Archive for October, 2009

The New York Times publishes a column by Jack Kadden, who reports on a recent College Board panel in New York City about financial aid and college enrollment. One of the panelists was Pamela Fowler, UM’s director of financial aid, who said the economic downturn really hit the university hard this year. Her office has set up a $6 million reserve to help incoming freshmen, and overall, UM has awarded about $800 million in total aid this fall, a $200 million increase. Says Fowler: “It takes a toll on you when your staff is having problems with mortgages and their spouses losing jobs” and they are dealing with parents with similar problems. [Source]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting (Oct. 21, 2009): Action on a tax expected to raise around $600,000 a year for economic development and agriculture-related activities was postponed Wednesday after a move to let county board members vote on separate pieces of the plan – rather than a single package – led to confusion and some consternation.

Commissioner Mark Ouimet asked to have the vote broken into two parts. A Republican representing more rural areas of the county, Ouimet wanted:

• one vote on money to fund 4-H, horticulture/MSU Extension, an agricultural innovation effort and the Food Systems Economic Partnership;
• a second vote to fund the economic development agency Ann Arbor SPARK, SPARK East, the Eastern Leaders Group and a new county office, the Economic Development and Energy Department, to be led by Tony VanDerworp.

But Ouimet’s colleagues on the board were unprepared for the change. A number struggled to follow his plan for unbundling items in the single resolution in front of them and what the potential defeat of any portion of the plan would mean. [Full Story]

The Associated Press reports that Bill Martin, UM’s athletic director since 2000, plans to retire next year. [Source]

Leigh Greden, who chaired the meeting as fourth in the line of mayoral succession, did not at any point abuse the temporary power by saying, "Everybody show me your hands!" Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) are in fact sussing out which version of the Argo Dam resolution the city clerk had circulated. (Photo by the writer.)

Ann Arbor City Council meeting (Oct. 19, 2009): A city council whose ranks were reduced by four members – due to family medical issues and personal illness – tabled a resolution on Argo Dam that would have expressed the body’s intent to keep Argo Dam in place and to perform necessary repairs mandated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

The tabling came only after long deliberations, which included a recess, and focused mainly on the question of tabling versus postponing until a date certain.

Several people spoke during reserved public commentary time on the issue of Argo Dam. But the dam question was somewhat overshadowed for some in the audience by a presentation on homelessness at the beginning of the meeting from Mary Jo Callan, who’s director of the combined county-city office of community development. Said one speaker during public commentary: “After hearing the stats on homelessness, I’m ashamed to be standing here talking to you about Argo Dam.”

The presentation on sheltering the homeless – especially during the winter – included a specific call to action from Ellen Schulmeister, director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County. She asked community members to start conversations at their churches, synagogues, mosques or other community groups about how they might be able to provide volunteer support and space to expand the current rotating shelter program. Schulmeister asked that the conversations begin now, “So that when we ask, you’re ready to go.”

In other major business, the city council authorized the expenditure of $100,000 for removal of five failing beams on the East Stadium bridge over State Street – beams which run under a portion of the bridge currently closed to traffic. The work is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15 through Tuesday, Nov. 17 and will require the closing of State Street during the work.

The council also approved the next step in the creation of a Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) along Main Street between William and Huron streets. [Full Story]

Raising questions about higher costs and design changes, members of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission on Monday tabled action on one proposed art installation for the new municipal center, set conditions on another piece, but recommended approval of the largest work of art by German artist Herbert Dreiseitl.

Elaine Sims and Jim Curtis of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission at a special meeting on Monday. Sims and Curtis expressed concern about some aspects of Herbert Dreiseitl's revised designs for art in the new municipal center, also know as the police/courts facility. (Photo by the writer.)

The $841,541 budget submitted just last week by Dreiseitl for the three pieces of art – including design fees already paid to him – exceeds AAPAC’s original cap of $750,000 for the project. AAPAC had set aside another $250,000 for other public art projects on the municipal center site, and plans to use part of that amount to pay for Dreiseitl’s project.

Even at the higher cost, Dreiseitl has warned that creating all three pieces for that price will be “challenging” – and some commissioners said they should consider providing more funding, if it’s necessary to achieve his vision. The complete vision was unclear on Monday, however, since AAPAC did not have final drawings for his proposed two interior wall pieces. [Full Story]

Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s decision on Monday to make additional cuts in state funding to some of Michigan’s school districts means an additional $3.7 million loss to the Ann Arbor Public Schools in its current fiscal year, which began July 1.

In addition to $165 per-pupil cuts that were already anticipated, Granholm vetoed a portion of a bill that specified school-aid payments to be made to the state’s “hold harmless” districts, one of which is AAPS. She vetoed that item in a comprehensive K-12 school-aid bill that she signed on Monday. The new cuts of $233 per pupil will take effect unless the state legislature overrides her veto.

AAPS superintendent Todd Roberts told The Chronicle this morning that combined with the previous $165 per-pupil cuts, the Ann Arbor district now must deal with a $6.4 million loss in funding for the current fiscal year. They’ll likely need to tap their $28 million fund equity – the equivalent of a district’s savings account – as well as make cuts to services, trying to identify those that will be the least disruptive to the schools, he said.

Roberts said that Monday’s action at the state level makes it even clearer for the need to take more local control of school funding – referring to a proposed countywide millage that’s on the Nov. 3 ballot. [See Chronicle coverage: "Does It Take a Millage?"] “If we’re going to rely on [the state], then shame on us,” he said. [Full Story]

The Detroit News report on the success of advocates in raising money to fight breast cancer. The article quotes Douglas Arenberg, a UM lung cancer researcher and associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine: “I’m a doctor who has patients with lung cancer, and they look for me to help them, and I don’t have much to offer them compared to my colleagues who treat breast cancer.” [Source]

On his new Sideline Diaries blog, local photographer Lon Horwedel writes about what it’s like to cover Michigan football games as a photojournalist: “Michigan looks like every other team when they win – they do what you’d expect … almost a canned emotion. But when they lose they are the most boring team in the world to photograph. No emotion – I mean none! It’s okay to look depressed when you lose a close game. You fought hard, you came up short, go ahead and wear your emotions on your sleeve. It will make you feel better, or at the very least, it will make for better pictures!” [Source]

An Ann Arbor summer tax bill, showing some of the assessments for Ann Arbor schools. For Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), the millage rates reflect half the amount collected annually.

Among Michigan’s public educators, the 2010-11 fiscal year is being called “The Cliff.” Based on a grim downward trajectory of funding from the state, decreasing revenues from local property taxes and expenses like health care continuing to climb, that’s the year many districts are expected to plummet over the edge into the red.

Robert Allen, deputy superintendent of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, described this scenario at a sparsely attended forum last Thursday at Huron High School, where he and superintendent Todd Roberts made a pitch for voters to support a proposed countywide millage on the Nov. 3 ballot. They didn’t claim that AAPS would be among those districts falling off the cliff, but they did say their district faces a $15 million deficit that year. Without new revenue from the millage, they contend that the district would need to make dramatic cuts, and that those cuts would almost certainly affect students in the classroom. Michigan’s financial crisis is hitting hard, they say.

“As the state goes, so goes our funding,” Allen told the group on Thursday.

The state isn’t going so well.

But opponents argue that school districts haven’t done enough to cut costs, and that taxpayers can’t absorb the added burden of another millage. Beyond that, people on both sides say there’s an urgent need to reform the way schools are funded in Michigan, regardless of the success or failure of the Nov. 3 millage vote.

This Chronicle report looks at how Michigan funds K-12 public schools, why local school districts say they need a special enhancement millage and why critics say they don’t, and what that proposed millage would entail. Ann Arbor Public Schools is the largest of Washtenaw County’s 10 school districts, and would receive over a third of the $30 million collected from the millage annually – we’ll focus our coverage on that district. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday night caucus (Oct. 18, 2009): At its Sunday night caucus, Ann Arbor city council members heard from only a couple of residents who actually spoke in favor of keeping Argo Dam in place.

Piezometer installed in mid-September along the earthen berm separating the Argo Dam headrace from the river. (Photo by the writer)

But those speakers were supported by the presence of almost two dozen others who attended the regular Sunday evening affair, to make clear that they also supported a resolution on the dam – which was added to Monday’s Oct. 19 agenda on Friday, Oct. 16.

Monday’s resolution, which is sponsored by Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2), Marcia Higgins (Ward 4), and Sandi Smith (Ward 1), expresses the intent of city council to keep the dam in place. [Text of the resolution]

At caucus, one of the voices of dissent on the resolution belonged to Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council. She told the three councilmembers present – Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) – that there’d been an expectation that the city council would follow the example of the city’s Park Advisory Commission and the Environmental Commission by holding a formal public hearing on the vote.

The resolution on Monday’s agenda does not include a public hearing.

After the caucus concluded, Rubin told The Chronicle that the expectation of a city council public hearing was based on a hearing that had been planned for July 6, 2009, but that was canceled when the council decided to ask the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for more time to decide. We had a look at The Chronicle archives to verify that contention.

Other caucus topics addressed by residents included a crosswalk to be installed at the intersection of Waldenwood and Penberton drives and a request for an update on the East Stadium bridges. Council will consider a resolution on Monday to follow the advice of an outside engineering consultant to proceed with removal of bridge beams supporting the southern lanes, which are currently closed to traffic. [Full Story]

USA Today reports on efforts to develop the U.S. auto-battery industry, and quotes Tom Kinnear of UM’s Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies: “It’s a slugfest as to who’s really going to be dominant. But the key to becoming a leader is not developing the manufacturing ability. It’s being the first to come out with the next great breakthrough.” [Source]

The Chocolate in Context blog is a fan of Zingerman’s Zzang chocolate bars, made by Zingerman’s newest venture: “Announcement of the Zingerman’s Candy Manufactury is clap-your-hands, dance-at-your-desk news for all of us devotees of full-flavored confectionery because it means that great candy/ combination bars are going to get a second run at the American palate.” [Source]

In my favorite movie “Animal House,” John Belushi delivers a classic line: “Over? Nothing is over until we say it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no, and it ain’t over now!”

With the same level of determination and a lot more smarts, 700 members of AFSCME Local 2733 and members of six other smaller bargaining units gave back contract benefits totaling about $6.6 million to help reduce Washtenaw County’s projected 2010-11 budget deficit. I have lived in Ann Arbor 49 years and do not recall a similar circumstance. Were county services over? Were the jobs of up to 150 union members over? The Locals said “Hell, no.”

It was a big deal. [Full Story]

The Detroit Free Press profiles Sharon McRill, founder of the Betty Brigade, an Ann Arbor-based concierge service that does everything from dog-walking to packing to party planning. Says McRill: “I get paid to pick up dog poop, and it’s paying my mortgage, so I don’t care.” [Source]

[Full Story]

Michael Paliotta and his younger brother Will in the lobby of the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. Michael's family was visiting from Connecticut – he lives in Ann Arbor with a host family while participating in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program here. (Photo by the writer.)

In a lobby filled with well-dressed young men, proud parents and assorted siblings, Gene and Sue Salaniuk stood back together and took in the scene.

They watched as Michael Paliotta, one of two teenage hockey players who currently lives in their house, talked with his parents amid a cluster of family members – two brothers and a sister – who’d made the trip to Ann Arbor from Westport, Conn., just to watch him play.

Six-year-old Will Paliotta stuck close, quietly playing with the buttons on his big brother’s suit jacket.

“I think Michael misses his brothers and sister,” Sue said softly, leaning toward Gene. He nodded and said, “Look how Will won’t let go of him.”

Two months ago, these people were strangers. But for the Salaniuks, Michael is now one of “their” kids; Will and the rest of the Paliottas are one of “their” families.

The Salaniuks have been hosting hockey players from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in their Ann Arbor home for 13 years. Every few years they’ll tell the program’s housing coordinators that this will be their last. Then another bunch of 16- and 17-year olds come in and, well, they haven’t said, “no” yet. Their hockey family just keeps growing. [Full Story]

Delaware Online reports that the Deleware State University football team, which is playing Michigan in Ann Arbor today, practiced several drills last week while the Michigan fight song and taped crowd noise blared on their stadium’s sound system. Says Delaware head coach Al Lavan: “None of that can be adequately duplicated, but we do want to give them some sense of the crowd noise [that will be there]. So, we found some Michigan crowd noise and some music from the band to give them some idea.” [Source]

The actor/comedian David Alan Grier, who attended the University of Michigan in the '70s, will be in Ann Arbor on Sunday to promote his new book, "Barack Like Me: The Chocolate-Covered Truth." (Photo courtesy of David Alan Grier)

David Alan Grier is an actor and comedian who became famous as a member of the cast of the groundbreaking TV series “In Living Color” from 1990-1994, and went on to land roles in a range of movies and TV shows. Born in Detroit in 1955, he started acting while attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the mid-1970s.

Grier has another Ann Arbor connection, too. In 2007, he hosted an NBC improv show, “Thank God You’re Here” – a cast member of that show, Nyima Funk, grew up in Ann Arbor and is the daughter of former city councilmember Wendy Woods.

Grier recently authored the book “Barack Like Me: The Chocolate-Covered Truth,” which he will be promoting at two appearances in Ann Arbor on Sunday, Oct. 18. From 10 a.m. to noon he’s scheduled to appear at the Arthur Miller Theatre in the Walgreen Drama Center on UM’s North Campus. From 2-3:30 p.m. he’ll be speaking and signing books at the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown branch.

In a phone interview earlier this week, Grier talked about his experiences in Detroit and Ann Arbor, and reveals – among many things – which local icon inspired one of his “In Living Color” characters. [Full Story]

Time magazine’s The Detroit Blog highlights Michigan’s “seven best” foods, a list which includes Jiffy mixes, made in Chelsea: “Who hasn’t enjoyed Jiffy blueberry muffins at least once? The Chelsea-based company manufactures over 1.6 million boxes of “JIFFY” mixes every day. Each mix costs less than $1, which makes them very budget friendly. Jiffy is so popular nationwide that the company never needs to advertise. (See, I just did its dirty work for free once again!)” [Source]

The Washtenaw Voice publishes a slideshow of images from Washtenaw Community College’s annual World Cultural Celebration earlier this month. [Source]

Chelsea Update reports on efforts to save the city’s historic livery building: “During public comments at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, local businessman Joe Merkel and Ellen Thackery, Southeastern Michigan field representative for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offered their support to the efforts to rehab the Chelsea Livery building, and asked for a one-year extension to the demolition deadline to come up with an appropriate plan.” [Source]

Kirk Westphal, an Ann Arbor resident and member of the city’s planning commission, was one of 20 people whose “food rules” were highlighted by author Michael Pollan in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Westphal’s rule: “Eat foods in inverse proportion to how much its lobby spends to push it.” [Source]

John U. Bacon

At the dedication game of Michigan’s new 84,401-seat stadium in 1927, the Wolverines sent new rival Ohio State home with a 21-0 thumping. In that informal era, it was perfectly natural for athletic director Fielding Yost to walk back to campus with the game’s star, Bennie Oosterbaan.

“Mr. Yost was feeling pretty good,” Oosterbaan told author Al Slote. “We’d won, and the stadium was completely filled. He turned to me and said, ‘Bennie, do you know what the best thing about that new stadium is? Eighty-five thousand people paid five dollars apiece for their seats – and Bennie, they had to leave the seats there!‘”

While no one can be certain what Yost would think of the luxury boxes that are going up right now (and no matter what the university is calling them, that’s clearly what they are), the record suggests he would approve it – and for the very reasons he pushed to build the Big House in the first place. [Full Story]

Project Grow site at Greenview last Sunday. Near the end of the growing season, gardeners were starting to clear out cages and wire, preparing the plots for the fall tilling. (Photo by the writer.)

At the Project Grow annual meeting, held on Oct. 8 at the Leslie Science Center, the same contentious issue surfaced as at last year’s meeting: Should the organic gardening nonprofit add members to its board or not?

Last year the answer was yes: Kirk Jones and Royer Held were voted onto the board by the members present at the meeting. [Chronicle coverage: "Project Grow Board Expands"]

This year was no different. In addition to re-electing Damaris Suffalko as a continuing board member, members elected Andrew Comai, David Corsa and Alice Telesnitsky as additions.

The ease with which board members can be added by a member vote is a function of Project Grow’s incorporation as a 501(c)3 membership organization as contrasted with a 501(c)3 directorship organization.

And although the meeting’s written agenda indicated board president Devon Akmon as a candidate for re-election to the board, he withdrew his name in the course of the meeting, which an attendee aptly summarized at one point by saying, “It feels very tense in here.”

The departure of Akmon from the board prompted board member Catherine Riseng to caution the roughly 40 people in the room: “We’re going to miss his skills more than you can possibly realize.”   [Full Story]

The Art of Manliness publishes a Q&A with Arthur St. Antoine, editor at large for Motor Trend magazine, who recalls his days in Ann Arbor: “During college, I worked summers (and some nights during the school year) waiting tables and doing catering jobs for a high-end Ann Arbor restaurant. After I left college (and my restaurant job), the restaurant happened to cater a party for Car and Driver magazine, also based in Ann Arbor. My ex-boss mentioned to one of the C/D staffers, ‘You know, we have a former employee who loves your magazine and loves cars. In fact, he just took off for racing school.’ And the Car and Driver person replied, ‘Really? Well, send him over. We’re looking … [Full Story]