Michigan Radio reports that DTE Energy will begin its major pollution cleanup on Monday of the former MichCon site, located next to the Huron River near Argo Dam. The report quotes Shayne Wiesemann, an environmental engineer for DTE: “These MGP [manufactured gas plant] residuals have a characteristic odor that smells a little bit like, uh, like creosote, so folks may smell that but we’ll be doing our best to minimize the odors.” [Source]
Writing on the Huron River Watershed Council blog, executive director Laura Rubin describes a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony in Dexter for the Mill Creek Park, and the transformation that’s taken place since the Mill Creek dam was removed in 2008. She writes: “I know the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the Mill Pond was a weed-choked, stinky pond. Now we have an open central park with an amphitheater, trails, fishing piers and overlooks, boat access, benches, and pretty flowers and trees. And then there’s the creek. Anglers have spotted brown trout jumping this past week!” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports that Andrew Shirvell has been ordered to pay $4.5 million in damages, losing on all counts in a federal lawsuit brought by former University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong. Shirvell, a former state assistant attorney general, created a blog to attack Armstrong for his “radical homosexual agenda,” according to the report. [Source]
The city of Ann Arbor has launched a new online public forum site called A2 Open City Hall. The first topic focuses on changes that residents would like to see along the South State Street corridor, from Stimson Street to West Ellsworth Road. The site allows you to post comments and read what other people have posted. The feedback will be incorporated into the city’s ongoing South State Street corridor study. [Source]
The Millennial Mayors Congress, which describes itself as ”a partnership of city officials and rising leaders working together to address regional challenges in metro Detroit,” is surveying different communities to develop “vibrancy maps” to highlight places and events that make each area unique. This survey focuses on Ypsilanti, asking what you would do on an ideal Saturday morning, afternoon or evening in the city, and what three adjectives best describe the community. [Source]
The Ann Arbor Schools Musings blog posts a speech given by Skyline High teacher Collin Ganio at an honors ceremony for students earlier this year. He described the famous “Me/We” extemporaneous poem by Muhammad Ali, then said: “I issue the same challenge to you – think less about Myspace and more about Ourspace. Use your agile minds and big hearts – ask the deep questions – in order to make this world better not just for yourselves, but for everyone around you. I mean, think about it – if everyone worked to better a community for their fellow citizens, then we might not spend a lot of time working to make our own lives better, but we might not need … [Full Story]
David M. Halperin’s newest book, “How to be Gay,” is reviewed in the New York Times. Halperin is a professor of the history and theory of sexuality at the University of Michigan, whose course on the same subject has drawn fire from conservatives in the past. From the review: “The spray bottle of the author’s prose is often left on the ‘academic mist’ setting. You will stumble over phrases like ‘constitutive conditions,’ ‘heteronormative coordinates’ and ‘subjective agency.’ Far worse, you will stumble over all of them in the same sentence, on Page 335. But Mr. Halperin can also be frank and funny, and he gets a lot of interesting utterances off his plate in ‘How to Be Gay.’ The book … [Full Story]
In a post on her blog, Sabra Briere reflects on how Ann Arbor Democratic political organizers used to canvass neighborhoods to collect information about voters, and how that process has changed over the years. She writes: “Getting this information required constant work by precinct workers. Volunteers would go door-to-door in the months without an election, and learn whether someone had moved, married, or died. Each resident was asked if he/she was registered to vote, and names were later checked off against a list of known voters. Each resident was asked about party preference: ‘are you a Democrat, Republican or Independent? If an Independent, are you more likely to vote Democratic or Republican?’ (This is all pre-computer, when we were still … [Full Story]
The Detroit Free Press hung out with about 100 University of Michigan students and faculty on Sunday night to watch NASA’s landing of the Mars Rover Curiosity. The article quotes UM doctoral student Shannon Curry: “I’m excited to be a young scientist. This is a really exciting moment.” [Source]
The New York Times published an obituary of Paul W. McCracken, former economic advisor to several presidents, including Richard Nixon. McCracken, a moderate Republican, lived in Ann Arbor and was a University of Michigan professor emeritus. From the Times report: “A wide-ranging thinker, Mr. McCracken was part of a postwar generation of economists who believed that government should play an active role in moderating business cycles, balancing inflation and unemployment, and helping the disadvantaged.” [Source]
A Bloomberg News article about the upcoming Mars landing quotes Nilton Renno, a mission scientist and University of Michigan professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences: “You can see in the eyes of the students how excited they get by working on something like this mission. It’s mind-blowing that we can send an instrument to another planet and operate it from earth, understanding something so far away.” [Source]
A Michigan Radio report looks at cleanup efforts of the MichCon site along the Huron River in Ann Arbor, where manufactured gas was made in the late 1800s and early 1900s by burning coal. The report quotes Kevin Lund, a senior geologist with the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality’s remediation division, regarding contamination in the river bed: “We were just collecting samples along the way and were finding exactly this all the way through here. And one of the locations that we dug, a hole in the bank, it filled with oil.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports on the health of Ann Arbor’s economy, focusing on its low unemployment rate – the lowest in Michigan. The article quotes experts like economist Richard Florida, who states that “Ann Arbor is the new growth engine of the greater Detroit region.” Other experts cite the area’s highly educated workforce, the University of Michigan, and industries like technology and health care. But the only actual job seekers quoted in the article are Tyler Mettie, who found a part-time job washing dishes at Tios restaurant, and Keely Ann Kaleski, a software training manager who’s still out of work. [Source]
“Maize and Blue Go for the Gold” – a website highlighting the University of Michigan’s connections to the 2012 London Olympics – has launched with a photo gallery, roster of current UM students competing in the Games, and stories about past and present UM Olympians. The university has also created a Twitter hashtag – #MGoLondon – for tweets about UM at the Olympics. Opening ceremonies will kick off tonight. [Source]
The Washtenaw Community College board of trustees has given WCC’s president, Rose Bellanca, a one-year contract extension and 2% raise, according to a report in the Washtenaw Voice. Her annual salary after the raise is $198,900 and her contract now runs to 2015. Bellanca was hired in 2011 to replace long-time WCC president Larry Whitworth. [Source]
The Ann Arbor-based Arts Alliance asked candidates in the Aug. 7 primary to respond to five questions related to their views on arts and culture. Questions include: “What arts and cultural activities have you or your family members attended, participated in, or supported in the past year?” and “What is your position on public funding for arts & culture?” [.pdf of candidate responses]
In the wake of NCAA-imposed penalties against Penn State related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal and cover-up, the Detroit News interviewed officials at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University about the balance of athletics and academics. UM athletics director David Brandon is quoted: ”Yeah, we play football, we play basketball, we have rabid fans who enjoy that. … We’re pleased we’ve got people that really love it and are passionate about what we do. But if we ever get to the point where we think it’s more important than the real important things that take place on a college campus, we have lost our way.” [Source]
A video posted on the city of Ann Arbor’s new non-motorized transportation blog follows a bike rider with a helmet-mounted camera on a commute from Fifth and Ann, near city hall, down Fifth to Packard, then over to State – set to the tune of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” According to a city press release, the blog will serve as ”a platform for encouragement and education of the culture of non-motorized transportation.” [Source]
Lisa Allmendinger, a long-time local reporter, relaunched an online news site on Monday for the Chelsea area: Chelsea Update. In her inaugural post, Allmendinger writes: “This Chelsea-focused news site got its start with my neighbor, Heather Newman, who has entrusted me with ‘her baby’ by letting me buy it and relaunch it after a two-year hiatus. …Throughout my career, I’ve been a sports writer, editorial page editor, news editor, and regional reporter. I’ve also been a part of several different launches, which were owned, of course, by other people. Yet despite the risks, I’ve always wanted to launch my own publication. Today marks the beginning of this life-long dream for me.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press curated photos from participants of the Color Run in Ypsilanti, which drew about 15,000 people. The event involved runners getting powdered with colored corn starch at intervals throughout the 5-kilometer course. [Source] The publication also posted a short video from the race. [Source]
Quantum, this year’s entry for the University of Michigan’s solar car team, won the 2012 American Solar Challenge. A photo of the winning crew is posted on the team’s website, with a note to fans: “On July 21, 2012, we not only won our 7th National Championship, but we finished the race with the largest margin of victory in the history of the American Solar Challenge. We are proud to bring home the trophy to Ann Arbor for a 4th consecutive time, however, we are not stopping here! Believe it or not, before this race even began, we were already working on the next car.” [Source]
Writing on the Huron River Watershed Council blog, Elizabeth Riggs notes a connection between running and the Huron River: “Nick Willis, the 1,500 meter silver-medalist in 2008 Beijing Olympics representing New Zealand, lives, trains, and coaches in Ann Arbor. When he recently shared his Favorite Running Spots in town via Facebook, we couldn’t help but notice that the Huron River and its tributaries figure prominently in the list.” Locations include trails from Leslie Science Center to North Park (Traver Creek) and the dirt roads behind Barton Hills (Huron River), among many others. Willis will be competing in the 1,500 meter race at the 2012 Olympics in London. [Source]
David Brophy, a University of Michigan business professor, is featured in Forbes magazine in a column about the future of venture capitalism. He notes that deals have been slow this year: “Partners are pulling back because they don’t trust the future – nobody does at the moment – and venture capital is a big bet on the future.” [Source]
Micheline Maynard, writing in the Atlantic Cities, describes the attributes of living in a small town – in her case, Ann Arbor: ”Turns out my years living in big cities have given me an unexpected education in getting the most out of small city life. They’ve helped me discover what’s most important to me: a lively, diverse community, with access to good food, the arts, the world around us, and a comfortable place to live that’s also affordable on a freelancer’s budget.” [Source]
An article in the science journal Nature reports on questions raised about the research of social psychologist Lawrence Sanna, who has recently resigned from the University of Michigan. Another researcher, Uri Simonsohn, identified “odd statistical patterns” in Sanna’s research, which linked physical height and virtue. From the article: “The reasons for Sanna’s resignation are not known, but it followed questions from Simonsohn and a review by Sanna’s previous institution, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC). According to the editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Sanna has also asked that three of his papers be retracted from the journal. … UNC did not release the results of its review, and the University of Michigan will not explain why … [Full Story]
The online magazine Salon publishes a column by Anna Clark about a defamation lawsuit filed against The Michigan Daily by the Kitchener Rangers, a Canadian junior hockey team. Clark describes her own experience at the student newspaper, and of the quality journalistic it has produced. She writes that ”some student newspapers have proved that they are above and beyond the average. They come from a tradition of practicing professional journalism; as this lawsuit moves forward, they deserve to be treated like professional journalists. In a funny way, the plaintiffs in this defamation lawsuit are demonstrating that they, at least, take student journalism seriously.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports that Eastern Michigan University president Susan Martin received a letter in May from the EMU board of regents’ executive committee, warning her that she could be fired if there are additional incidents involving public alcohol consumption and inappropriate behavior. The letter was in response to an incident earlier this year in Washington that involved an EMU alumni member. Martin sent an email on Tuesday, July 10 to the university community, describing the situation, apologizing and vowing that “this will not occur again.” [Source]
On NPR, David Greene interviews University of Michigan physics professor Gordy Kane about the bet that Kane won with Stephen Hawking. Hawking bet Kane $100 that the Higgs boson subatomic particle wouldn’t be found. Kane tells NPR that he hasn’t yet received a check – if he does, ”I might put it on my wall and not post it.” [Source]
The Legacy Land Conservancy has posted a short preview of a series of farmland videos that the nonprofit is producing to highlight its land preservation efforts. Among other shots, the clip features Joe Trumpey feeding goats, and a close-up of a cow licking the camera. [Source]
In a post on the Ann Arbor-based Huron River Watershed Council website, Paul Steen writes about a workshop he attended that explored “connections between streams, climate change, and fish populations. The centerpiece of this workshop was a climate change-fish vulnerability model developed by a partnership between the US Geological Survey (USGS), Michigan State University, and state agencies in Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. This model makes predictions of how likely stream fish populations are to change under a range of climate change scenarios.” [Source]
