Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

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8. August 2004

You may contact us at or leave a comment on this page.

Individual Contact Information:
  • Ari Paul: aspaul (at) umich.edu
  • Brian Kerr: airborne.toxic.event (at) gmail.com, AIM: briankerresq
  • Jenny Nathan: jlnathan (at) umich.edu
  • Kyle Murphy
  • Mark Dilley: FrontPage
  • Matthew Hollerbach
  • Dumi Lewis: blackatmichigan (at) hotmail.com, AIM: dumilewis
  • Rob Goodspeed: rob.goodspeed (at) gmail.com, AIM: robgoodsp
  • Samantha Woll
  • Scott Trudeau: scott.trudeau (at) gmail.com, AIM: sodthestreets

  1. If you could add my blog (chetly.home.comcast.net/blog.html) to your list on the right, I’d appreciate it. I live in Ann Arbor.

    Additionally, the top of the blog has another original news story by the Czar’s Court, citing original documents where UM attempted to censor a professor for emailing questions to candidates for his department chair position. A violation of both his academic freedom and First Amendment rights.
       —Chetly Zarko    Jun. 4 '04 - 12:30PM    #
  2. WHERE IS YOUR PISTONS COVERAGE? IS ANN ARBOR IN MICHIGAN OR NOT? 1 SMALL MENTION IS NOT WORTHY OF IT. TALK ABOUT ITS AFFECTS ON THE CITY, THE MINDSET…WHATEVER YOU FEEL IS NEWSWORTHY. BUT PLEASE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THEM.
       —Stuart Wagner    Jun. 12 '04 - 10:17PM    #
  3. Hi,
    I would love it if you could include my blog in your directory. I live in Ann Arbor and always will :)
    Thanx!
       —Patti    Jun. 22 '04 - 05:37PM    #
  4. Something I’m sure a lot of renters and condo owners will be interested in, it’s soon to be (possibly) illegal to use a gas grill in the city. Can anyone verify that cities (or states for that matter) are required to abide by the International Fire Code of 2003? Our apartment complex has notified us we have less than 2 weeks to get rid of our grill. The Ann Arbor Fire Department’s web site claims a possible $100 fine for keeping a grill (actually, it’s the tank they have a problem with).

    The letter we got was the first we’d heard of this. I think it’s a little odd that no public comment was solicited before they dropped this on everyone.
       —Ryan Vis    Jul. 27 '04 - 06:08PM    #
  5. ProQuest dropped its request for tax abatement! The Saturday edition of the Ann Arbor News gave it front page coverage: “ProQuest gives up on tax abatement—Business will still move its headquarters to Ann Arbor” However, the story was not on the www.mlive.com site. The newest article about ProQuest was on Thursday at:
    http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-2/1100792544303840.xml?aanews?BUB

    I noticed that the mlive story above made a big deal about “contingencies,” meaning that ProQuest might still move out of Ann Arbor even though it just signed a long term lease at its Ann Arbor site unless it got the tax breaks.
       —Chuck    Nov. 20 '04 - 05:17PM    #
  6. MEDIA RELEASE

    March 11, 2005

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    40th Anniversary Teach-In: Evaluating the American Empire
    Thursday March 24, 2005, 7pm Angell Hall Auditoria,
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

    All are invited and encouraged to participate in the 40th Anniversary
    Teach-In on the American Empire on March 24 at 7pm. The teach-in is being organized by students, faculty and community members in order to educate and explore the complex connections and consequences of the American
    Empire. It will include speakers, discussion workshops, art, music, and a midnight rally.

    The first teach-in ever was held by faculty at the University of Michigan in protest and exploration of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. More than 3,000 students attended the lectures, discussions, and rally. The teach-in set a bold example for other college campuses and sent a strong message of dissent to the United States government. As were the organizers of the first teach-in, we remain particularly concerned with the effects of our country’s global policies and social ideologies on us, and the world. In addition, we cannot ignore local and pressing issues such as race, class, and gender inequalities.

    The event will begin unofficially at 6pm with a Call to Attend by
    students at the Posting Wall in Mason Hall. At 7pm participants will move to the Angell Hall auditoria for introductory speeches which will present an outline of the connections of American Empire and its global impacts, as well as the local and individual consequences. Speakers are yet to be announced. Two sessions of workshops will be held from 8pm-9:30 pm and 10:30pm- 12am on the following topics: the War in Iraq, 9/11 and the War on Terror, the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Globalization and Trade:
    IMF/WTO/NAFTA, Environmental Policy and Climate Change, Racism as a
    Justification for Empire, Media, and Consumerism and Mass Culture. Multiple discussion leaders of varying viewpoints will be present in each workshop room as a source of information on these respective topics. Each workshop will include a discussion facilitator who will ensure that all participants have the opportunity to contribute. There will be a break between
    discussions at 9:30 for collective art, music, and the collective creation of the Wall of Dots which will illustrate the connections of the American
    Empire. Student groups will also be present with information on their
    respective causes. The Teach-In will culminate in a midnight rally on the Diag with an open microphone. Further discussion is encouraged to continue after the rally.

    For more information e-mail teachin2005@umich.edu or visit the website
    www.teachin2005.org
       —Jamie Cooper    Mar. 11 '05 - 09:17PM    #
  7. Please announce.

    Vigil Against Israel’s Illegal Occupation of Palestine.

    Call to Action:

    11 AM Sunday, March 13th.

    Outside the Michigan League

    911 North Univerity

    Ann Arbor

    Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends, Ann Arbor Coalition Against War,
    and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality are calling on all area
    Palestine activists (Dearborn, Lansing and Detroit, too!) to respond to the
    “4th Annual Israel Academic Conference” by attending our peaceful,
    non-violent vigil to be held 11:00am until 1:00pm at the Michigan League in Ann
    Arbor.

    [Directions: I-94 Exit #177, go 2.9 miles north on State St. Turn
    right on North University, 2 blocks to Fletcher]. From their website, this
    conference claims that “Participants walk away from the conference with a
    greater understanding of Israel and the role that democracy plays
    throughout the world”. These sponsoring groups doubt this will happen and
    invite you to review the 12 speakers this conference will provide:
    http://umisraelconference.com/speakers/ Scroll through their bios and count
    how many times “occupation” is mentioned.

    Any academic conference which
    fails to address Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine hardly deserves
    to be labelled “academic”.

    For more information contact vigilannarbor@hotmail.com
       —Blaine. (Vigil Against Occupation of Palestine. March 13 at Mich. League, 11 AM.)    Mar. 11 '05 - 10:30PM    #
  8. This year is the 40th anniversary of Ann Arbor’s sister city relationship with Tubingen, the oldest of our sister cities. On a regular basis, we have been exchanging delegations for four decades. What official or unofficial events will mark this milestone? And, by the way, exactly how many official/unofficial sister cities do we have? And what are they? I believe that our relationship with Tubingen is perhaps the most active of the sister city relationships, as I know that the Hikone program involves only a small fraction of the number of public school students which we send to Tubingen.
       —A.C. Smith    Mar. 31 '05 - 08:28PM    #
  9. The Sunday (5/22/05) Ann Arbor News ran a story on bicycling on the front of the Connection Section (which may indicate how serious they are about it). Anyway, it’d be great to hear it discussed on Arbor Update. Thanks.
    -
       —Al Braun    May. 23 '05 - 01:52AM    #
  10. Just thought I would point out for the bargain hunters in the audience (and those in the market for used cars) that there’s a city county auction slated for June 1 that will have cars, trucks, some servers, and heavy machinery on the block(who doesn’t need a backhoe?).
       —Dale    May. 30 '05 - 08:59PM    #
  11. There should have been a link in there.

    http://newwestside.blogspot.com

    http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/PublicServices/Fleet/Fleet/auction.html
       —Dale (announcing a city auction)    May. 30 '05 - 09:01PM    #
  12. Dale, to make a link in a comment, you need to use Textile formatting rather than HTML—Basically, put the link text between two quotes, followed by a colon and then the url… like ‘’this is a link’’:http://example.com/ except with real double quotes ” instead of fake ones …
       —Scott Trudeau    May. 30 '05 - 10:01PM    #
  13. Read all about it

    Success! You da man, Scott.
       —Dale    May. 30 '05 - 10:06PM    #
  14. AA News link

    More of the same from our old buddy Doug Cowherd in today’s paper.
       —Dale (Cowherd city conspiracy)    May. 31 '05 - 02:39PM    #
  15. Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo wait for the hatchet.
       —Pfizer cuts coming?    Jul. 19 '05 - 05:04PM    #
  16. Update. Conflicting stories on Pfizer jobs in Ann Arbor.

    Ann Arbor News version vs. Kalamazoo Gazette version

    Anyone want to follow up? Whose spin is accurate? I’m interested, first, for the sake of knowing about the local economy, second, for knowing just how much of a waste sucking up to Big Pharma is (worse for Kzoo), third, I want to know if Hieftje is credulous, a wanker, or clever. Enquiring minds want to know…
       —Dale    Jul. 22 '05 - 10:01PM    #
  17. The fact that the mayor had to meet with a rep from a business to find out if a change being made by the business would adversely affect the city is an indication of questionable economic priorities.

    ”’The moves we made a few years ago with Pfizer are paying off today,’ [Heiftje] said.”

    I read “moves” as a euphemism for ‘risky investment’ (also ‘limited-input deal’.) What about tomorrow? What investments are we making now to support local businesses in the same way council voted to support a multi-national megacorp with a big tax abatement? And what “moves” will we have to make in the future to make sure this one keeps “paying off”?
       —Steve Bean    Jul. 23 '05 - 06:03PM    #
  18. Couldn’t agree more, Steve. I’m sure many people currently think Pfizer is one of the best things about Ann Arbor, but I’ll wager dollars to donuts that within ten years there won’t be enough gauze in the state to stanch the bleeding we’re going to start seeing in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo (my hometown) and Holland (soon to be bled dry).
       —Dale    Jul. 24 '05 - 06:49PM    #
  19. What type of blog software, for lack of a better way to say it, do you guys use for yourd discussion boards? I’m involved with people starting a potentially wonderful blog and I’m trying to give them an alternative to what I think is standard phpBB. Thanks a million in advance for the help.
       —David    Aug. 12 '05 - 06:08AM    #
  20. just letting folks know about the new Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee blog
       —Dug Song    Aug. 26 '05 - 03:48AM    #
  21. The trial for the man that caused the death of Mary Beth Doyle was held in lenawee circuit court august 25th.paul bradly ramsey,the driver of the car that caused the accident pleaded guilty to negligent homicide after being offered the promise of no jail time,maybe probation,but he would not have to report to the probation dept.because they told him [according to the adrian daly telegram] that he could pay his fines and go to china were he claims to be a missionary.
    Mary Beths family and I had agreed to drop the manslaughter charge if he plead guilty to negligent homocide.What we did not know was that the the prosecutor had offered this get out of jail free card.
    If anyone would like to help to reverse this sentance they should send a letter to Judge Timothy Pickard 425 N. Main St. Adrian MI.49221.File No.05-11650-FH to make him aware of her impact on the planet we live on and profound affect her death has had on the lives of so many people
    Anyone that would like to witness the sentencing is encouraged to come to the Rex B Martin Judicial Building on Sept 8th at 8:15Am 3rd floor Judge Timothy Pickards court room.
    Please write!

    David Keeney
       —David Keeney    Sep. 3 '05 - 05:20PM    #
  22. Historic District Commission is raking the Glen Ann developers over the coals. Is this project going down? HDC is being really nasty.
       —Dale    Sep. 9 '05 - 02:21AM    #
  23. Hi, I’m a UM alum and a semi-regular reader of ArborUpdate (I’ve since moved to the East Coast…been missing A2 ever since), but I wanted to share my new web magazine with the town community:

    http://maximalism.nu

    Thanks very much and best regards.
       —maximalist    Nov. 18 '05 - 06:50PM    #
  24. So is it “politically incorrect” to even mention the Hash Bash in your ‘Local Events’ section?


       —Michael    Apr. 1 '06 - 07:08PM    #
  25. Michael,

    “Political correctness” has no part in the decision. “Is it posted to upcoming.org” is the proper question. A quick check shows that it’s not there, so it’s not here.

    The only filtering of Upcoming.org events that goes on is for places like the A2 Comedy Showcase, which posts ten appearances of every comedian – in cases like those we usually just include the first instance.


       —Murph    Apr. 1 '06 - 08:33PM    #
  26. Thanks, Murph, for the sincere reply to my smart-a** query. I was looking for info to see if that fellow Charles Ream was going to speak at the HB, as he has in the past. But since I can find nothing, I will assume that he isn’t. I guess I won’t go then. That’s OK, I probably don’t need any more of my mugshots in the FBI’s database anyway…:-)


       —Michael    Apr. 1 '06 - 09:05PM    #
  27. I want to know when is the ground breaking for African Town going to take place?


       —Braxton    Aug. 9 '06 - 01:56PM    #