Depending on your perspective, Washtenaw Avenue is either an important connection bringing together businesses, commuters, and shoppers in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Ypsi Township and Pittsfield Township or it’s a traffic nightmare, the an danger to pedestrians, and a concentration of ugliness in the county.
A group of community leaders gathered to [...]
City Council: Monday, November 16 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Public Hearing on A2D2 Downtown Design Guidelines (continued) Ordinance to Amend to Chapter 55 (Zoning) and Chapter 59 (Off-Street Parking) and Rezone Downtown Properties for the Ann Arbor Discovering Downtown Project (A2D2) Individual Hearing [...]In 2005, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 that New London, Connecticut, could condemn and acquire 26 acres of a neighborhood to build hotels, and condos, near a Pfizer research center. The city spent nearly $80 million preparing the land.
On Thursday, Pfizer announced that 1,400 jobs would leave [...]
Grand Rapids has announced a January layoff of 125 staff, including 44 police officers and 25 fire fighters. Mayor George Heartwell is calling for a tax increase.
Troy has announced deep cuts and possible layoff of 1/3 of city staff. City Manager John Szerlag has proposed a 2 mill [...]
City Council: Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Resolution to Approve Downtown CVS Pharmacy Site Plan, 209 South State Street (public hearing) Resolution to Approve Consolidation of City of Ann Arbor Master Plan: Land Use Element (public hearing) Resolution to Approve Memorandum [...]Five Ann Arbor City Council positions are open, but only two are contested. (see all candidates)
In the 1st Ward, Democratic incumbent Sabra Briere is challenged by independent Mitchell Ozog.
In the 4th Ward, Democratic incumbent Marcia Higgins faces independent challenger Hatim A. Elhady.
[...]There are two ballot proposals for the City of Ann Arbor and one for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. There are other proposals for other townships.
PROPOSAL A ANN ARBOR CITY CHARTER AMENDMENTShall Sections 7.4(a) (1) and (2) of the Ann Arbor City Charter be amended to permit the current [...]
Two possibly weather-related events:
A transformer went down on North Campus sometime around 6:45 today, taking out power to residence halls and other places; not sure if it’s back on yet. Got a texted report of continuing blackout at ~11pm (either the cell tower is out of the range, or has [...]
The Poynter Institute and Online News Association are holding events at Campus Inn over the next two days geared toward local journalists and bloggers (however you may self-identify).
The Poynter Institute’s free Community Conversation begins tomorrow (Wednesday, October 21) at 4:30pm, followed by a reception at 6:00pm, and [...]
City Council: Monday, October 19 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Resolutions “pertaining to Argo Dam” (added late) Resolution to authorize city to contract for repairs on E. Stadium Bridge Resolution to approve Neighborhood Stabilization Funds Resolution appointing Georgetown Mall Citizens Committee Resolution approving Dominicks rezoning from [...]In just a few weeks Washtenaw County voters will decide on a proposed 2-mill enhancement millage.
If passed the millage would raise about $680 per student in the county according to Brian Marcel of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.
The 2 mill tax mean that a homeowner with a [...]
City Council: Monday, October 5 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Public Hearing on A2D2 Downtown Design Guidelines Resolution to Approve Agreement with Clarion Associates for Integration and Clarification of Zoning and Land Use Ordinances Resolution to Establish a Sandwich Sign Board Task Force Resolution to [...]
City Council: Monday, September 21 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Resolution to approve City Place Site Plan and Development Agreement Near North PUD Public Hearing (continued from 9/8/09 City Council meeting) Dominick’s area rezoning from R4C to PUD Resolution to disclose Council e-mail from November [...]This is a little ways off, but mark your calendars now!
Art and Abilities: Investing in Ability Week—Oct. 19 – 31, 2009
Presented by the University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns
In collaboration with the University of Michigan Health System and the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living
For dates, times and [...]
City Council: Tuesday, September 8 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Near North Public Hearing First reading of A2D2 ordinances Resolution opposing closure of the Post Office Station on South University Resolution appointing South Fourth and South Fifth Avenues Historic District Study Committee Resolutions accepting funds for [...]Advance Ypsilanti has put out the call about a special Ypsi city council meeting on Tuesday, September 8:
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8, the Ypsilanti City Council will be considering a variety of proposals for major cuts to bus service in the city. At the meeting, officials from [...]
I received the following this afternoon from “smartgrowthannarbor@gmail.com”. SGA2 urges attendance at tonight’s community open house for the A2D2 design guidelines draft, 7-9pm at the Kerrytown Concert House (415 N. Fourth), as well as the Sept. 14 joint working session of Council, Planning Commission, and the DDA. The design [...]
The University of Michigan and City of Ann Arbor Move-In Task Force, preparing for another large freshman class, has set the main Fall Move-In days of Tuesday, September 1 through Friday, September 4, for new and returning students.
[...]Most of the files relate directly to the Argo Dam question. Especially of note is a lengthy 2003 report on many facets of the problem by students in the Masters program at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Karen Sidney for the link.
[...]
We’ve done some minor updates of the software. The only user-visible change is that you should only have to pass the “image verification” step one more time; subsequent comments with the same user name and email will skip that step.
If you notice any problems, please let us know [...]
City Council: Monday, August 17 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Presentation of the E. Stadium Boulevard Bridges Replacement Project’s conceptual design Rezoning of 11 park properties (Pittsview Park, Windemere Park, Waymarket Park, Turnberry Park, Stapp Nature Area, Redbud Nature Area, Maryfield Wildwood Park, [...]A lawsuit was filed yesterday against the City of Ann Arbor alleging that e-mail exchanges during the February 17, 2009 Council meeting violated the Open Meetings Act. It claims that the City did not provide all the e-mails on request, and made unauthorized deletions, violating the Freedom of Information Act. [...]
The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan is providing up to $1 million of general operating support to match gifts to support participating arts and cultural organizations made online at www.cfsem.org. A match of $1 will be provided for every $2 contributed. There are more than 70 organizations competing for [...]
City Council: Thursday, August 6 at 7:00 pm.
Agenda
Highlights:
Revenue Projections Rezoning of Near North Proposal area (626-724 North Main Street) to PUD Resolution to impose a temporary moratorium on all new development that requires site plan approval, expansion of existing development that [...]The Ann Arbor Transit Authority is asking for feedback on the proposed discontinuation of their Link service. They write
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is proposing the discontinuation of the Link route. The route has operated from September through April, with no service during the spring or summer. If this [...]
Online at via the County Clerk
UPDATE
As of 10:11pm, Larry Kestenbaum reports the following complete results:
3rd Ward: Kunselman 511, Greden 505, Bullington 379.
5th Ward: Anglin 1301, Rosencrans 694.
-----------------------------With 9 precincts of 18 counted as of 09:28:46:
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY - COUNCIL MEMBER BY WARD 5The Ann Arbor Chronicle recently reported on the 2,000 people that will be heading to Ann Arbor for the National Training Institute (NTI), put on by the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC).
According to the Chronicle, this event regularly brings in an estimated $5 million dollars to Ann [...]
The Arts Alliance has contacted all candidates running for elected office in Washtenaw County to obtain their views on arts and culture in this region. To view all responses (and lack thereof), click here.
The survey, conducted annually in advance of the primary and general elections, was distributed to [...]
Continuing our candidate questionnaire results…
#2 – What systems do you have to manage communications with your constituents and to track issues?
Greden: I pro-actively distribute an e-mail newsletter to 3rd Ward residents on a periodic basis. Some of my past newsletters remain in the AU archives. I have an extensive [...]
Continuing our candidate questionnaire results…
#3 – How do you see Ann Arbor growing, shrinking, and developing over the next 15 years? Where should growth be encouraged or discouraged, and how should the City manage the impacts of these decisions?
Kunselman: I see Ann Arbor being fairly stagnant over the next [...]
Continuing our candidate questionnaire results…
#4 – How will you work to ensure a safe, effective, and efficient transportation system in the city, ranging from biking and walking to transit options like AATA or the proposed commuter rails?
Greden: I have long supported the City’s pedestrian transportation program, which adds new [...]
Continuing our candidate questionnaire results…
#5 – Would you support Council discussion of a resolution to support sanctioning Israeli actions towards the Palestinian people? What is your opinion on past Council discussion of resolutions on divestment from South Africa (1986), urging the lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq (2000), or [...]
We only received responses to our questionnaire from two candidates, Leigh Greden and Stephen Kunselman, both in the 3rd Ward, but we don’t want to push back posting the answers too long. (The first question we asked, though, involved participating in online discussions, so maybe we do have everyone’s [...]
In response to MattH’s request, cable commissioner Jeff Meyers writes:
I’ve been pushing CTN to provide Google or YouTube videos of all council and commission meetings. Their response has been that there have been no requests for such an offering and so they are reluctant to allocate resources to [...]
As of yesterday, AnnArbor.com is live.
Several comment threads on the site allow for watching the site refine itself on the fly.
[...]Recent discussions of proposed developments, such as New North, City Place and the Moravian highlight a real division in our town.
On the one had there are those who say they are supportive of development and density, but argue that all of the proposed developments are “bad”. These [...]
Thanks to our very own State Representative Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), July is officially Michigan Beer month! A little closer to home we have our first Ann Arbor Beer Week! There are many events happening, including:
July 13-24: Michigan Beer Cup Challenge—a competition between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to see who [...]
When the Ann Arbor News ceases publication on July 23, Ann Arbor is going to find itself without a local daily printed newspaper for the first time in at least a century. Love it or hate it (and there were plenty of people in both camps), the Ann Arbor News [...]
This year’s primary is coming up on Tuesday, August 4, 2009. The Washtenaw County Clerk’s website lists exactly two primary races on this ballot, in Ann Arbor’s 3rd and 5th Wards. As is traditional, ArborUpdate will be submitting a set of questions to the candidates and posting [...]
This Friday — hosted at the Workantile Exchange. Upcoming link
This lunchtime (bring a brown bag lunch) seminar will provide you with the skills and knowledge to obtain public information from local, state, and federal governments. We will cover the state and federal Freedom of Information Acts, what types of [...]
In the post on the “hydrogen superhighway,” Joel Batterman notes that the State of Michigan may cut funding to the Pere Marquette and Blue Water trains. The Pere Marquette has service between Grand Rapids and Chicago; the Blue Water, between Port Huron and Chicago. Here’s a PDF with [...]
Every few years, Brighton-based Interstate Traveler Company pops up briefly with their visions of solar-generated hydrogen-powered mag-lev high-speed rail pods that could carry everything from people to individual automobiles to freight, provide conduits for public utilities, revitalize the American steel industry, and even provide [...]
This Saturday, you have the opportunity to participate in the Photo Walk, sponsored by the Ann Arbor District Library. Here is what those nice folks have to say about it:
Bring your camera and explore Ann Arbor! Participate in our first Photowalk, which will begin in the Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room [...]
First, thanks so much for all the intelligent, insightful comments over the years. As has been noted in the past, AU wouldn’t be what it is without comments, and we try to take a light hand in policing them.
Recently, though, we have been receiving more questions and challenges about how [...]
My favorite episode of the twilight zone is called A Stop at Willoughby. Those who know me know that I love horror movies, mysteries, and Twilight Zone-y type stuff in general. It should therefore come as a slight surprise that my favorite episode is about an ad man who is [...]
In late May, the Chronicle wrote about problems between Arborland management and the AATA — management wanted the busses out. According to a release in the Arbor Update inbox, negotiations broke down and service will be stopped on July 1. Snippets follow:
After 30 years of providing transit service at [...]
Due primarily to a county-wide decline in property values, Washtenaw County is facing a projected $26 million deficit in the 2010/2011 budget cycle. More on the County’s Financial Status & Projected Deficits
On June 3, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners was presented with Phase 1 of the plan to [...]
There is some news in parking: Ann Arbor E-Park
The website promises that the system will make parking more efficient and convenient. You can pay for your parking by phone, too. More info on the website linked above.
[...]The mayor’s 9th annual Green Fair is this Friday, from 6p-9p. (I remember going to the first Green Fair and I am suddenly feeling very townie-ish!) There will also be the Bike Fest and I heard something about Linda Diane Feldt having some goodies there, too!
If you are [...]
Karl Pohrt announced today that Shaman Drum Bookshop will be closing June 30. The Great Lakes Literary Arts Center will continue.
The text of Pohrt’s message is below:
On the advice of my accountant and my business manager, I am closing Shaman Drum Bookshop June 30. Despite a first rate [...]
An announcement in my inbox heralds this outdoor opportunity:
The “Ann Arbor Summer Festival:http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/ is launching a pilot volunteer program this year, and offering community service hours for those who request it. We are looking for outgoing, friendly people to serve as greeters at Top of the Park, welcoming patrons, answering [...]
Twitter broke the story, then the Business Review followed up.
What’s the news? “Heritage Newspapers, part of the Journal Register Co., will launch a new, weekly newspaper covering Ann Arbor July 9.”
It looks like somebody thinks there’s still money to be made in print journalism.
[...]A recent FOIA by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center of City Council emails has revealed that many Council Members engage in back and forth email exchanges during Council meetings.
These exchanges were first reported in the Ann Arbor Chronicle and appeared in a recent Sunday issue of the [...]
Two pieces of news from AnnArbor.com today.
The first is a logo announcement — here you go:
I wanted to write some witty description, but I can’t do better than the text already provided:
We’ve chosen an acorn as the icon of AnnArbor.com. Oak [...]
From the Ann Arbor News:
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje wants the city to study the possibility of closing Main Street on weekends in the downtown area during summer months, and not just for special events.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, Hieftje suggested that the city look into a pilot program [...]
The election results are in!
Results are as follows (top two vote-getters win seats on the Board):
Jeff McCabe 708
Rebecca Kanner 696
Chuck Loucks 101
Henry Herskovitz 60
All Bylaws passed
815 valid member votes cast
Congratulations to Jeff and Rebecca. Thank you to all who ran.
Please keep comments on topic [...]
The AADL is adding CD previews to its online catalog — you’ll be able to listen to short snippets (a la Amazon/iTunes) before requesting the item. Still no digital deliveries, though.
Detroit: Murph posted a link to the Great Lakes Urban Exchange’s I Will Stay If… project in the [...]
Schools are closed on Monday, there’s no mail delivery and the library is closed too…but there is still plenty to do on Monday (and this whole weekend!)
Saturday:
City pools open!
Neighborhood parade for children who want to decorate their bikes. Line up at 2609 Yost Dr. at 11am.
Sunday:
Arborcrest Memorial [...]
The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center may file suit against the City of Ann Arbor to stop construction of the proposed underground parking structure on South Fifth Ave. A letter from Prof. Noah Hall, Ann Arbor resident and executive director of the Center, identifies potential grounds for [...]
Just a reminder that the Ann Arbor Book Festival officially kicks off today and goes through this weekend, culminating with the Antiquarian Fair on Sunday at the Michigan Union.
There are tons of other cool things to do this weekend, too! There is the Hootenanny to benefit Avalon Housing [...]
I grew up in a suburb north of Detroit in the 70s/80s. If you know the area, it perhaps goes without saying that I never heard of things called “quinoa” or “kale” or “stinging nettle”. It was all about Shake’n‘Bake, Hamburger Helper and iceberg lettuce with Garden Goddess dressing in [...]
There is going to be a Town Hall Meeting tonight (May 11) at 7m at Washtenaw Community College to focus on transportation projects.
According to an email on the event:
Pam Byrnes will host a town hall meeting with U.S. Reps. John Dingell (D-Michigan) and Mark Schauer (D-Michigan) to provide an update [...]
The AADL is hosting a class on finding online news this coming Wednesday. Hopefully it’s the first of many. If you’re here, you probably don’t need it — but maybe you know someone who’s interested, or want to pick up some more skills. Registration is required.
Are you sad that [...]
John Udell has built an automated script for pulling Ann-Arbor related events into a huge calendar list. It’s similar to Arbor Update’s calendar, but much larger and unfiltered. Potentially a source of information for local event information curators or your personal information overload needs.
[...]If you haven’t already heard, Michigan is having a bit of a challenging time lately. One of the issues that continues to surface is how to retain and attract talented knowledge workers to our state.
Last night, the Center for Michigan hosted a dinner for Young Professionals (some from [...]
Larry’s wish is our command.
[...]The getDowntown Program is holding the 4th annual Commuter Challenge during the Month of May.
The Challenge is a month-long online commuting-competition between Ann Arbor businesses (primarily downtown) to see who can walk, bike, bus, carpool, telecommute, etc. the most.
The Goal of the Challenge is to encourage people who [...]
The City of Ann Arbor has posted its 2010 draft budget (direct budget book PDF link here). Arbor Update ran character recognition software on the PDF and produced a semi-searchable Word document (6mb zip file containing a 14mb document).
[...]The City Council has ten members, two representing each of the five wards (ward map), with two-year terms staggered so that each ward elects one member yearly.
The Ann Arbor News reports that all incumbents are running for re-election. The list of incumbents (with possible challengers from the [...]
The Ann Arbor Transit Authority has just announced that they will begin negotiations with Michael Ford on a contract to serve as AATA’s new CEO.
The press release describes Ford’s background:
Ford, is currently a principal with MG Ford Consulting, based in Camas, Washington which provides organizational development services to [...]
The City of Ann Arbor posts the names and positions of people serving on various commissions on its Legistar site. It’s a pretty entertaining page to browse around. And Legistar has a fairly usable interface — but its export function is completely broken.
Brian Kerr and myself have scraped [...]
Avalon Housing along with Damian Farrell Design Group, Three Oaks Group, and Midwestern Consulting, LLC is proposing an affordable housing project they are calling Near North
This project comes before the “City Planning Commission“http://www.a2gov.org/government/communityservices/planninganddevelopment/planning/Pages/default.aspx on Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Second Floor of City Hall, [...]
The Ann Arbor News is reporting on a buy-local resolution that supports trying to “maximize the creation of American jobs” in the way it spends federal economic stimulus money.” They have a online poll (same link), but we’d like to hear your comments.
[...]The Ann Arbor News is reporting on a project called GO Ask Voters to require that bonds for city projects get voter approval before they are issued.
What do you think? Is this a needed check on our city government, or an added bureaucratic hoop for the city to [...]
Sheriff Jerry Clayton has released several videos related to the death of Clifton Lee, Jr. in June 2006.
(this posted is a belated follow-up to the Sherriff’s Race thread.)
[...]To ban or not to ban, that is the question.
The City of Ann Arbor is seeking community input on a potential policy that would discourage the use of plastic shopping bags and encourage the use of reusable bags.
There are a couple of ways you can give feedback about this [...]
The sixth anniversary of the Iraq War is coming up this weekend, and Michigan Peaceworks, Veterans for Peace, and the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice are planning events to mark the event.
The main event is a rally Don’t backpedal on Iraq: Rally to Call [...]
City Council recently approved a public art installation as part of the new City Municipal Center. This installation will integrate storm water mitigation into its design. The art is being designed by a German Artist. The decision to use a foreign rather than a local artist has prompted several [...]
Back in January, a group of local hackers built a service that allowed people to call in and check on parking structure spot availability in realtime (MLive article). It as powered by freely available data from the Downtown Development Authority website.
The Arts Alliance will host a public forum discuss the Washtenaw County Cultural Master Plan and steps to customize the plan to meet the needs of our community. Anyone interested in the future of arts and culture in Ann Arbor is welcome to attend the forum which will take place [...]
In a recent column in the Ann Arbor News, Judy McGovern highlights four recent City budget decisions and the tension surrounding those decisions.
Police Layoffs: As part of cutting costs at the City, the police department may cut as many at 20 jobs, including 14 officers and 6 civilians. East Stadium [...]The 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival will be at the Michigan Theater March 24-29, 2009.
Highlights of this year’s Festival include
an Opening Gala on March 24th. an appearance by Cult animator and Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt on Friday, March 27th. the Midwest premiere of two retrospectives for [...]Two years ago around this time, Arbor Update reported on a City Council Meeting that presented information from the Citizen Survey.
This Citizen Survey got information from 3,000 City residents in January 2007. Apparently the results of the 2008 survey are going to be presented soon.
One of the [...]
Recently, Washtenaw Community College has been considering the acquisition of the Washtenaw Country Club, at Packard and Golfside. The club’s 122 acres, a little over a mile from WCC’s existing campus, would likely continue to be operated as a golf course for the near future, but [...]
At the City Council’s Tuesday meeting, the Council voted to approve the site plan for the new underground parking structure at Fifth Avenue (also known as the Library Lot). This structure will add 670 spaces and will cost about $55 million to construct.
In an effort to facilitate some [...]
Ever since Jim Epolito announced his departure as Michigan’s top economic development material, speculation has flown over who would succeed him (at least, among we geeks who read the business press). Ann Arbor SPARK‘s own Mike Finney was among the leading names, but MEDC has recently nominated Greg [...]
For the second year in a row Ann Arbor will be observing Earth Hour.
Earth Hour happens on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 between 8:30-9:30pm.
More information and a flyer on this international observation are posted here.
Started in Australian in 2007 to increase awareness on saving energy by simply turning [...]
According to the Ann Arbor News and Michigan Daily, Russell Corp. may lose its license to produce UM-branded apparel because of labor violations in its factories in Honduras.
Tonight Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality is hosting workers fired from the Russell Athletic factory for a speaking [...]
As reported in the Ann Arbor News, Cumulus radio station 107.1 WQKL laid off local radio personality Martin Bandyke as of Friday afternoon.
Doesn’t look like anyone is going to replace him as of now.
News Director Brian Larsen was also let go.
According to the Ann Arbor News, the layoffs appear [...]
In tonight’s State of the State address, Governor Granholm proposed:
Since I issued an order creating a preference for Michigan firms, over 85 percent of your tax dollars spent on state contracts have gone to Michigan businesses. In the year ahead, we will require other units of government in Michigan – [...]
Liveblogging Governor Granholm via the Michigan Radio live stream
External coverage: Mlive one Freep Detroit News
[click through for the full page]
[...]In response to a post on Canning, Freezing and Drying in Ann Arbor, a commenter made the following remark:
As an increasingly committed ‘locavore’, I’d like to see some sort of group effort (formal or not) in canning, preserving, etc. to capture the local harvest (not just our own individual [...]
Juliew, Chuck Warpehoski, Matt Hampel, Patti Smith
