Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Ann Arbor 2005 City Council online exit poll

Posted by Murph on 5. November 2005

Reader Brian Tremblay has suggested a poll of AU’s readers on the upcoming City Council election to determine how closely we map to the general voting public. He’ll provide the results to compare with Tuesday’s actual vote totals.

Please take the survey even if you’re a non-commenting reader – I know there are plenty of you out there.

Comment [1]

Ann Arbor ballot round-up, November 2005

Posted by Murph on 4. November 2005

There hasn’t been much talk around here yet about Tuesday’s ballot – here’s a selection of things posted elsewhere on the election:

Use Publius.org to find your polling location and view a sample ballot

First Ward City Council: Bob Johnson (D-Inc.) vs. Nobody.

Second Ward City Council: Thomas Bourque ( R) vs. Stephen Rapundalo (D).
> Ann Arbor News, 1 November 2005: 2 vying for 2nd Ward seat and 2nd Ward candidates
> ArborUpdate, 26 September 2005: MSA hosts 2nd Ward debate at Markley

Third Ward City Council: Rich Birkett (I) vs. Leigh Greden (D-Inc.).
> Ann Arbor News, 31 October 2005: In 3rd Ward, challenger set modest goals and 3rd Ward candidates

Fourth Ward City Council: Marcia Higgins (D-Inc.) vs. Jim Hood ( R).
> Ann Arbor News, 2 November 2005: Republican challenges in 4th Democratic council incumbent Marcia Higgins to face Jim Hood and 4th Ward Candidates

Fifth Ward City Council: Wendy Woods (D-Inc.) vs. apathyNobody.

Council, all Wards:
> New West Side Blog, 2 November 2005: Candidate Debate, including podcast (~45 MB mp3).
> Michigan Daily, 3 November 2005: City Council hopefuls sound off
> Ann Arbor is Overrated, 3 November 2005: NWS debate recap
> Ann Arbor News, 28 October 2005: editorial endorsements

Special millage to remove trees affected by the emerald ash borer.
> Ann Arbor News, 4 November 2005: Tree millage grows into major issue
> Ann Arbor News, 21 October 2005: Council candidates debate Proposed emerald ash borer millage draws biggest response

> Ann Arbor News, 20 October 2005: Sierra Club opposes ash borer millage

UPDATE: The New West Side submitted additional questions to the candidates that didn’t make it into their forum, on City health benefits, the role of zoning and case-by-case judgements in development, and City labor negotations. So far, Greden, Birkett, Bourque, Rapundalo, and Hood have submitted responses, which NWS is posting to the comments on their Candidate Debate thread.

UPDATE: The Michigan Daily’s endorsements: Hood, Rapundalo, Greden.

Comment [53]

UM Lecturers Union - LEO

Posted by MarkDilley on 4. November 2005

The Lecturers Employees Organization held labor actions on the main and Dearborn campuses the last two days.

In Dearborn, the union is responding to threatened cancellation of classes in 2006 in the college of Arts Science and Letters.

On the Ann Arbor campus, the lecturers protested the lack of contract compliance by the university administration.

> Michigan Daily: Dearborn campus protests class cuts

> Michigan Daily: Lecturers continue to be angry with ‘U’

Friday: UM Urban Planning Open House

Posted by Brandon on 2. November 2005

MICHIGAN URBAN PLANNING
Open House

Friday, November 4, 2005
12:00-2:00 PM – Lunch will be provided
1227 Art & Architecture, North Campus

Is your undergraduate major in:
Engineering? Environment? History? Political Science? Music? Chemistry? Psychology? English? Sociology?
M.U.P. students come from a variety of backgrounds.

Are you currently in a graduate program in
Law, Business Administration, Public Policy,
Natural Resources, Public Health, Architecture, Urban Design, School of Information?
These are common dual degrees with Urban Planning

This is your opportunity to meet with faculty and current students. Hear short presentations. Ask questions.
Master’s enrollment for winter 2006 and fall 2006.
Ph.D. for fall 2006.

Questions? Contact Beverly Walter beverlyw@umich.edu

Wednesday: Remembering Rosa Parks

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 2. November 2005

A funeral for Rosa Parks will be held Wednesday in Detroit. From the Detroit Free Press article:

The entire Congressional Black Caucus is expected to be in Detroit for the funeral along with many other members of Congress.

A public viewing is underway until 5 a.m. Wednesday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren, Detroit.

The funeral will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile.

Additionally, locals can pay their respects with others in the community Wednesday night:

Wednesday is the day of Rosa Parks funeral in Detroit, we know that most of you will not be able to travel down there, so the NAACP, BSU, MSA & NPHC would like to provide a way for you to pay your respects.

ROSA PARKS VIGIL WEDNESDAY NOV 2 AT 9PM ON THE DIAG

Pastor Lyons from Second Baptist Church will be speaking
Minister Cobbs from Fountain COGIC will be speaking
Vice President Royster Harper will be speaking
Chris (from 2005 summer bridge) will be singing
Raena White will be singing
Jillian (from 58 Greene) will also be singing

Comment [3]

Appeals court approves MCRI

Posted by Ari Paul on 1. November 2005

From the Daily:

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative scored a major victory yesterday when the Michigan Court of Appeals decided to allow the organization’s proposal — which would ban affirmative action in public hiring and college admissions in the state — to appear on the ballot in November 2006.

BAMN — a pro-affirmative action group — plans to appeal the Appeal Court’s decision to the Michigan Supreme Court, BAMN organizer and Rackham student Ben Royal said. He added that the organization is also asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to intervene and spearhead an investigation of the signatures collected by MCRI.

The Michigan Board of Canvassers had held off on letting the MCRI’s anti-affirmative ballot question onto the 2006 ballot because it felt many signers may not have understood what they were signing. BAMN claimed there was voter fraud.

Comment [1]

Ask AU: Tamed big boxes in downtown A2?

Posted by Murph on 31. October 2005

A reader asks:

I was speaking with a county planner today who thought the DDA was probably in the best position (if they so desired) to work with national retailers in an effort to bring them downtown instead of Route 23. It seems that the commonly accepted notion is that the default outcome in the next couple of years is the advent of another Briarwood or a fancypants (not my) lifestyle center outside the city, and that Crate and Barrel is likely to pull the trigger first. It also seems that some cities are having success forcing boxes to conform somewhat to a downtown feel.

Just wondering, if we were all were convinced it were definitely going to happen somewhere, if you think it should it happen downtown or on Rt 23? And if the answer is “downtown,” can we be proactive about getting them here?

Well, what do we think? Ann Arbor’s Original Big Boxes (Hudsons, Jacobsons) fled downtown for Briarwood decades ago; is it possible to get large retailers back in downtown? If possible, would we prefer them downtown to the townships? Where would they go? What would they look like? What would we have to do to ensure they contribute to – rather than detract from – downtown Ann Arbor?

I’ve also heard the “commonly accepted notion” mentioned of new large malls around Ann Arbor – and I’ve heard it from developers who saw a clearly underserved market, so I don’t consider this idle speculation.

Relevant articles:
> Michigan Land Use Institute, 11 Sept 05: The Incredible Shrinking Box
> New Urban News, Oct/Nov 05: Targeting changes in big box stores

Comment [66]

Greek Orthodox Church redevelopment: round 2

Posted by Murph on 29. October 2005

After a 14-story project proposed for the site of the Greek Orthodox Church on North Main was cancelled a year ago, another developer is taking a shot:

The project, known as The Gallery, would include an eight-story mixed use residential, retail and office building with up to 100 condominium units and 31/2 levels of underground parking at 414 N. Main St. That would back up to an adjacent four-story building, facing North Fourth Avenue, that would have retail on the first floor and 18-20 residential lofts.

Developer Mike Concannon of The Concannon Company estimated the project will cost $30 million. He plans to take the project before the city Planning Commission in November.

Comment [3]

Ignoring Terrorism in Michigan?

Posted by Ari Paul on 28. October 2005

Militia activity continues to thrive in the nation, but especially in Michigan. The question is, is US law enforcement protecting us?

Geoffrey Gagnon, former editor-in-chief of the Michigan Daily, reports from the front lines in Legal Affairs.

In 2003, Norman Somerville, loaded with weapons and seething with militant urgency, was prepared to make something happen in rural Northern Michigan. A Special Forces veteran linked to militia cells, Somerville was fed up and itching for a showdown. Police had recently killed Scott Woodring, a fellow militia member, in a shootout as they attempted to arrest him for the killing of a state trooper. Woodring’s death touched off angry web-postings among militia sympathizers and galvanized Somerville to strike at police. On a 40-acre compound outside the hamlet of Mesick, he plotted what prosecutors would later describe as “a violent militia conspiracy” to avenge Woodring’s death. Somerville fortified his property, built an underground bunker, and collected machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. He kept photographs of President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with the crosshairs of rifle scopes drawn over their faces. Above the ground, hidden by tree limbs, Somerville positioned a massive anti-aircraft gun that he trained on the approach to his property. And he readied the pride of his arsenal—vehicles he referred to as the twin “war wagons.” Somerville had outfitted his Jeep and van with M1919 .30 caliber machine guns capable of emptying 550 rounds in a minute. The Jeep, with its passenger seat removed, boasted a mounted gun turret. Somerville planned to use the Jeep to cause a traffic accident and then to open fire on police when they arrived at the scene. In late 2003, authorities learned that Somerville was about to carry out his plan, and they moved in. He was convicted on weapons charges and sentenced to six and a half years in prison. In court, prosecutors called the rural handyman a “psychologically deranged man who was armed to the teeth, filled with hate, high on dope and had his finger on the trigger.” After his arrest, Somerville said he had handed out or traded illegal machine guns to others, and he warned authorities of a network of “shadowy rebels” preparing for “a quiet civil war” in rural Michigan.

Comment [1]

Colbert Report calls jail bond "boondoggle"

Posted by Murph on 28. October 2005

In a fairly surreal (and inconsequential) interview last night, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert grilled Jeff Daniels on his knowledge of local news. Including, yes, our blogland favorite of the jail bond petition.

Daniels claimed not to know anything about the bond.

Comment [9]

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