Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

County Candidate Round-up

Posted by Murph on 22. October 2004

Today’s Ann Arbor News discusses the County Commissioner races in the 5th District (Ypsi Twp, Northfield Twp), 6th District (Ypsi Twp, Ypsi City), and 7th District (Pittsfield Twp). Yesterday’s Chelsea Standard discusses the Commissioner race in the 1st District (the northwest quarter of the County, including Dexter and Chelsea) and the County Clerk/Registrar and County Prosecutor races.

Links:

Westbound I-94 Closed at Chelsea Today

Posted by Murph on 22. October 2004

Last night a crash at a construction site west of Chelsea left westbound I-94 backed up for miles. Eastbound I-94 at that point is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board after four fatalities this summer, three of which, like this crash, involved semis and construction zones.

From the Ann Arbor News, Fiery crash on I-94 leaves 4 with injuries:

About 3 p.m., a car westbound on I-94 hit a semi-truck, Smith said. The truck swerved and rammed into a barricade truck that was protecting a construction crew working on scaffolding under the railroad bridge. The truck’s gas tank was severed, igniting it into a fireball.

Firefighters said several construction workers jumped from their scaffolds as the truck hit. The truck then rammed into the back of another parked truck used for storage by the construction company.

The Chelsea School District issued an announcement this morning that M-DOT intended to close westbound I-94 at Chelsea, beginning at 9:15am, for crash scene cleanup and investigation. No confirming reports are available yet.

Kerry's Michigan Non-Strategy in the NY Times

Posted by Murph on 22. October 2004

The New York Times comments that Kerry is in the lead in Michigan through no fault of his own, Kerry in the Lead, but Almost by Default

If that is no longer the case – if “the probability of his carrying the state is now very high,” as Professor Rohde said – it is not because the Democratic nominee has campaigned as hard here as he has in Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin. He has not visited the state since he spoke to the Detroit Economic Club on Sept. 15, and he is not expected back before Election Day.

In fact, Michigan does not feel all that much like a swing state, although its 17 electoral votes are an appealing target, the eighth-largest haul in the country.

. . .

“If Kerry ends up winning this state,” said Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, a widely read newsletter, “he’ll do it without working very hard for it or, in a sense, deserving it.”

Comment [2]

Local Candidates Discuss Planning Issues

Posted by Murph on 21. October 2004

An expanded version of the press release from last week on the Mayoral candidates’ forum:

The Urban Planning Students Association and Planners Network will be hosting a pair of events on local land use and planning issues. Candidates for City Council, Michigan Representative, Ann Arbor Mayor, and other local offices will be speaking on their priorities and answering questions from the community.

On Thursday, 28 October, a forum in Room 1227 of the Art+Architecture Building will include City Councilmember Jean Carlberg (D-3rd Ward) and Green Party challenger Marc Reichardt, State Representative Chris Kolb (D-53rd), and County Commissioner Conan Smith (D-10th District). On Friday, 29 October, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje and challenger Jane Lumm will be speaking in the Art+Architecture Building Auditorium with moderator Matt Lassiter, Assistant Professor of History.

Both events will take place from 6-8 pm at 2000 Bonisteel Blvd. on the University of Michigan’s North Campus. The Art + Architecture Building is on the University “Bursley-Baits”, “Northwood” and “Commuter” bus lines, across the street from Pierpont Commons. Parking is available behind the building with an entrance off of Fuller Road, across from the VA Hospital.

These events are free and open to all members of the community, and attendees are encouraged to bring their questions on the Greenbelt, downtown development, affordable housing, transit, historic preservation, and other local and regional planning issues.

Contact Dan Kennelly at danelly@umich.edu or (734) 327-0372 for additioanl information.

Comment [4]

Site Library: Carlberg's Response to "A City for Whom?"

Posted by Brandon on 20. October 2004

Posted in the Site Library:

City Councilwoman Jean Carlberg responses to June Gin’s article “Ann Arbor and the Cool Cities Initiative: A City for Whom?” (Submitted to Arbor Update by the VOICE Coalition with Carlberg’s permission to share with others).

Ypsi Police May Face Federal Charges

Posted by Murph on 20. October 2004

While Washtenaw County Prosecuter Brian Mackie has declined to file criminal charges against the Ypsilanti Police Officers who searched a home and confiscated materials without a warrant, Mackie says the officers did violate the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. An internal investigation by the Ypsilanti Police Department is underway, and a lawyer for the homeowner plans to file civil suit in federal court against the city and police department within a month, barring settlement with the YPD.

From the Ann Arbor News:

The officers entered the basement of the Bargers’ house in the 500 block of North Hamilton Street on June 30. Firefighters and DTE Energy crews responded to a ruptured gas main in the neighborhood, which caused the evacuation of dozens of residents in the area. While firefighters were in the Bargers’ home checking for dangerous gas levels, they saw sex-related materials in a basement room and told police officers about it.

Police later entered the house without a search warrant and went through some of the Bargers’ belongings. Several pictures of nude or partially nude women were taken from the home by police. The police were videotaped on equipment Dennis Barger turned on when he was evacuated from his home.

The Michigan State Police, FBI, and US Department of Justice are all currently involved in the investigation into the Ypsilanti officers’ conduct.

Ypsilanti blog Seat of the Revolution has been following the story, and Barger has taken part in discussion on that site.

Links:

Michigan to Reward Downtowns with Liquor Licenses

Posted by Murph on 20. October 2004

The State of Michigan is considering two bills that would distribute extra liquor licenses to cities with active downtown development programs. This program is seen as part of the “cool cities” initiative, with the intent of encouraging active downtown areas.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The criteria for getting a redevelopment license would include financial investment of at least $1 million in the development area in cities with fewer than 50,000 residents and at least $50 million in cities with 50,000 or more residents.

Under state law, communities get one quota liquor license per 1,500 people and can hand out the licenses at their discretion. But once a business has a liquor license, quota or otherwise, it can sell it within the county or put it in escrow for up to five years.

The new licenses would have to stay within the downtown area that they were granted to, avoiding the current situation where businesses transfer all of the licenses out of Farmington Hills and into Royal Oak, for example.

Link (provided by Ypsidixit):

Comment [2]

"African Town" Toned Down

Posted by Murph on 19. October 2004

The Detroit City Council has backed down somewhat on a plan to create an all-black business district dubbed “African Town”. The Council yesterday decided to scrap the portion of the plan that would designate city money for a business loan fund available only to black entrepreneurs, and also to discard a resolution designating blacks to be the City’s official “majority minority”. In September, the Council had voted to override Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s veto of both measures, which the Council had originally passed in July.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The city’s Hispanic, Asian and Arab community leaders protested the council’s previous actions, calling the report anti-immigrant and the July resolutions exclusionary.

“We need to fix what’s wrong with this and then move forward,” said Council President Pro Tem Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who introduced the compromise resolution with councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi. “The resolution allows us to recognize the first resolution was deeply flawed.”

He and other members agreed that at the heart of the issue is the need to help blacks build wealth.

Despite withdrawing direct funding, the compromise resolution maintains the idea of supporting a black business neighborhood.

The resolution the council did pass Monday calls on the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., an economic development arm of the city, and the City Planning Commission, a council department, to work with the city’s black business owners and trade associations to develop a business district in the mold of ethnic neighborhoods, such as Mexicantown and Greektown.

Links:

Comment [5]

Plymouth/Green Development Proposed as Mixed-Use

Posted by Murph on 19. October 2004

The Ann Arbor Planning Commission will tonight hear a proposal for a mixed-use complex at the intersection of Green and Plymouth Roads, featuring a bank, restaurant, and three buildings with condos above retail space. The project was designed to fit into the City’s draft Northeast Area Plan, which calls for denser “activity centers” at several intersections along Plymouth, which is currently developed in a very suburban pattern of strip malls and research and office parks.

From the Ann Arbor News:

[Developer David] Kwan said the area, which is dominated by large employers such as drug maker Pfizer Inc. and the nonprofit research group Altarum Institute, has a lack of retail and eateries. And although the 7.5-acre site is zoned for research uses, it stands along a busy commercial corridor where retail wouldn’t be out of place.

Although the plan mixes uses, it has raised a few concerns among city planners.

Jeffrey Kahan, the city planner who reviewed the application for the rezoning, said restaurants, banks and retail shops require more parking than offices and residential housing.

The City has had problems before with faux “New Urbanist” developments begging out of parking requirements and suffering from shortages, probably contributing to Kahan’s reticence—the recent Whole Foods / Barnes & Noble complex on Washtenaw has been highly criticized on this front.

Links:

Comment [1]

1. Work for U-M; 2. ???; 3. Profit!

Posted by Brian Kerr on 19. October 2004

From today’s U-M Public Safety briefing (via the amazing George Hotelling):

10/18/2004 3:39:10 PM Embezzlement (cad # 42920091)

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL—1500 EAST MEDICAL CENTER

Audits reported that an employee has been cashing checks writ to herself.

Incident Report #04-0040

Not a bad gig, I guess. We’ll see if any more details emerge.

Comment [4]

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