Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Terrorist Meteor Attack?

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 19. December 2004

BBC : Jakarta shaken by ‘meteor blast’

Cool Cities planning event Tuesday

Posted by Murph on 18. December 2004

Ann Arbor Cool Cities Task Force member and Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith announces a Cool Cities planning session Tuesday night,

After an energizing statewide conference (www.tippingtocool.com) and some very challenging discussions locally, Washtenaw’s arts advocates and economic development specialists are teaming up to craft a Cool Cities proposal to the State of Michigan to build on the county’s reputation as cultural nexus for writers, musicians, performers and visual artists.

I hope you’ll spend a couple hours with us next week as we move to the next step in this project.  On Tuesday we will begin clarifying the major components of our project proposal and identifying a key site for physical development.  Recent discussions have centered around calls for a county-wide cultural plan, a dedicated funding source for the arts and a project that can complement Ypsilanti’s 2004 Cool Cities Award winning project at the Riverside Arts Center.  With the State dedicating millions to the 2005 program, opportunities abound to make Washtenaw’s communities among the coolest in the country.

When:  Tuesday, December 21 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where:  Neutral Zone (637 S. Main – Ann Arbor) www.neutral-zone.org

Contact Conan at conansmith@comcast.net for more information.

Senior Citizens: Free the Weed

Posted by Ari Paul on 18. December 2004

The Associated Press reports, “Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll done for the nation’s largest advocacy group for seniors.”

Lansing rally against Prop 2, Friday

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 15. December 2004

Michigan Equality has issued the below statement calling for a rally at the state capitol on December 17.

also check out AU – ‘Seeking same-sex couples’ below.

Bringing Light to Darkness: Looking forward
Updated 12-11-04 to add confirmed speakers

December 17th, 2004
6:30PM-8PM

Capitol Building
Lansing, MI

On November 2, over forty percent of Michigan’s electorate voted against constitutionally banning same-sex marriage and other similar unions. We know from polling that a majority of people support LGBT rights to civil unions, employment nondiscrimination, and other important issues.

On December 17, you are invited to join us on the steps of the State Capitol in Lansing as we mark the effective date of discrimination being added to our state constitution, and as we look forward to ways in which the dialogue of this past year can be transformed into positive movements for the LGBT community.

Michigan Equality and other committed activist organizations and individuals invite you to attend a gathering on the steps of the State Capitol in Lansing to hear our leaders’ thoughts for the future.

Confirmed speakers include: Michelle Brown, Jeff Montgomery, Nathan Triplett, and Chris Swope.

For further information please call Michigan Equality 1 800 858 9107,www.michiganequality.org, or consult www.fairmichigan.org.

Penny Gardner
Michigan Equality

Seeking same-sex couples

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 15. December 2004

The following e-mail has been sent out from the Triangle Foundation, a Michigan GLBT advocacy group:

WE NEED YOUR STORIES NOW!

Triangle Foundation and a coalition of GLBT organizations looking to compile stories of same-sex couples who work for public universities or state government in Michigan.

Please email sean@tri.org if you work for the State of Michigan or a public university and either currently have domestic partner benefits or were hoping to apply for them when they become available at your employer.

Please contact us ASAP.

Thanks

Sean Kosofsky

Anti-Israel Bank Picket Friday

Posted by Ari Paul on 15. December 2004

A picket against several Michigan banks has been announced to take place this Friday at 3:30 pm on the corner of Huron and Washington because of their endorsement of the Israeli Defense Forces.

“Five Southeastern Michigan area banks (Standard Federal, Bank One, Comerica, National City and Huntington Bank) were listed as “generous sponsors” of “Michigan Friends of the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces]” in a recent full-page ad in the Detroit Jewish News (10/22/04),” said William Thompson of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Responsible Charitable Giving.

“While we recognize that some of these banks, especially Comerica, have made contributions to organizations which work to mitigate the suffering in the Middle East, we believe that any donations which lead to supporting the Israeli military are egregious errors which only encourage further abuse of human rights and justice in this volatile part of the world,” he added.

Additional endorsers of this action include The Ann Arbor Coalition Against the War, the Palestine-Israel Action Group of the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, and the Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, among others.

Edit: italicized text added to list of endorsers for correctness. -Murph.

Comment [38]

Bus Ridership Up

Posted by Brandon on 15. December 2004

The Ann Arbor News reports that public transit ridership is up since the implementation of AATA’s MRide program in August:

More people are riding the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s buses.

In August, the two systems reached a five-year agreement allowing U-M students, staff and faculty to ride AATA buses for free. Since then, AATA has seen a 12 percent increase in ridership; campus buses have carried 7 percent more passengers. Officials say the figures show more students, faculty and staff at U-M are leaving cars at home and riding the AATA buses to their destinations on campus. Once there, they ride the U-M buses to get from one campus area to another, officials said.

Comment [5]

Wild animals invade Pierpont Commons

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 15. December 2004

Nature's Early Morning Invasion

Actually, just this deer I caught grazing in the bushes outside the North Campus union at 3 am. She seemed used to people approaching with digital cameras. Sorry for the poor quality – didn’t want the flash to scare her away…

Comment [2]

More on UM/Google partnership

Posted by Murph on 14. December 2004

The official pages for the UMich libraries’ partnership with Google are up:

> http://print.google.com/
> UM News Service: Google/U-M project opens the way to universal access to information
> FAQ from UMich

I don’t see any information yet on how to show only results from books, so I haven’t been able to get any hits for books yet.

Comment [5]

U Towers Trash Bandit Caught, Wanted to Be Famous

Posted by Ari Paul on 14. December 2004

Here’s the Ann Arbor News’ follow up to the AU’s coverage of trash raining from U Towers.

A University of Michigan student who told police he wanted to be famous broke out his bedroom window Monday morning in a high-rise apartment building and began hurling his belongings 12 stories to the street, Ann Arbor Police said.

As Officer Craig Devoogd approached the intersection of South University and South Forest avenues around 9:50 a.m., a large wooden dresser came crashing into the street, police said. A 5-foot-tall fan followed, both smashing into pieces.

Devoogd blocked the street as more belongings rained onto it and the sidewalk, Lt. Michael Logghe said. A desk, books, compact discs, pillows, computer equipment and personal items such as photographs and a genetics exam littered the street and sidewalk.

Comment [1]

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