Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

U.K. Emergency Number

Posted by Ari Paul on 7. July 2005

If anyone has loved ones in London and need to confirm their saftey after today’s subway attacks, the British police have set up this phone line: 44-0870-1566-344.

-From the Nation’s website.

Comment [60]

Greden and Easthope play chicken with DDA, lose.

Posted by Murph on 6. July 2005

At today’s DDA Annual Meeting / Retreat (expect A2News article tomorrow), City Councilmembers Greden and Easthope attempted to talk the DDA into compromising their current goals and working on a Two-Site Plan that would leave out the parking lot at 1st & William. DDA Board members gave reactions ranging from silence (at the most positive) to derision; the general conclusion was that the Councilmembers can’t wiggle out of taking some official position on the Three-Site Plan. The DDA plans to ask the Council to discuss the Three-Site Plan and vote – yes, no, or amended, the DDA members seemed not to want to proceed without some official guidance from Council, especially when they saw this idea as giving up on some of the public benefits they saw in the Three-Site Plan.

More behind the cut.

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Kang Launches Website

Posted by Brandon on 6. July 2005

Ward 2 City Council candidate Eugene Kang has launched a campaign website.

>Goodspeed Update: Kang Campaign Launches Website

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Ann Arbor Community Fireworks

Posted by MarkDilley on 6. July 2005

Ahhh to be so close to such power and beauty! And to have photos by Ted Kennedy (no, really) to show how darn cool community fireworks can be!

tx Ted!

Comment [6]

Dave Zirin: Pining for the Pistons

Posted by MarkDilley on 6. July 2005

Thought I would add another Piston post to Arbor Update…

“It was only 18 months ago when (Ben) Wallace laid a verbal smackdown on (NBA commissioner David) Stern, saying, ‘I see behind the lines. I see behind the false screens. I know what this business is all about. I know the commissioner of this league makes more than three-quarters of the players in this league… They look at black athletes like we’re dumb-ass n———. It’s as if we’re just going to shut up, sign for the money and do what they tell us.’”

via Counterpunch

Comment [3]

Developers pitting Ypsi against Superior?

Posted by Murph on 5. July 2005

A pair of articles in today’s Ann Arbor News suggest an opportunity for two local governments to stand up against a developer using divide-and-conquer tactics to try to gain approval for a greenfield development of 985 homes and a golf course.

The developer, Biltmore Homes and Eyde Co., are requesting water and sewer service north of Geddes Road, the traditional development boundary, an extension that would also make possible the 1,950-home development proposed north of Geddes by Rock Construction. If the Township doesn’t extend utilities and permit the development, Eyde Co. is threatening to pursue annexation into Ypsilanti, which would then allow Biltmore to pursue annexation (annexed parcels must be contiguous to the City). If the development is allowed, though, Biltmore would give some land to the Township in order to complete an almost annexation-proof wall of land along Geddes Road. Township residents are quoted as calling the Biltmore plan “the lesser of two evils” relative to annexation.

The second article discusses Ypsi’s take on annexation – the annexation and development might boost the City’s property tax income by more than a third, but Mayor Cheryl Farmer doesn’t sound happy to be used as a pawn.

This is out of my area of expertise; so far, none of the Spitting Cats have commented.

Comment [14]

Sandra Day O'Connor Retires

Posted by Josh Steichmann on 1. July 2005

While it’s not local per se, goodbye Sandra Day.
What does this mean? Well, the crucial swing vote is gone from the Supreme Court, and Bush petite is in charge of nominating a successor.
Noting his father’s choice of Coke, and the son’s general propensity for doing the same thing only worse...
Well, it’s time to choose a new justice. Will it be Gitmo Gonzales? Pugnacious Prissy?
Maybe it’s time to donate to your favorite political charity…

Comment [4]

Cool Cities gives Michigan Theater too much money

Posted by Murph on 1. July 2005

Ann Arbor submitted a grant application in April for $100,000 in State Cool Cities grant money, split roughly evenly between adding a micro-cinema installation at the Michigan Theater and funding an interactive sound/light sculpture on Maynard Street. This week, Ann Arbor was awarded a $100,000 grant – but not for the proposal it submitted. The money was awarded entirely to the Michigan Theater project.

This causes some problems. The grant requires that 1-to-1 matching funds be committed within 3 months, the Michigan Theater wasn’t prepared to find a $100,000 match, and the narrower scope of the funded project means that some partners who may have been found to match the grant for the full project may not be interested in funding only half the project. The Michigan Theater has turned to the Downtown Development Authority to ask for half the matching funds, and hopes to raise the other half through other channels, such as the State Street Area Association, which had originally planned to be a partner for the Maynard sculpture project..

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Peters, NYT: Detroit out of Top 10

Posted by Ari Paul on 30. June 2005

Jeremy Peters, formerly of the Michigan Daily, reports today in the New York Times that Detroit is “not on the list of the top 10 most populous American cities for the first time since the 1900 census. San Jose, Calif., has taken its place.”

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This Weekend in Ann Arbor

Posted by Brandon on 30. June 2005

In town for the holiday weekend? Fear not!

FRIDAY, JULY 1:
Great Lakes Myth Society (complex, literate, accordion-augmented indie pop with an Upper Midwestern accent; one of the best live bands in the region)
The Singles (infectious, Beatlesy guitar pop from the ‘burbs)
Starling Electric (psychedelic pop bliss straight outta the Old [New?] West Side)
$7, doors 9:30
The Blind Pig

SATURDAY, JULY 2:
Kelly Jean Caldwell (heartache queen of Tree Town)
Fred Thomas (most transcendent songwriter in the state)
Ben & Bruno (featuring Grand Rapids-via-Ypsilanti’s Juan Garcia)
Actual Birds (campfire songs for the 21st Century)
$5 recommended, 9 PM
Black Elk Co-Op

SATURDAY, JULY 2:
Fireworks (more exciting than ever?)
Hudson Mills Metropark
10 PM

MONDAY, JULY 4:
Ann Arbor Independence Day Parade (free candy, free activists/citizens)
Downtown
10 AM

Comment [14]

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