Arbor Update

Local

Pioneer student held in shooting

Posted by Murph on 9. December 2004

A 16-year-old Pioneer High School student was shot to death at home yesterday afternoon while skipping class; a classmate is being held as a suspect. The Ann Arbor News reports,

Police gave few details about what they believe happened inside the small tan home at 3657 Maple Road. The victim was identified this morning as Jordan Coleman, 16, also a junior at Pioneer.
. . .
Police believe Coleman and the suspect both went to school Wednesday morning but left together and did not attend classes, Ann Arbor Detective Sgt. Jeff Connelly said today. The suspect returned to Pioneer around 11 a.m. and told the school’s police officer, Jack Foster, that he had been involved in a shooting, Lt. Michael Logghe said. Police would not reveal what the youth told Foster.

UPDATE, 10 Dec: The suspect has been charged, but the prosecutor has not yet decided whether to seek trial as an adult or as a juvenile. From the Ann Arbor News,

Among a dozen students approached by The News on Thursday afternoon, only senior Roshard Thomason said he knew the suspect.

He said he’d never gotten a negative vibe from the teen, adding, “He’s not a bad kid.”

Thomason also said the suspect had several friends, and that he was a good friend of Jordan.

The Court granted a request by the suspect’s attorney to seek psychological evaluation while awaiting the prosecution’s decision.

Comment [1]

Culture

Gagnon Reports from Law School La-La Land

Posted by Ari Paul on 9. December 2004

Former Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Daily, Geoffrey Gagnon, has a mighty interesting piece about Jerry Falwell’s new law school in Legal Affairs.

Comment [11]

Local

Juan Cole, Saving America from its Quagmire

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 9. December 2004

U-M professor and well-known blogger Juan Cole is speaking tonight on the topic “Saving America from its Middle East Quagmire.”

What’s Next in Iraq? : An Open Forum
Thursday, Dec. 9th 7-9pm
East Quad, @ the corner of E. University and Hill St., room #126

Featuring a talk by U of M Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History

Juan Cole on “Saving America from its Middle East Quagmire.”

Comments by:
Javed Nazir, UM Human Rights Fellow and RC Lecturer
Tom Collier, Retired Colonel and Military Historian

PUBLIC DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW

> Cole’s blog: Informed Comment
> ArborUpdate, July: Juan Cole in ‘Michigan Today’

Comment [30]

Local

Saturday: The Riots Record Release Party

Posted by Brandon on 9. December 2004

Join friendly local retro-rockers The Riots Saturday at the Blind Pig as they celebrate the release of their album Love After. The Hard Lessons and The Rants open.

>Ann Arbor Paper: Come On . . . Love the Riots

Local

A2News discusses State/Liberty rents

Posted by Murph on 8. December 2004

The Ann Arbor News summarizes recent concerns over rising rents on State St. and Liberty. Zanzibar/Red Hawk owner Roger Hewitt and Shaman Drum owner Karl Pohrt criticize the rate hikes, which have caused many independant businesses to be pushed out of the area,

“You have interesting businesses in a business district that make the district valuable,” Pohrt said. “The rents are jacked up and those people are forced out. The only people who can afford the rents are fast food places, then no one has a reason to come into the neighborhood, and the fast food places go out of business.”

Pohrt said the Liberty Street departures – as well as other changes on State Street – have the merchants pondering whether any locally owned retailers will survive there.

Representatives of McKinley Brokerage Services and Oxford Co., landlords for many of the spaces in the area, defend the rising rates. McKinley’s president, Jim Chaconas, notes that State Street’s rents “still are lower than. . .Birmingham”.

The News seems critical of some of the changes (and, in this case, how could anyone not be?),

In April 2003, Decker Drugs closed on State. It was replaced by national chain The Noodle Co. this fall – exchanging a community service retailer for a limited-service restaurant. When Decker Drugs closed, the rent for the new space was advertised at the time at $36 a square foot per month. By comparison, a few blocks west of State Street on Liberty, rents are closer to $15 and $20 a square foot.

For some background, read some of the Goodspeed Update’s past comments on increased chain store presence and the closing of Decker and opening of Potbelly, each of which contains copious links to other relevant material.

Campus

Football player charged with indecent exposure

Posted by Murph on 8. December 2004

From the Michigan Daily:

At about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, redshirt sophomore Larry Harrison was arrested on the 700 block of South Division Street after police say he exposed himself outside a window of a residence on that street.

According to Sgt. Matt Lige of the Ann Arbor Police Department, Harrison was charged with one count of indecent exposure and was released after paying a $500 bond. There have been about 13 cases of indecent exposure reported to the AAPD since August that police said Harrison may have been involved in.

Harrison, a defensive tackle, was suspended from the football team.

LSA junior Lauren Sogor, a resident at the house where Harrison was arrested, said no one in her house knew about the incident until police knocked on her door.

“They said, ‘We just got this guy. We’ve been trying to catch him for five months. He’s been flashing himself over the city’,” Sogor said.

The Daily mentions that Harrison is a suspect in several other exposure cases this fall, and prints the following statement from the women in the house at which he was arrested,

Later yesterday, the three women who live at the house — Sogor, Bakale-Wise and Erin Strongfellow — released a statement to The Michigan Daily: “The Ann Arbor and University community and news media must be sure to look beyond this man’s status as a University football player and address the reality of the crime: that this man has perpetrated a punishable sexual harassment offense against dozens of women in at least 15 households over a five-month period on our campus. If we, as a community, had been informed of the repeated offenses, he may have been apprehended sooner and prevented from perpetrating so many times.”

Hopefully the community and media can also look beyond this man’s status as a University football player and address the reality of the situation: that this man has been charged with a single sexual harassment offense and is considered a suspect for others, but has not yet been charged with any other incidents, and has not yet been convicted of the one he has been charged with. This is obviously not something that can be dismissed out-of-hand, but the Daily should be making more of an effort to point out that the charges have not been proven yet, that Harrison has not yet even been charged with most of the other incidents, and that it’s quite possible for indecent exposure to be performed by people other than UMich football players. Such as, for example, married commuters from Brighton.

Edit: The Ann Arbor News has a significantly more detailed description of the investigation.

Comment [5]

Ward is leaving... the U of C Regents

Posted by Dumi Lewis on 8. December 2004

Wardell aka Ward Connerly recently revealed that he does not plan to seek re-appointment to the University of California Board of Regents when his appointment expires in March of 2005. For me and many in Cali, this is good news. Now the bad news. He’ll have ample time to dedicate energy towards Michigan and other states where he’s been attempting to dismantle what remains of Affirmative Action.

Campus

Friday: UM Urban Planning Recruitment Open House

Posted by Brandon on 7. December 2004

Thinking about a career in Urban Planning?

Graduate Recruitment Open House

Urban and Regional Planning

Friday, December 10, 2004 2:30-4:30 PM

2147 Art & Architecture, North Campus

Meet with urban planning faculty to learn more about the field of urban planning and to discuss the concentrations available.

– For current UM undergrads who want to learn more about the field of urban planning – and current UM graduate students who
may be interested in a dual degree.

The Urban + Regional Planning program offers a professional Master’s degree, and a research-oriented Ph.D. Dual professional degree programs are also offered with the following fields:

Architecture
Business Administration
Natural Resources & Environment
Public Policy
Public Health
Social Work
Law

For more information contact: Beverly Walter beverlyw@umich.edu

Regional

EB I-94 construction Wednesday

Posted by Murph on 7. December 2004

Might want to find a route to Detroit tomorrow that’s not 94:

The Michigan Department of Transportation will close eastbound I-94 between the Southfield Freeway, in Allen Park, and Weir Street, in Detroit, from 9 tonight until 5 a.m. Wednesday.

MDOT needs to close down the freeway so crews can repair the new asphalt around drainage structures in the right lane.

When the freeway reopens Wednesday morning, eastbound I-94 traffic will be reduced from two lanes to one lane for the entire day, while crews continue working on the problem.

Traffic expected back up to 2 eastbound lanes by Thursday morning.

Local

Local fair trade group opens photo exhibit

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 6. December 2004

(courtesy Yochi Zakai)

The Brewing Hope Photo Exhibit will open this Friday at Amer’s on State Street. The photo exhibit will intimately portray the farmers and communities of the Yachil Coffee Cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico where Brewing Hope coffee comes from. The pictures illustrate the cooperative’s roots in the indigenous rights movement and current organic shade-farming practices. The reception at 6:00 PM will include food, coffee and a presentation of photos from August 2004 delegation members.

Brewing Hope’s fair trade coffee is served at Amer’s. To order coffee by the pound, please visit our website at www.javaforjustice.com/brewinghope.asp or The Ecumenical Center and International Residence 921 Church Street. [Map]

The Higher Grounds Trading Company and Brewing Hope periodically sponsor delegations to Chiapas, Mexico. The next Higher Grounds delegation will be on January 30th – February 5th 2005. For more information on the delegation, visit www.javaforjustice.com/coop_ecoadventure.asp. If you’re interested but can’t make this trip, e-mail chiapas@umich.edu to be notified of summer (and other future) delegations.

Reception this Friday at Amer’s
312 N State Street
6:00 – 9:00 PM

The exhibit will remain on display until January 2005.

Comment [2]