Arbor Update

Local

Skyline High

Posted by Juliew on 15. December 2006

Well, the decision has been made, and the new high school will be Skyline High. Joining the ones in Washington, Arizona, Utah, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and California.

Of course for many, the word Skyline makes them want to fire up the old RV, pick up some chili, and head south, but I’m sure we will get used to it.

And really, the Sky High Salamanders does have a certain ring to it.

Comment [6]

Campus

Bill Clinton to Give U-M April Commencement

Posted by Ari Paul on 15. December 2006

He’s no David E. Davis (2004 commencement speaker), but the former, two-term President of the United States from a small town called Hope will have to do.

The Michigan Daily has the story.

Comment [2]

Regional

Commuter train may get trial run

Posted by Bruce Fields on 8. December 2006

Tom Brandt points out this Ann Arbor News article:

A demonstration commuter train could be running between Ann Arbor and Detroit as soon as next summer, though it’s by no means a done deal.

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments has asked Amtrak if it would be interested in providing a demonstration commuter service, said Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for SEMCOG, at a public meeting Monday to explain an analysis of five rapid transit options.

Local

residential parking permits

Posted by Bruce Fields on 7. December 2006

From a reader:

As of yesterday the north end of North Ashley Street has now been converted to resident permit parking. For non-residents (and residents without permits) parking is limited to two hours or less on the west side on Tuesday and Thursday, and two hours or less on the east on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As far as I can tell this only applies to the 500 block of North Ashley.

And since I own a house on the block I knew it was in the works, but I hadn’t heard any updates since last summer when some neighbors asked for my support of the district, which, being opposed on principle to resident only parking, I couldn’t offer. So I was kind of surprised when the signs just popped up without any warning. Did I miss some sort of public notice?

Comment [54]

Arts

Indie arts - SAF, Pecha Kucha, START

Posted by Murph on 7. December 2006

A roundup of recent and upcoming arts:

This past weekend’s Winter Shadow Art Fair drew everyone from scenesters to evil Santas to the Mayor of Ypsilanti. Co-organizer Mark Maynard gives very rough estimates of attendance of around 1,800, and artist-vendors averaging $500 in sales apiece, and rumor has it that the addition of live music (and pictures with Santa) proved enough of a draw on Friday night that the brewery reached capacity and had to turn people away at the door. Where were you?

To atone for your absence, you may try visiting next Thursday’s (Dec 14) Pecha Kucha, at the Bluish Barn. Presenter signup deadline is this Friday, to Zack Denfeld (zcd@umich.edu), who was previously seen serving coffee and soup to passerby on State Street. What is Pecha Kucha? “Sort of a glorified, hipsterized-but-still-somewhat-geeky Show and Tell.”

as we all know, give a mic to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented[?] system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.

Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global – as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over a dozen cities across the world. Find a location and join the conversation.

Finally, the Street Theater Art (START) Project will hold an informational kickoff event on Friday, December 8th at 5:30 at the Downtown Library:

The Project, which is a collaboration between a University of Michigan “Art in Public Spaces” course, University student groups, high school students and adults from throughout the community, plans to bring people together to create a presentation of large scale street puppets. These artistic pieces will make their debut during the “Fools Parade” on Main St., slated for April 1st 2007.

START Project staff hope to recruit interested volunteers during the December 8th information meeting. Attendees will learn about the Project’s vision and timeline, as well as the various ways that community members will be able to participate. Anyone with an interest in the arts, painting, sculpting, costumes, choreography, performance, and community building is encouraged to attend.

After the meeting START staff and interested participants will take a few pre-made puppets up East Liberty St. to the Michigan Theater where GROOVE, a collaborating student group, will be performing at 7:00 p.m.

Comment [3]

Local

Bike Winter

Posted by Bruce Fields on 6. December 2006

Biking isn’t just for the warm months! GetDowntown is hosting a series of Bike Winter events, starting this Friday with a beginning bike maintenance workshop, followed by a “Cycler’s Social” at the Arbor Brewing Company.

Events continue next Friday with a Winter Bike Skills Workshop.

See the full list of events.

See also Carfree Ann Arbor’s bad weather section.

City Council

City Council: Housing and Human Services

Posted by Juliew on 4. December 2006

Monday, December 4 at 7:00 pm.
City Council Agenda

Highlights:

• Appointment of Council Committees and Adoption of Council Rules
• Public Hearing on Housing and Human Services Needs

Planning Commission
Tuesday, December 5 at 7:00 pm.
Planning Commission agenda

Highlights:

• Public Hearing and Action on Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to revise the definition of Two-Family Dwelling.

Comment [5]

Local

Observer launches local answer to CraigsList?

Posted by Bruce Fields on 4. December 2006

Thanks to Homeless Dave for pointing out Friday's launch of the Observer's revised classifieds site, arborlist.com:

But why does the Observer think this could be more appealing than CraigsList? Apparently because ... you can win prizes on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis if you put your ad there. Dunno, to me the key is: does the ad itself get results. But prizes, ..., I LIKE prizes ... speaking of which, how about some contests with prizes on AU?

We'll work on that.

Local

Ypsi police chief blames Minzey for bond misinformation

Posted by Bruce Fields on 3. December 2006

Larry Kestenbaum passes on "yet another in a series of letters about the jail controversy that have been widely circulated, yet unpublished", in which Ypsi police chief Matt Harshberger writes of the proposed jail expansion:

... upon having a meeting yesterday afternoon with the County Administrator, Bob Guenzel, I learned the information that I was spreading ($9 million for jail expansion & $11 million for court facilities improvements) was patently false/ wrong/ inaccurate/ erroneous. I, along with all the other Chiefs and Directors in Washtenaw County, received this false information directly from the Sheriff and his jail administrator. Obviously, I will not allow this error of trust to occur again.

...The truth, according to the County Administration, is that the entire $21 million bond proposal is going toward jail and correctional improvements...

More:

• Complete text of the letter, from Larry's blog.
• Ypsilanti Courier article on community impact of jail overcrowding.
• Previous ArborUpdate threads on this subject

(Somebody send us more article submissions before we become all-jail-all-the-time....)

Comment [38]

Local

A2 Environmental Commission - draft goals hearing

Posted by Murph on 3. December 2006

The City of Ann Arbor’s Environmental Commission has developed a draft of Environmental Action Plan Guiding Principles and Goals (pdf). The Commission will be holding a public hearing on this document at their meeting on December 7, 2006. The meeting will be at 7pm in Council Chambers at City Hall. Comments may also be e-mailed to Matt Naud, Environmental Coordiator, and Commission (Vice-?)Chair Steve Bean has been known to read and respond to comments on this site. Full text of the one-page Principles and Goals document below the cut.

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