Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

A Handful of Changes Downtown

Posted by Juliew on 26. August 2005

Grizzly Peak expands into the old Del Rio space.

American Spoon on Liberty goes out of business. It will be replaced with a Beaners coffee shop in October.

NYPD takes over King of Queens space on South University.

And murmurs begin about the lack of progress at LoFT 322.

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Skate Park Action Committee Launches Blog

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 26. August 2005

Dug Song tipped us off to a new blog and web site launched by the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee: a2skatepark.org, “a coalition of parents, skaters, teachers, business and community leaders, dedicated to the development of a public skatepark in Ann Arbor.”

Update:Apologies for the dupe. Head cold & robitussin…

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Fall move-in schedule, road closures, AATA detours

Posted by Murph on 26. August 2005

U of M fall move-in will be Monday, 29 August through Friday, 2 September; several streets around campus will “have non-standard traffic flow” Wednesday through Friday. AATA will have detours on routes 2, 4, 5, 12U, 14, 16, 36. Full schedule and road closures behind the cut.

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impact2005: "a frank conversation about our region"

Posted by Murph on 26. August 2005

The Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce is hosting the one-day conference impact2005 on September 14 to discuss Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan’s attractiveness to “innovative companies”. From their press release:

“Impact 2005 will focus on how to expand and grow our economy, how to attract and retain those businesses that every state is trying to land—those in the innovation, biosciences, information, professional, tech and related sectors. Anyone who is interested in the future economic growth of our region should attend” Keeley said.

While the event’s website rosily states, “The Ann Arbor region and Southeast Michigan is becoming a hub for innovative companies,” Brandt Coultas, the Chamber’s Director of Government Affairs, says the purpose is not just to laud past successes, but to discuss the City and region’s failures. “Why don’t people (not just 22-35 year olds) move here and why do they leave? Why don’t more cool, emerging, innovative companies locate here/start here?”

The event’s $75 registration fee will probably dissuade most bloggers from attending, but any thoughts here on how to do Richard Florida / Jane Jacobs better than “Cool Cities” will probably make their way back to the “region’s decision-makers”.

EDIT, 26 Aug: by e-mail, it looks like a “student rate” of $30 has been introduced for the conference – “This rate covers the Chamber’s cost of hosting the event (food & beverages) and hopefully allows the students an opportunity to attend and participate in a conversation of how to shape the future of the region.” Alan Barr of Creative Change Associates is the contact person for student registrations – alanb@creativechange.org. Good enough for me…

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A2 Skatepark advocates launch website

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 26. August 2005

From the new website of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee:

Why do we need a skatepark?
Skateboarding is a healthy, non-competitive sport that 5% of all Ann Arbor children aged 13-17 participate in, even with city and campus-wide anti-skateboarding bylaws in effect, and no local facilities provided for by the schools, city, or any private organization. The demonstrated need for such facilities has only grown, while tennis courts, soccer fields, and basketballs courts (provided in duplicate by parks and schools) sit empty most of the time. Not all children care, or can afford to participate in such competitive/organized team sports, especially outside of school.

Without a real public skatepark, Ann Arbor has effectively becomes a skatepark itself, with 868 violations of the city’s anti-skateboarding ordinance between 2000 and 2004 on UM’s campus alone. That’s a lot of wasted time and effort on the part of law enforcement to deny our kids their sport.

and

Aren’t skateboarders a bunch of hooligans?
If skateboarding is outlawed, only outlaws will skate! To put this in perspective: a skateboarding ticket in Ann Arbor costs $50 (usually with the confiscation of the skateboard), while the penalty for marijuana possession is a $25 civil infraction!

Thanks to the tip from Dug Song on our contact page.

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Northwest Airlines Mechanics strike

Posted by MarkDilley on 25. August 2005

A tsunami of harsh words, misleading newspaper coverage (SHOCKING!) and arguments. In the center, a group of workers on the line. Friends of Labor have stepped forward again. We have an opportunity to hear the workers side and give them a financial hand.

Saturday, August 27, 5:30 pm
OX ROAST
IBEW Local 58 Hall, 1658 Abbott (at Trumbull)
(google map )

$10 at the door/$4 for striking workers

Short notice, but come on out.

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NightRide to Continue with Higher Fare

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 25. August 2005

Ed reports that NightRide service will continue at a higher fare, to be determined.

Edit, 4pm: I’ve added a summary of AATA’s funding situation, from Chris White, to the site library. -Murph.

City Council 1st Ward replacement timeline

Posted by Murph on 25. August 2005

The following e-mail from 1st Ward City Councilmember Bob Johnson outlines the official timeline for filling Kim Groome’s seat; if you’re from the First Ward, consider attending to meet your new Councilmember potentials:

Greetings, Fellow First Warders

As you may know, Kim Groome recently resigned from
her seat as one of the two First Ward representatives on the City Council.

City Council will be selecting a replacement at its regular meeting on September 6. Any resident of the 1st Ward from any Party is eligible to apply for the opening, by notifying the City Clerk by August 23rd, at (734) 994-2725. There is an application form [(pdf)] on the City’s web site: http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/ .

City Council will interview the applicants at a special Council meeting on August 25, 7 PM, which will be televised.

It is important that the residents of the First Ward should also get a chance to ask the applicants for their views on the issues facing the City.

A public meeting to meet the applicants for the First Ward City Council seat will take place on:

Wednesday August 24, 7 PM,
Ann Arbor Community Center,
625 N. Main St., (near Summit)

See you there,

– Bob Johnson

[Please excuse any duplicate e-mails. We are trying
to let as many people as possible know about this event.]

I’ll again be trying to attend in “press” capacity.

Edit, 25 Aug:

Here’s the Ann Arbor News’ article on the public meeting; conversation on that continues in this thread.

Timestamp reset to bounce this item to the top, rather than posting a new one…

Comment [64]

UM Places 10th in Alternative College Rankings

Posted by Brandon on 23. August 2005

The University of Michigan is ranked 10th among national universities in the Washington Monthly College Guide , while Princeton, ranked first in the latest US News ratings, places 44th.

The first question we asked was, what does America need from its universities? From this starting point, we came up with three central criteria: Universities should be engines of social mobility, they should produce the academic minds and scientific research that advance knowledge and drive economic growth, and they should inculcate and encourage an ethic of service. We designed our evaluation system accordingly.

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Labor Report

Posted by MarkDilley on 23. August 2005

These two union struggles are important right now.

Heathrow Airport

This wildcat strike is pretty important for empowering people.

GATE GOURMET: RAISING THE STAKES

We are at a decisive moment in the struggle by hundreds of low-paid workers at London’s Heathrow Airport—a struggle we have covered intensively on LabourStart in the last two weeks.

Thousands of you have sent off messages to the employers (with copies to the union). It is the largest online campaign ever waged by LabourStart . And it is having an impact.

Now we need to you do a bit more. To reach into your pockets and make a donation—giving as much as you can—to the union’s ‘hardship fund’ for the Gate Gourmet workers. Please give generously—the workers at Gate Gourmet are counting on you. Even the smallest donations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


——-
CBC locks out workers.

They are doing an amazing job of running a media project.

RADIO FREE CBC: A 21ST CENTURY STRIKE NEWSPAPER

Locked out workers at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have been pushing the envelope with their use of the new communications technology, as the dispute enters its second week. A good source of information about the dispute is the union’s new website, http://cbcontheline.ca/

They have also been creating the equivalent of a traditional strike newspaper, but have done so using cutting edge technology—streaming multimedia, MP3 and podcasts.

To make their content easily accessible to trade unionists around the world, we’re stopping all regularly scheduled broadcasts on our online radio station, Radio LabourStart, and switching over to broadcast these alternative radio programs created by the locked-out CBC workers. We will broadcast nothing else until the lockout ends. To tune in, visit http://radio.labourstart.org

Show your solidarity with the CBC workers by listening to their broadcasts on Radio LabourStart today. Tell your co-workers to tune in as well. Spread the word!

Thanks. Eric Lee

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