Google "Eli Cooper" and you're bound to get lots of transportation references. Then there's the inevitable and unofficial moniker: "Czar". As Tree Town's Transportation Program Manager, however, Cooper's title and catchy sobriquet do little to explain his passionate mission to help Ann Arbor rethink the meaning of transportation.
Excerpt:The last time most people in Pinckney saw him, Wesley Coller was a dropout, punk-rock skater with a Mohawk.Man, is he over that now.The Eastern Michigan University grad could be the next Joel Silver ("The Matrix") or Harvey Weinstein ("Lord of the Rings"), with today's release of the anticipated Hollywood blockbuster movie he co-produced - the granddaddy of all graphic novels, "Watchmen." The Watchmen are costumed heroes who guard an alternate-universe 1985 America. After the story opens with a Watchman's slaying, complex questions arise about who is watching the Watchmen. And about who - and what - are good. Or evil.The darkness isn't new for Cruel & Unusual Films; its logo is a pigtailed anime girl wielding a bloody ax.But the movie isn't about violence, Coller said during a phone interview from Los Angeles. Rather, "it says there is not violence without consequences," he said.Coller, 36, and his wife Celeste, toil with studio president and film director Zack Snyder, and his co-president and wife, Deborah Snyder.Snyder's 2007 flick, "300," with Coller as associate producer, grossed about $450 million by some estimates. Coller was about five when he moved from the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area to Pinckney. Read the rest of the story here.
The Karmanos Cancer Institute may be in Detroit but its reaching out to Ann Arbor to find some of its top talent.Excerpt:Ann Schwartz has been appointed interim CEO of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Karmanos Cancer Center. Schwartz, of Ann Arbor, will replace Dr. John Ruckdeschel, who is leaving in a few months to take a job in Las Vegas.Read the rest of the story here.
Hard times for new home building may or may not turn into good times for Ann Arbor's Greenbelt. Except:The depressed real estate market presents new challenges for Ann Arbor's greenbelt program.The first is that farm owners who might otherwise be prepared to sell may, instead, hold their land.For many farmers, the value of their land represents a retirement nest egg, said Peg Kohring of the nonprofit Conservation Fund, which staffs the city's greenbelt program. With the appreciation of the past decade wiped away, those who can will likely delay selling, she said. Read the rest of the story here and how the down economy could help the Greenbelt here.
Ann Arborites' heads are about to get as big as their bookshelves when they read this story.Excerpt:The Ann Arbor District Library was named one of the top libraries in the country in a new survey by the Library Journal published in its Feb. 15 issue.The inaugural LJ Index of Public Library Service is based on 2005-2006 data for circulation transactions per capita, including: checkouts and renewals; visits to library buildings per capita; computer sessions per capita; and program attendance per capita.The top libraries in each category, organized by ranges of operating expenditures, were then assigned five, four, or three stars.Of the 7,115 libraries evaluated for the report, 256 received star ratings.Read the rest of the story here and the actual list of rankings here.
New "lofts" are starting to pop up throughout the University of Michigan's campus and the high prices are coming with them.Excerpt:Devon Porter, a sophomore at the University of Michigan, will be one of the first to move into a new upscale loft development that is to open in May on Washington Street in Ann Arbor.Porter, 19, from Farmington Hills at first thought the monthly rents ranging from $750 to $1,450 a person would be out of reach. But the lure of granite countertops, built-in flat-panel HDTVs, maple-faced cabinets and upscale furnishings made her do the math."A lot of people say 4 Eleven Lofts is really expensive," said Porter, a dual economics and film major. "People don't realize how much you pay to live in the dorm."The students' excitement is growing over the impending opening of the lofts building and another 10-story upscale apartment complex called Zaragon Place on University near the Diag. Zaragon is to open in May and offers two-, four- and six-bedroom units ranging in price from $2,500 to $6,000.Read the rest of the story here.
Two great discoveries in one.Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with some creative breakthroughs in both the building and health-care industries. On the one hand, recent discoveries could mean the creation of earthquake-proof buildings. On the other, university scientists are advancing the hunt for the cure to cancer.A new technique for bracing high-rise concrete buildings proved quite successful at U-M's laboratories after an off-the-charts earthquake simulation. The engineers used steel fiber-reinforced concrete to develop a better kind of coupling beam that requires less reinforcement and is easier to construct.Such beams are normally difficult to install and require intricate reinforcing bar skeletons. The U-M's version is simpler because it uses a highly flowable, steel fiber-reinforced concrete.At the same time U-M biological chemist Ray Trievel and two scientists filed a patent application for a new technology that could help in the fight against cancer. It detects enzymes that can alter DNA molecules, sometimes leading to the onset and progression of a number of cancers. Demethylase enzymes remove methyl groups attached to DNA, proteins and toxin, which produce formaldehyde. Trievel and his colleagues found a new way to detect the formaldehyde. This allows tests from around the world to be standardized.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke
The last time the city of Ann Arbor updated its transit plan it focused on just one form of transportation – automotive. Today city officials are looking to diversify that a little bit.The update calls for the city to implement more comprehensive plans for an integrated multi-modal system. This means the plan will meet the needs of all transportation users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, mass transit users, commercial trucking and motorists. The plan includes eight goal statements and lists recommendations for short, medium and long-term investments. A significant new component in this plan is the better incorporation of transportation and land-use concerns. A more comprehensive outline of the changes can be found here.The city recently held a public meeting on this subject that will be rebroadcast on Ch. 16. For information, send an email to planning@a2gov.org or call (734) 794-6265.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke
Last year was a good year for Ann Arbor's Adaptive Materials. The University of Michigan spin-off recorded 64 percent revenue growth in 2008. That allowed it to add 13 people to its staff and another 16 interns. "Almost every engineer had an intern last year," says Michelle Crumm, chief business officer for Adaptive Materials.The company was also named as one of the Top Women Owned Businesses in the State of Michigan by DiversityBusiness.com, the nations' leading multicultural Internet site. It's the second year in a row the company received this honor. It hopes to continue that success this year. The firm has several pending contracts this year, so it could be a grow-like-gangbusters or hold-the-line year. Crumm expects to keep hiring as her company takes on more work. Adaptive Materials got its start in 2001 when University of Michigan grad Aaron Crumm came up with a way of turning fuels like propane into electricity instead of heat. That means its technology can convert a small propane tank used for camping into a generator that can keep a fridge going in a blackout. Think an emergency generator strong enough to power appliances but small enough to carry in your pocket.The technology has taken off so fast that its had to move to three newer/bigger locations to handle the growth. It employs 61 people today and calls a 60,000-square-foot space on Ann Arbor's south side home. Adaptive Materials has also received a $6.2 million cash infusion from the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund that helped make all of this possible.Source: Michelle Crumm, chief business officer for Adaptive MaterialsWriter: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor is throwing a lot more money at expanding its Greenbelt.The City Council just approved spending $1.3 million to acquire the development rights to the Merkel-Heller farms in Webster Township. The city, Federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and Webster Township Land Preservation Fund are all chipping in to make the purchase.The city's Greenbelt Program has been on a bit of a spending spree as of late as developers and locals sell the development rights to land to the Greenbelt in this tight economy. Voters approved the Ann Arbor's Greenbelt Program in 2003. The program collects a 0.5-mill millage for the next 30 years. That money is used purchase the development rights to rural land around the city, preserving and protecting open space, natural habitats and farms. The program has acquired the rights to hundreds of acres or rural land.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke
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