the project, including a query about the designation of the city-owned land being used: In the city’s master plan, it’s designated as parkland – which didn’t originally mean a place to park cars. For zoning purposes, however, parkland is under the broader designation of “public land” – which can include transportation uses. [Full Story]
The Detroit News reports that UM’s Michigan Innocence Clinic is asking for the release of Karl Frederick Vinson, a man they believe was wrongfully imprisoned 23 years ago for the rape of a 9-year-old girl. Says David Moran, an attorney who led the team of law students that researched this case: “The jury was misled. The prosecutor made sure the jury was confused.” [Source]
Eric Mahler, city of Ann Arbor planning commissioner, questioned whether the downtown design guidelines, as currently drafted, would pass legal muster, if they were implemented in a mandatory-compliance system. (Photo by the writer.)
Almost every child learns in school that a haiku is a short poem with three lines – lines that adhere to a 5-7-5 syllable count pattern.
But only some children learn that not all poems conforming to that 5-7-5 rule are good haikus. For example:
I saw a tower/Looming, stretching really tall/
Is it ever high!
Many readers will recognize those lines as a generally failed poem. But what specifically makes it a bad haiku, even though it follows the rule? The first-person narrative, the lack of seasonal referent, the lack of any kind of “aha!” moment – there are any number of ways in which that poetic effort fails to meet basic haiku design guidelines.
Similarly, a proposed new downtown Ann Arbor building that follows a basic height rule of “180 feet maximum” – specified in the zoning regulations – might still be generally recognizable as a poorly-designed building. [Full Story]
DDA funding, which was authorized back in April, has put the first prototype bike circle on a former parking meter post. The posts now just indicate the space number for the E-Park stations. [photo]
Crowd of 25 polo-shirted men standing in the library lot with rolled-up blueprints looking around and pointing.
Pay phone and excess concrete removed from the BP perimeter.
Ann Arbor firefighters in training on Ann Street. [Photo]
The Library Journal publishes a Q&A with Eli Neiburger, associate director of IT and product development at Ann Arbor District Library, noting that in the world of gaming in libraries, his “is a name to conjure with.” In response to a question about why libraries should care about gaming, Neiburger says: “Video games are a dominant form of content in our society. Gaming events at libraries give patrons who are interested in that dominant form of content an opportunity to explore that interest socially. The broader the range of opportunities the library presents, the broader the range of patrons who will benefit from the library’s resources.” [Source]
WDIV, Detroit’s NBC affiliate, reports that an ad on Craigslist is recruiting students to host porn stars or participate in “reality college” adult films. The report quotes UM junior Cameron Kortes, who cites reasons not to do it: “Not only is there an academic side, but also a social side, with my mom and my parents. They would just look down on me, and I’d probably never go home. So I’d have that going for me if I do that.” [Source]
Editor’s Note: After the break begins the first installment of the Washtenaw Jail Diary, written by a former inmate in Washtenaw County’s jail facility on Hogback Road. The piece originated as a Twitter feed in early 2009, which the author subsequently abandoned and deleted. See previous Chronicle coverage “Twittering Time at the Washtenaw County Jail.“
In now working with the author to publish the Washtenaw Jail Diary, The Ann Arbor Chronicle acknowledges that this is only one side of a multi-faceted tale.
We also would like to acknowledge that the author’s incarceration predates the administration of the current sheriff, Jerry Clayton.
This narrative, which we expect will run over a series of several installments, provides an insight into a tax-funded facility that most readers of The Chronicle will not experience first-hand in the same way as the author.
The language and topics introduced below reflect the environment of a jail. We have not sanitized it for Chronicle readers. It is not gratuitously graphic, but it is graphic just the same. It contains language and descriptions that some readers will find offensive. [Full Story]
Late last Friday, the county was notified that the state Supreme Court has denied an appeal request from three local townships in a years-long legal battle with Washtenaw County over the cost of sheriff deputy patrols. Now the county plans to seek a judgment for roughly $2 million from the townships of Augusta, Salem and Ypsilanti to cover previous costs of providing those patrols.
In an email sent to the county Board of Commissioners on Monday morning, Curtis Hedger – the county’s corporation counsel – wrote that the county plans to ask 38th Circuit Court Chief Judge Joseph Costello to issue a judgment in the case. “We estimate that given the number of hours provided to the Townships without a contract in 2006 at the rate approved by the Court of Appeals, plus judgment interest which goes back to January 2006, the judgment should be in the $2 million dollar range,” Hedger wrote. [Full Story]
Thick stream of mostly students crossing the intersection for almost five minutes with no gap.
Camp Take Notice setting up an information corner at Main & Washington.
Writing on his blog, Notional Slurry, Bill Tozier describes a possible future of print journalism in which the basic family of creatures survives – but he is not so sanguine about the species he calls “The One Paper.” He suggests that a variety of smaller journalistic enterprises might thrive, by actually selling journalism instead of advertising: “What I wonder though, is what was never asked yesterday: who will be the first to fire the marketing department and keep the writers and editors? That’s the next wave. That’s the immediate future of print journalism.” Background to the essay was Tozier’s attendance at a Kerrytown BookFest forum called “The Future of Print Journalism.” [Source]
The Eastern Echo, Eastern Michigan University’s student publication, reports on actress/director Drew Barrymore’s visit to Farmington Hills last weekend to promote her new movie “Whip It,” which was partially filmed in Ypsilanti. Says Barrymore: “I love Ypsi and I love the town and the family neighborhood that it provided for Ellen [Page’s] family in the movie. It was just perfect. It provided this timely, beautiful backdrop. I couldn’t have dreamed of finding a better location to cinematically tell the story and give the vibe of where the family lived in this perfect cul-de-sac in Ypsilanti.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports on the car-sharing trend, focusing on the Zipcar program in Ann Arbor. The article quotes Jan Culbertson, senior principal with A3C Collaborative Architecture in Ann Arbor: “Zipcar’s provided that missing link that allows people to change their energy use. The first thing I did was give up my $125-a-month parking pass.” [Source]
The University of Michigan has launched a YouTube channel, where it posts videos of lectures, speeches and other events. Featured posts include UM president Mary Sue Coleman’s 2009 welcome to campus and a collection of arts-related videos. [Source]
Interns with the University of Michigan Sports Marketing Department served as judges during the university's recent auditions for singers to perform the national anthem at sporting events. (Photo by the writer.)
The girl makes her way across Cliff Keen Arena’s wood-paneled gym floor toward the long table where the judges sit, leaning forward over their clipboards. She looks to be about eight or nine. She wears pink tights, a jean skirt, and an absolutely terrified look on her face: the corners of her mouth tug down, her eyes wide.
The judges smile at her as she steps forward to take the microphone. As she backs up toward the empty bleachers, looking no less nervous, one of them offers a compliment in a soft voice: “I like your tights!”
The girl opens her mouth and begins to sing: “Oh, say, can you see…”
Her voice is startlingly steady, given her evident anxiety. She finishes the song and hands to microphone back to the nearest judge. Then, the ordeal behind her, she turns and runs toward the door. She calls out in a high-pitched voice, to whoever’s waiting for her outside, “I sucked! I sucked!”
The judges exchange smiles, mark up the evaluation sheets on their clipboards with their maize-and-blue pens, and wait for the next person auditioning to show up. They will spend the afternoon and evening listening to singer after singer – young and old, nervous and confident – offer their personal rendering of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Why the national anthem? Because these Sept. 9 auditions determine which vocalists will perform that song at University of Michigan sporting events in the upcoming season. [Full Story]
Via email from multiple sources, including city hall, the Budget and Labor Committee meeting previously scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14 at the AATA offices has been postponed until Sept. 21. This does not affect the scheduling of the joint work session of the city council, the Downtown Development Authority board and the planning commission, which will focus on A2D2 design guidelines. That meeting starts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, in CTN Studios, located at 2805 S. Industrial.
Big, unusual-looking orange van with Oregon plates parked overnight. Writing in big white letters on van: “How did the recession affect you? Tell your story to the man in the van.”
Bezonki sighting at the Kerrytown BookFest – calendars, cards and more! [Photo]
A Sept. 12 article about potential candidates for the 2010 state legislative election gave the incorrect year for a 53rd District primary race between Rebekah Warren and Leigh Greden. That race took place in 2006. We note the error here, and have corrected it in the original article.
Greg Dooley of MVictors shares some thoughts about Saturday’s game against Notre Dame. He includes a photo taken of some fans, with this commentary: “While this was probably the best ‘Maize-out’ I can remember, I love the complete lack of adherence to the Maize-out in the pricey seats (section 23 – butt naked 50 yard line). Seriously, if fans in this section were advised that Saturday’s game were a ‘Wear-Whatever-You-Want Out’, would it have looked much different?” [Source]
CBS Evening News reports on the University of Michigan Health System’s approach to dealing with medical mistakes made by its doctors and other employees. The health system, attempting to stave off malpractice lawsuits, apologizes for its errors – in one case cited by CBS, they offered a $400,000 settlement along with their apology. Says malpractice attorney Tom Blaske: “With the other hospitals, you don’t get any of that, you just get deny deny, deny, defer, defer, defer.” [Source]
