Several staff members of WEMU share their memories of Dave Brubeck, the jazz legend who died earlier this week. Linda Yohn writes: “When we learned about Dave Brubeck’s death at WEMU it felt like there was a huge hole in our musical fabric. We serve the Ann Arbor, Michigan area where Dave performed on multiple occasions starting in the 1950s up to 2006. He was truly beloved by music fans in Ann Arbor. He was affectionately referred to as ‘Uncle Dave’. … His sincerity, spirituality, energy, intelligence, integrity and generosity allowed him to transcend all human boundaries be it age, race or culture.” [Source]
The Ann Arbor Ad Club has announced its intent to go into “hiatus mode” because of a lack of interest among members. From a message posted on the A2AC website: “According to the AAF [American Advertising Federation], the Addy awards cannot be held unless we have an active club with members. So, regrettably the A2AC will go into hiatus mode this year while we attempt to gather a new group to lead the way. This also means we will not hold the Addy Awards this year. … We hope this is a temporary lull in our history.” [Source]
More than 20 veterans attended the Dec. 5, 2012 meeting of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners, watching as the board debated and ultimately approved three appointments to the county’s dept. of veterans affairs committee: Gregg Weaver, Robert Fletcher and Ira Brownridge. Weaver and Fletcher are reappointments. Brownridge – who was appointed to a vacancy following the death of Ed Steele – is the first veteran from the conflict in Iraq to be appointed to the committee.
The vote on these appointments was 9-2, with dissent from Dan Smith (R-District 2) and Wes Prater (D-District 4). Prater and Smith wanted the board to respect the recommendations from the veterans posts in the county, which all supported the appointments of three … [Full Story]
At its last meeting of the year, Washtenaw County commissioners on Dec. 5 recognized the service of four outgoing members, as well as the retiring county water resources commissioner.
The board gave resolutions of appreciation to Democrats Barbara Bergman and Leah Gunn, who represent Ann Arbor districts and did not seek re-election, as well as Democrat Wes Prater and Republican Rob Turner, who were defeated in the Nov. 6 general election. Prater, a York Township resident, currently represents District 4. Due to redistricting that took effect during this election cycle, he faced fellow incumbent Alicia Ping in the new District 3 – an election that Ping, a Republican, won. Turner, who lives in Chelsea and represents District 1, was defeated on … [Full Story]
Washtenaw County commissioners voted to increase their base salaries from $15,500 to $15,750 annually and replace per diem payments with stipends, effective Jan. 1, 2013. The action occurred at the county board’s Dec. 5, 2012 meeting. Commissioners had previously debated the issue at their Nov. 7 meeting, giving the increase initial approval at that time. On Dec. 5, the only commissioner voting against the changes was Dan Smith (R-District 2).
Most commissioners currently are paid a salary of $15,500. The new amount of $15,750 is calculated by indexing it to one-half the median “step” of the lowest grade salary among county employees. The resolution authorizing the increase also directs future boards to adjust commissioner salaries based on this same calculation.
Washtenaw County’s 2013 general fund budget of $102.84 million, with a net increase of one full-time position, was given final approval at the Dec. 5, 2012 county board of commissioners meeting. The approval came after a public hearing at the same meeting. [.pdf of 2013 Washtenaw County budget]
The county works on a two-year budget planning cycle. In late 2011, commissioners set the budget for 2012 and 2013. However, state law mandates that the board must approve the budget annually. At its Nov. 7 meeting, commissioners gave initial approval to a budget “reaffirmation” for 2013, including several proposed adjustments. The original 2013 budget proposed a year ago was for general fund revenues and expenses of $97.066 million – $5.774 … [Full Story]
Washtenaw County employees who have taken unpaid “banked leave” days in 2012 will be getting a one-time payment that’s equivalent to 1.5% of their salaries, following action by the county board of commissioners at its Dec. 5, 2012 meeting. The average payment will be about $800 and will affect 940 of the county’s 1,321 employees. The adjustment – a total increase of $361,000 – was included as part of the 2013 budget, which commissioners also approved on Dec. 5. The vote on the pay adjustment was 10-1, with dissent from Dan Smith (R-District 2), who referred to it as a bonus.
According to a staff memo, the majority of union workers and all non-union employees took 10 banked leave days in … [Full Story]
The well-dressed stranger standing in the driveway certainly had the farmer’s attention. The stranger’s eyes flicked over one of the farmer’s suspenders fastened to faded trousers with a nail as he described his generous proposition. The farmer glanced at the visitor’s handsome buggy – this was a gentleman of means, offering a poor man a shot at paying off the mortgage. After a handshake, the stranger retrieved some papers from his buggy and held out a pen.
This late 19th-century public domain stereoscopic image shows threshing in Illinois.
In the mid-1880s, one fraudulent scheme snookered thousands of Michigan farmers across the lower half of the lower peninsula, including many in Washtenaw County. As the fraud spread like a storm over sixteen Michigan counties, it left farmers crushed by debt, newspapers issuing shrill warnings, and a rising tide of lawsuits that crested not once but several times in the Michigan Supreme Court.
The miracle product responsible for ruination was the fabled “Bohemian oats,” a variety of oat touted as far more valuable than the regular oats then for sale from 35 to 50 cents a bushel in southeastern Michigan. [Full Story]
Two Washtenaw County residents – Libby Hines and Jim Fink – have been appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the seven-member Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. Hines, an Ann Arbor resident, is chief judge of the 15th District Court. Fink, an Ypsilanti attorney, recently ran for 22nd Circuit Court judge. Carol Kuhnke won that seat in the Nov. 6 general election. The board, which replaces a similar Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, is tasked with coordinating and monitoring programs and services for the prevention of domestic and sexual violence and the treatment of victims of domestic and sexual violence. [Source] [.pdf of Snyder's executive order]
The Ann Arbor planning commission voted to postpone adoption of a new sustainability framework – including a set of 16 goals – into the city’s master plan. The postponement will allow the staff to work with commissioners on fine-tuning language related to the energy efficiency of existing buildings. The action was taken at the commission’s Dec. 4, 2012 meeting. The commission will take up the item in January of 2013, when it will also vote on recommending that the city council also approve adopting the goals into the master plan.
The city has been developing this framework for nearly two years. In June, the commission had recommended approval of the 16 overarching sustainability goals, which are organized into four … [Full Story]
Two residential properties in Ann Arbor Township – at 3100 and 3355 Geddes Road – were recommended for annexation into the city of Ann Arbor, in separate actions taken by the Ann Arbor planning commission on Dec. 4, 2012. Both sites were also recommended to be zoned R1A (single-family residential). These recommendation will be forwarded to the city council for consideration.
The 3100 Geddes Road site, owned by Mike and Deb McMullen, is a 0.46-acre parcel located south of Geddes and north of Devonshire, between Heatherway Street and Hickory Lane. It was part of a larger lot that had been divided into four parcels earlier this year by Ann Arbor Township. This particular parcel, with an existing home, does not have … [Full Story]
At its Dec. 4, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission postponed action on a proposed residential development at 515 N. Fifth Ave. Commissioners were following the advice of a staff recommendation to allow time for the owners to address a range of issues related to utility, landscaping and natural features analysis.
The project – located between Kingsley and Beakes, on the west side of North Fifth – proposes a three-story, 8,404-square-foot building with four two-bedroom units: two condominiums and two apartments. The apartments would be on the second and third floors, while the condos would be on the first floor, with entrances from the north and south sides. Parking would be provided in an attached four-car garage in the front … [Full Story]
Reading material in a second-floor alcove at city hall, across from the clerk’s office: People, The New Yorker, Smithsonian, Good Housekeeping. Not even too dated. [photo]
The Ann Arbor park advisory commission has voted to recommend applying for two grants related to the city-owned 721 N. Main property. PAC took the action on Dec. 4, 2012, before its land acquisition committee meeting.
The grants would come from the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission’s Connecting Communities program, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources trust fund. No amounts were indicated in the resolutions that were approved by PAC, but up to $300,000 could be requested from the state, and at least that much could be requested from the county. The amounts in the applications will be determined after a phase 2 environmental assessment is completed later this year. That environmental study will give the … [Full Story]
At this moment (10:45 a.m. on Tuesday) a very long flatbed truck is being backed into the Swift Street side of Argo Cascades to unload some gigantic boulders. Another flatbed truck with a railroad tank car sized tube is awaiting its turn. This must be part of the Edison remediation of the property on the other side and the construction of exciting water features in the river.
The Great Lakes Echo has published an interview with Sara Adlerstein González, an artist and ecosystem scientist at the University of Michigan whose artwork is on display through December at UM’s School of Natural Resources & Environment. “I don’t want to believe that my art is going to change the world. But I do think that art and the artist are a part of this world and need to be a mirror of what’s going on and reflect on reality. At this point in time, I think society has big problems with environmental issues. I happen to be a scientist working on the Great Lakes and understanding … stressors in their environment and the role that humans play.” [Source]
Street blocked off with police tape and a police car at each end of the block. [Also noted by Trevor Staples: Street blocked off with police tape and a police car at each end of the block.]
Except for projects already in the works, spending of funds accumulated through Ann Arbor’s Percent for Art program has been suspended until April 1, 2013. The city’s public art ordinance requires that 1% of all capital project budgets be set aside for public art. The vote – taken at the council’s Dec. 3, 2012 meeting – was 10-1, with Margie Teall (Ward 4) dissenting.
A committee consisting of Sally Petersen (Ward 2), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Margie Teall (Ward 4) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) has been appointed to recommend amendments to the city’s public art program. The committee is charged with making a recommendation to the council by Feb. 15, 2013.
The city council took the action on … [Full Story]
Because a deficit elimination plan approved by the Ann Arbor city council in 2008 has not erased the unrestricted deficit in the golf enterprise fund, the Ann Arbor city council has now moved the accounting for the city golf courses back into the general fund. The vote was taken at the council’s Dec. 3, 2012 meeting, with only Mike Anglin (Ward 5) dissenting.
The move is effective July 1, 2013, which is the start of the 2014 fiscal year, and will satisfy the need to have a deficit reduction plan for the golf enterprise fund. The condition of the separate golf enterprise fund had caught the attention of the state treasurer’s office in 2008, which had led the council to … [Full Story]
Approval of changes to the Packard Square project – which is proposed to redevelop the former Georgetown Mall – has been delayed by the Ann Arbor city council. The proposed changes would alter the facade of the building by reducing the number of balconies by one-third, replacing some brick with Hardi-board siding, changing windows, and changing the color of the siding. [.pdf with images showing contrast between originally approved drawings and revisions]
At its Dec. 3, 2012 meeting, the council raised several questions and concerns, and ultimately voted to postpone consideration of the approval until Jan. 7, 2013.
The changes to the building that the council was asked to approve were motivated by a change to the upper level residential portion of the … [Full Story]
The city of Ann Arbor is purchasing about 1,250 additional curbside waste collection carts. The carts, which are being supplied by Toter for $65,500 this year, will add to the existing 55,000 carts in circulation. The carts were first implemented seven years ago, and the city expects to start seeing more frequent need to replace them.
Over the next three years, the city expects that each year it will need to purchase 1,500 recycling carts, 400 compost carts and 600 trash carts. The contract was authorized by the city council at its Dec. 3, 2012 meeting.
The contract through which the city is purchasing the carts is through the Metro Waste Authority, at a cost for the base carts that is slightly … [Full Story]
Ann Arbor has petitioned the Washtenaw County office of the water resources commissioner to undertake design and construction of three stormwater control projects totaling $1.07 million.
A proposed project on South Fourth Avenue – between East Huron Street and East Liberty Street – will reconstruct the street using a traditional road surface, but will manage stormwater with infiltration basins under the road. The stormwater part of the $870,000 project will cost $320,000.
A similar project on South Forest Avenue – from South University to north of Hill Street – will have a total price of $688,500, with the stormwater component costing $454,400.
A third project for which the city has petitioned the county water resources commissioner is a citywide tree planting project costing … [Full Story]
Patti Smith’s nomination to serve on Ann Arbor’s environmental commission for a three-year term was confirmed by the city council at its Dec. 3, 2012 meeting.
Sabra Briere (Ward 1), the current Ann Arbor city council appointee to the commission, nominated Smith during the council’s Nov. 19, 2012 meeting. Smith’s educational background is as an attorney, and she now works in the field of special education.
The commission provides advice to the city council on “environmental policy, environmental issues and environmental implications of all City programs and proposals on the air, water, land and public health.”
Unlike the majority of nominations to city commissions and boards, which are made by the mayor and confirmed by the city council, the environmental commission … [Full Story]
Inoperable vehicles will be a bit more difficult to store on the streets of Ann Arbor, as a result of the city council’s final approval of ordinance changes on Dec. 3, 2012.
The city’s strategy – of placing notices on cars that give owners 48 hours to move their vehicles – was being thwarted by people who simply push their vehicles a few feet. The change in the ordinance addresses directly the issue of whether a vehicle is operable, in part by adding the following language: “If a vehicle appears to be inoperative based on outward appearance or otherwise appears to not have been driven after a 48 hour notice has been affixed to the vehicle pursuant to section 10:136, the … [Full Story]
Changes to the city of Ann Arbor’s noise ordinance received final approval at the city council’s Dec. 3, 2012 meeting. The amendments to the ordinance, sponsored by Ward 3 councilmember Christopher Taylor, were related to the now-completed construction of The Landmark at 601 S. Forest, an apartment building located in Ward 3. Construction noise was one of several aspects of the construction activity that came under sharp criticism at the council’s Oct. 1, 2012 meeting from nearby resident Eleanor Linn, who also addressed the council at its Nov. 19, 2012 meeting, when the changes were given initial approval.
The revision adds language to the text of the ordinance to make clear that the ordinance can be enforced against those … [Full Story]
The internal committees of the Ann Arbor city council – as well as the council’s appointments to other bodies – were decided at the council’s Dec. 3, 2012 meeting. It was the second meeting of the new edition of the council, following the Nov. 6 elections. The departure of Tony Derezinski, Sandi Smith and Carsten Hohnke from the council meant that some changes had to be made.
The budget committee saw no changes from last year: Mike Anglin, Sabra Briere, Marcia Higgins, Jane Lumm, and Christopher Taylor.
Added to the audit committee to replace Sandi Smith and Carsten Hohnke, as well as Sabra Briere, were Chuck Warpehoski, Sumi Kailasapathy, and Sally Petersen. Other members of the audit committee are Stephen Kunselman and … [Full Story]
Half naked (shirtless) runner emerging from the fog. [photo 1] I didn’t expect it to be this warm, or this foggy late in the day in December. [photo 2] [photo 3]. Weird and beautiful.
