The State Bar of Michigan blog notes that applications are being accepted for the 15th District Court judgeship in Ann Arbor. The position was most recently held by Julie Creal, who resigned because of health issues. The deadline for submission is Dec. 9, with applications sent to the legal division of Gov. Rick Snyder’s office. [Source]
Ned Staebler, an Ann Arbor resident who’s vice president for economic development at Wayne State University, writes an entry for HuffPost Detroit that explains why he’s optimistic about the future of that city. “Search for ‘Detroit’ on Facebook and you’ll find hundreds of groups. Some have names that include words like ‘defend,’ ‘restore,’ or ‘save.’ But, increasingly there are more and more with other themes in their titles: ‘salsa,’ ‘young,’ ‘discover.’ Why is this important? Because, we’ll know Detroit is healthy again when we all have stopped focusing on saving it.” [Source]
Among the praise logged on MetaFilter for David Erik Nelson’s Chronicle column published Nov. 16, 2011, about having Bank of America as a neighbor is “I wish I could write like that,” and “Wow, what a great article: well written, humble and simple yet angry and direct.” [Source] The context-sensitive ads on MetaFilter provide the irony of an ad for Bank of America highlighting its philanthropic endeavors, juxtaposed with Nelson’s statement: “Bank of America is a shitty neighbor.” [screenshot]
The University Record posts a message sent out on Tuesday by University of Michigan Mary Sue Coleman regarding the events at Penn State: ”This is a chance to remind one another that a community’s values are lived out in the actions of each of us as individuals. It is important for us to act immediately in suspected cases of abuse or other crimes, or in a circumstance where you find yourself either a victim or a witness to questionable activity.” [Source]
Wily Writers has posted a short horror story and podcast – “The Bobble Head of Doom” – by Bob Eccles, who also works as a news reporter and anchor for WEMU, the public radio station at Eastern Michigan University. An excerpt: “The sound of approaching sirens woke Nick from his sleep. He ran to the window and peered out between the curtains. He didn’t see any police cars, but his forehead was beaded with sweat. Nick turned to face ex-president Nixon. ‘Do you think they’re coming for me?’ Nixon’s head nodded. ‘But I was sure nobody saw me! What am I going to do?’ The former president scowled at Nick, his head still.” [Source]
Sue McCormick, one of the city of Ann Arbor’s top administrators, is being hired as director of Detroit’s water and sewerage department. Her selection by Detroit mayor David Bing was announced at the Nov. 9 meeting of the board of water commissioners, which is expected to vote on her appointment at its Nov. 30 meeting.
The news was conveyed to the Ann Arbor city council Thursday afternoon via an email from city administrator Steve Powers, who forwarded councilmembers a link to the Digesting the Detroit Water Department blog. There was no mention of the announcement at the council’s meeting that evening.
McCormick first came on board the city of Ann Arbor as water utilities director in 2001. Before that she … [Full Story]
An article in the Data Driven Detroit newsletter looks at tax foreclosures in the metro Detroit region. In addition to providing a primer on Michigan’s tax foreclosure process, the article looks at jurisdictions in the four-county region (Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne) in terms of tax foreclosures per square mile. “Communities such as Novi Township, Ypsilanti Township, Royal Oak Township, and Hazel Park are now also local centers of tax foreclosure, with rates similar to those in Detroit in 2007 or 2008. As the map suggests, tax foreclosures are most concentrated in and around Detroit and its inner-ring suburbs, although more distant areas like Eastern Washtenaw County and central Macomb County have pockets of significant tax foreclosure activity.” [Source]
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is expected to make a stop at the Big Sky Diner in Ypsilanti on Thursday, Nov. 11 10 at 10 a.m., according to an email to members of the Willow Run Tea Party Caucus sent by its director, Dennis Moore. The email indicates that Cain will also conduct a taped interview at the diner for the Sean Hannity Show on Fox News. All eight GOP candidates will be in the Detroit area for a debate at Oakland University on Wednesday evening. Cain has been in the spotlight recently for allegations of sexual harassment when he served as CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s – allegations that he vigorously denies.
In advance of the Nov. 8 election, the author of Ann Arbor Schools Musings blog gives her thoughts on the six candidates for two open seats on the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education. Rather than give endorsements, she reflects on the attributes of each candidate, and explains why she’s inclined to vote for them, or not. However, she does give one “anti-endorsement,” and urges readers not to vote for Albert Howard, citing his “anti-Muslim sentiment.” [Source]
On his blog albertmcwilliams’s posterous, Al McWilliams of Quack!Media spanks all those who are upset by Ann Arbor’s recent ordinance that enhances the state law requiring vehicles to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. In a post titled “Smart folks in Ann Arbor crash their cars into stuff, blame City Council,” McWilliams writes: “Ann Arbor likes to think that it’s some bastion of progressive thought; a place where enlightenment reigns supreme. In reality, all it took to turn the wise people of this city into giant, selfish, babies was a little road rage.” [Source]
Posting on his blog Common Monkeyflower, Richard “Murph” Murphy examines foreclosure activity in Ypsilanti, following up on a previous post about housing prices. He writes: “Foreclosures are still an issue in the City, and we’ve still got some stock of bank-owned homes to clear out to allow prices to rise, but at some point our own housing market becomes less an issue than that in surrounding communities: in the first 9 months of 2011, Ypsilanti Township had 275 foreclosures, compared to the City’s 50. Whether you adjust that for population, dwelling units, or structures, the Township’s foreclosure rate remains frighteningly high, and there’s only so much the City can do to stabilize its property values when surrounded by a community … [Full Story]
The Arts Alliance, a nonprofit based in Ann Arbor, has posted candidate responses to two questions related to the arts: 1. “What is your position on public funding for arts and culture?” and 2. “If elected, what measurable actions will you take to ensure that arts and cultural offerings survive and thrive in Washtenaw County?” School board candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot in several local school districts, as well as city council candidates in Ann Arbor, Chelsea and Milan responded to the survey. [Source]
Writing on his blog, Mark Maynard considers ways that local residents might support Ypsilanti entrepreneurs like Bee Mayhew, owner of Beezy’s café, who’s thinking of opening a diner on Michigan Avenue. After laying out some funding options, Maynard writes: “And, the cool thing is, something like this could work for any restaurant or retail endeavor, assuming the person or persons associated with said endeavor had a certain level of trust within the community. As we all know, those people are hard to come by, but they do exist. And, through a mechanism like this, these entrepreneurs could afford to do renovations, purchase merchandise, etc. It’s not even out of the realm of possibility that we, the community, could recruit … [Full Story]
A public open house for the University of Michigan’s new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours will be conducted throughout the day, with music, food, games, and other activities. Shuttles are available from the Taubman Biomedical Science Research Building at 109 Zina Pitcher Place. The hospital will officially open in December. [Source]
The nonprofit 826michigan posts some ghost stories – and a poem – written by teens tutored in the Ann Arbor nonprofit’s “Most Terrifying Program: The Deadliest Drop-in Writing!” This excerpt is from “So Spooky”: “When I got home it was raining again. I asked my mom if we should go into the basement but she said we didn’t have a basement. But the car door was broken off so I had to sit with the door open. Then all of a sudden I fell out of the car. Then the monster came back and it was bigger than the big tree. It reached down, and it ate me.” [Source]
The city of Ann Arbor has launched an online survey to measure attitudes about recycling and RecycleBank’s coupon-incentive program. The city contracts with RecycleBank to administer and promote the coupon program. The survey closes Nov. 30, 2011. Take the survey here.
“Born On A Blue Day: Inside The Extraordinary Mind Of An Autistic Savant” by Daniel Tammet has been selected for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2012, a community-wide program to promote reading and community dialogue center around a common book. “Born On A Blue Day” is a New York Times best-selling autobiography that describes the author’s experiences in leading a life with autism. Tammet is scheduled for a reading on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 at Washtenaw Community College, starting at 7:30 p.m. Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads is co-sponsored by the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti district libraries. [Source]
The Ann Arbor farmers market is soliciting feedback from shoppers via an online survey. Questions cover what kind of information people are looking for from various communication channels – like the market’s Facebook page and Twitter account – as well as when and how often people shop at the market. [Source]
Writing on Yahoo Sports’ The Post Game, Jeff Arnold reviews the new book by John U. Bacon, “Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football” (FSG, $28, out Oct. 25, 2011). Arnold writes: ”While Bacon succeeds in earning Rodriguez’s trust in delivering behind-the-scenes observations, he fails to fully provide both sides of the story. The perspective of several key figures – including and especially [Lloyd] Carr – is not included. The former coach didn’t reply to any of Bacon’s 11 interview requests. That leaves Rodriguez’s predecessor looming eerily in every chapter as the proverbial man behind the curtain.” [Source]
The Ann Arbor Schools Musings blog has published a Q&A with Andy Thomas, one of six candidates running for two seats on the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of trustees. In response to a question about whether Thomas, an incumbent, supports Gov. Rick Snyder’s education reforms, Thomas writes: “The Emergency Manager legislation seems designed to subvert local control and focuses exclusively on cutting costs rather than providing services. The use of School Aid Funds for purposes other than K-12 education is a grievous betrayal of the public trust, and a violation of the spirit (if not the letter) of the law as enacted by the people under Proposal A.” The election is on Nov. 8. [Source]
Immediately following a third-place finish in the World Solar Challenge in Australia, members of the University of Michigan’s Solar Car Team were interviewed for a video posted on YouTube. The teams faced wildfires and bad weather along the course. Team member Troy Halm sums it up this way: “It was exciting. Now it’s very relieving that it’s finally over.” [Source]
Applications are being accepted from artists and designers interested in the Witt Residency Program at the University of Michigan School of Art & Design. “The Witt residency provides students an alternative learning opportunity to engage with practicing artists who make use of resources across campus, therefore the ideal candidate must value collaboration, have good social and communication skills and be interested in generating creative partnerships across disciplines.” In addition to a $20,000 honorarium, the residency provides housing, studio space and up to $5,000 for materials. The deadline to apply is Jan. 10, 2012. [Source]
A post on the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark website reports on the group’s recent fundraising efforts – a benefit at Sava’s restaurant, which brought in $18,000 for the project. From the post: ”The amount raised at this event marks a significant milestone where the organization is financially able to release a Request For Proposals, in coordination with their partners at the City of Ann Arbor, for the design and construction supervision of a permanent skate park amenity at Veteran’s Memorial Park. An RFP committee comprised of FOTAAS members, Washtenaw County Park Commission personnel, Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission members, and Ann Arbor Parks Staff will now be constituted for that purpose.” [Source]
Lindsay Blackwell has launched a social media campaign to get hired as the University of Michigan social media director, a new position created by Lisa Rudgers, UM’s vice president for global communications and strategic initiatives. The “Dear Lisa” campaign has its own website and Twitter hashtag – #dearlisa. From the website’s section on “What This Is”: ”Hi, I’m Lindsay Blackwell. I really, really, really want this job. Maybe you’re not Lisa Rudgers. That’s cool. Maybe you know somebody who knows somebody who knows Lisa Rudgers. If you’re impressed with what you’ve seen here, do me a favor – tell somebody. Tell your mother, tell your friends, tell your dog. Tell somebody who might tell somebody who might tell Lisa Rudgers.” Good … [Full Story]
Wednesday’s blog entry for the University of Michigan’s Solar Car team – getting ready for the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia – profiles team member Aaresh Bilimoria, a UM sophomore: “In the past year, Aaresh’s favorite memory was driving the car around for the first time in the orange lot at 4 a.m. and the long hours leading up to it trying to get the motor to spin. With no surprises to anyone familiar with the Michigan Solar Car Team, Aaresh describes his experiences in four words: ‘Hectic, stressful, fun, interesting.’” [Source]
A five-minute video posted on YouTube records the flash mob by students of Ann Arbor Dance Classics in front of Zingerman’s Deli on Saturday. They’re dancing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” [Source]
The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan has posted a time-lapse video of events in and around the Sept. 10 Michigan v. Notre Dame night football game at Michigan Stadium. The video includes shots taken throughout the day and into the night, showing tailgaters, fans, the marching band, cheerleaders and players. See anyone you know? [Source]
Organizers of the sixth Ignite Ann Arbor are taking applications for speakers: “Ignite talks are 5 minute talks where the speaker gets 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. We think that breeds creativity, and we like to see talks on a very wide arrange of topics, as you can see by looking at some of the previous talks … There is still untrodden territory! After seeing some 70 talks in Ann Arbor so far, we have yet to have had an act of fiction, for instance.” The deadline for submission is Oct. 10. The event is on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in the University of Michigan’s Blau Auditorium. [Source]
On The Wolverine, Jonathan Chait previews John U. Bacon’s “Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football,” due out Oct. 25. Chait writes: ”It’s extremely rare for a college sports program to give an author complete access to everything for a year, let alone three. Bacon was embedded with the team so long that the players and coaches practically stopped noticing he was around, and the insider perspective he gained is unparalleled. You simply don’t get any other chance to know what it’s like to watch the coaches argue with each other while breaking down film, hang out with players at a campus party, sit on the inside of full team meetings.” [Source]
On his blog “there is no gap,” Karl Pohrt posts the text of a talk he gave at the annual Native American Solidarity Sunday for the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Ann Arbor: ”I thought I’d briefly talk about Native ideas regarding where we fit into the universe. Some of these ideas are very different from our own. The Marxist anthropologist Stanley Diamond said that whenever we encounter people who do things differently than we do, it is an implicit critique of the way we do things. Diamond went on to say that the role of the engaged anthropologist is to make that critique explicit.” [Source]
