Arbor Update

Politics

Election Night: special!

Posted by Murph on 3. November 2008

Election Night’s a good night to spend out with like-minded folk, celebrating or commiserating, as the case may be.

For those who want to go straight to the source, County Clerk Kestenbaum will be hosting a shindig:

If you want to be social on Election Night, here’s another option for you.

We’re reviving the old tradition of Election Night at the county seat, featuring immediate access to local election results, local politicos, local reporters, much election conversation and speculation, plentiful food, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Also, televisions to follow national results.

It all starts at 8:00 pm at 200 N. Main (corner of Main & Ann), in downtown Ann Arbor.

Unlike partisan victory parties, you don’t even have to pretend to have worked on a campaign. Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, Socialists, and the unaffiliated all welcome.

You can also stroll to and from, um, partisan parties only a couple blocks away.

To my knowledge, there will be election night parties at the Arbor Brewing Company and Corner Brewery (one can expect these to be leaning, ahem, slightly to the Democrat), and the Sidetrack has a “free beer with ‘i voted’ sticker” special (requires a coupon, too – find a friend on their e-mail list).

Others?

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Events

Reverse trick-or-treat

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 31. October 2008

Trick-or-treaters giving out candy?

That’s right, the UM student group SOLE (Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality) is organizing a reverse trick-or-treat (link to Facebook event). Equal Exchange is sponsoring this event as a way to educate people about fair trade by giving them fair trade chocolate and information.

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Events

Election '08's Impact on Michigan: The Candidates' Positions on Energy, the Environment, and the Economy

Posted by Juliew on 12. October 2008

Town Hall Forum
Tuesday, October 14, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Rackham Amphitheater
915 E. Washington St. Ann Arbor

The panel discussion will feature experts in the environment, energy, and economics for a discussion on how the policies of the presidential candidates will impact Michigan. They will be joined by advocates for both the Obama and McCain campaigns. Listen to the discussion, and ask your questions.

Panelists—
Democratic surrogate: Mark Brewer – State Democratic Party chair
Republican surrogate: Joe Schwarz – Former Congressman (Michigan 7th District)
Economy expert: Charles L. Ballard – Professor of Economics at MSU, Author of Michigan’s Economic Future
Energy expert: Carl Simon – Director of the U of M Center for the Study of Complex Systems, Professor of Public Policy, U of M
Environment expert: Ted Parson – Professor of Natural Resources and Environment and Professor of Law, U of M
Moderator: Jack Lessenberry, Michigan Radio’s Senior Political Analyst

The forum will be live-streamed on MichiganRadio.org. The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required. Click here to reserve your space.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Michigan Radio (91.7 WUOM in Ann Arbor)

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Events

Fire Department Open House Sunday, October 5

Posted by Juliew on 4. October 2008

This fun event for Fire Safety Prevention Week is Sunday, October 5 from 1:00-3:00pm at Station #1 (111 N. 5th Ave across from City Hall). The festivities include:

• Fire Safety Presentations
• Smoke House
• Cogs the Fire Safety Robot
• Hazmat & Technical Rescue Team
• Face Painting
• Snacks & Goodie Bags
• Up close looks at cool fire trucks!

Also visit the following fire stations on their open house days from 6:00pm-8:00pm
Station #3 – 2130 Jackson Ave. – Monday, October 6
Station #4 – 2415 Huron Pkwy – Tuesday, October 7
Station #5 – 1946 Beal Ave – Wednesday, October 8
Station #6 – 1881 Briarwood – Thursday, October 9

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(Urban) Planning

Upland Green (finally) sees a grand opening

Posted by Murph on 19. September 2008

A tenant of Upland Green, at Plymouth and Murfin, requested we post on their grand opening next week. While this site is typically disinclined to post outright advertisements, particularly for national chains, the project itself has been the topic of enough past discussion that I believe any opening will be of interest to AU readers.

In small part, the interest is from the long mid-construction stall that the project went into. More interesting to me, having served a 6-year term as North Campus resident/student/employee, is that the project is the most “urban” site plan on Plymouth Road, a notoriously car-centric corridor. While parking ratios are still high, the front building is three stories, mixed-use, with parking in the rear.

But most notable is how the process played out. The development initially proposed single-story stand-alone restaurants, with parking in the front yard; the revised project was a result of the Planning Commission asking for more density, and lower setbacks, making everyone who weighed in happier. (Notably, David Cahill and I both thought it was a good development.) Hopefully it will live up to the hype and be a positive contribution to that stretch of Plymouth Road. I’ll post the advertisement with the hopes that somebody will check out the site and report back:

Panera Bread will open on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 a.m. The new bakery-cafe will be located at 1773 Plymouth Road (across from North Campus). To commemorate the opening, customers who bring a non-perishable item to donate to Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., Sept. 26 through Oct. 3, will receive a free small coffee and a post-consumer recycled tote, while supplies last.

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Local

The Weekend Buzz

Posted by Juliew on 25. July 2008

Downtown Ann Arbor will be pretty quiet this weekend, so if you like the lull after the Art Fair, the stores are open and shopping will be easy.

The only events of note downtown this weekend will center on the corner of Liberty and First with the Ann Arbor Campaign for Change Voter Registration Celebration on Saturday and the building of a fake house for a movie being filmed in Ann Arbor. Note, if you take the 12A, 12B, or 12UL buses, routes will be affected Monday through Thursday as Liberty and First will be closed for filming.

If you are looking for something a little more exiting in the area this weekend, check out the Michigan Brewer’s Guild Summer Beer Festival at Riverside Park in Depot Town in Ypsi tonight and all day tomorrow.

The 35th Annual Chelsea SummerFest is also this weekend with a full schedule of music, art, a pet parade, car show, and more.

And of course, there is no better way to while away a summer Saturday than by going to German Park. German Park is only held the last Saturday of June, July, and August so don’t miss out. The gates open at 4:00pm and close at 11:00pm (or as they reach capacity).

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Local

An Eventful Weekend

Posted by Juliew on 11. July 2008

• Tonight (Friday night) is the always-entertaining Rolling Sculpture Car Show in the Main Street area.
• ElvisFest is alive and well in Ypsilanti today and Saturday.
• The Saline Celtic Festival is Saturday with a great roster of Celtic events.
• Sunday is Huron River Day.
• Monday night is the Fourth Annual Townie Party with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Mifune, and the Huron High School Drum Line. The party will be in a slightly new location on North University near Hill Auditorium.

And of course, the Art Fair(s) are Wednesday-Saturday (July 16-19).

Enjoy!

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Events

Festifair Friday

Posted by Juliew on 11. June 2008

This Friday, June 13, starts a busy summer of Fairs and Festivals.

The Mayor’s Green Fair is on Main Street from 6:00-9:00pm. There will be an “Environmental Leaders Area” which showcases local environmental organizations (including solar-powered bands, environmental Jeopardy, live birds of prey demonstration, and lots of information and crafts), a Green Commute Area sponsored by getDowntown, and the way cool BikeFest with a freeride bike skills demo, and rides on the conference bike. Attended free bike parking is included.

Friday is also the first day of the 25th anniversary of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival with the opening night party at Top of the Park starting at 6:30pm. Yes indeed, it is that time of year already! Check out the schedule and plan around the great events inside and outside for the next three and a half weeks.

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Local

Finding Local Food and Bringing it Home for Dinner: Supporting Our Farms

Posted by Juliew on 21. May 2008

Thursday, May 22
7:00-8:30pm
Ann Arbor Downtown Library
343 S. Fifth Ave. Ann Arbor, MI

This panel discussion is put on by Slow Food Huron Valley. Their last event at the Library had a standing-room only crowd.

This panel features exemplary local farmers – Deb Lentz and Richard Andres from Tantré Farm and Kris Hirth from Old Pine Farm – who will talk about how they run their CSA farms, what they’ve learned about growing food, and what they see for the future of food. The panel discussion will also highlight the creative ways that people in our community are buying, cooking and enjoying food that is produced close to home. Mary Wessell Walker will talk about her business, the Community Farm Kitchen, and Victoria Bennett will talk about how she and her husband changed their approach to food when they discovered their young son was allergic to both dairy and soy.

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Local

An Eventful Weekend, May 16-18

Posted by Juliew on 16. May 2008

Below are a few of the many great events going on this weekend.

Hometown Hootenanny tonight (Friday from 8:00pm-11:00pm) at Downtown Home and Gardens to support Avalon Housing. The live auction donors read like a who’s who of wonderful local businesses. Get in on the fun and support a great local organization.

Picnic Pops Saturday from 10:30am-6:00pm. Listen to local high school musicians, meet your neighbors, play local fun fair games (mmm, cake walks!).

Ann Arbor Book Festival Street Fair is Saturday from 11:00am-6:00pm. The Book Festival is already in full swing, but the street fair is the part most of the general public attends. There are a lot of great events, including a celebrity spelling bee (AU contributor Nancy Shore and occasional commenter Ed Vielmetti are two of the participants).

Downtown Blooms and Cleanup is from 9:00am-noon on Saturday. Help make downtown beautiful.

Walk and Wag Saturday at County Farm Park from 9:00am-12:30pm. This dog walk fund-raiser for the Humane Society is always a good time.

826michigan will have the grand opening of the Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair Shop on Saturday at 7:00pm. Don’t be surprised to find robots throughout the town Saturday!

Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair is Sunday, May 18, 2008, from 11:00am-5:00pm in the Ballroom of the Michigan Union. This is one of those events I seem to miss hearing about every year. Forty vendors selling old and rare books, Americana, maps, prints, and ephemera as a fundraiser for the very neat Clements Library. I’m going this year!

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