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« Detroit News Roundup for Thursday and Friday July 12-13, 2007
» Detroit News Roundup for Monday July 16, 2007

Detroit News Roundup for Saturday and Sunday July 14-15, 2007


Building the dream

A 165-ton crane effortlessly lifted the dining room and kitchen section of the two-story modular home high into the air to begin the 90-minute construction project designed to transform a Detroit neighborhood.

“That’s our home,” Yolanda Jones said proudly after she and her husband, Alejandro Jones, watched the four sections of their house on Delmar Street in the NorthEnd Village neighborhood get placed on the basement foundation Thursday.

No, not trailers. These are houses that are mostly made at a giant house factory to save cost and then quickly assembled on top of a basement foundation at the final site. These two-storey homes will help quickly fill in the North End neighborhood.
[via Detroit Free Press]

Travel briefs: Luxury hotels at airports, free parking at JFK, get …

If you have passed through one of several major U.S. airports recently, you might have noticed something that has actually made you want to miss your connection: a luxury hotel linked right to the terminal, no shuttle ride needed.

There is the sleekly styled Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the new McNamara Terminal and the Grand Hyatt DFW in the international terminal of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

[via Times Herald-Record]

Ann Arbor Art Fairs open Wednesday

A few words from Kalamazoo on navigating the Ann Arbor Art Fair this week.
[via Kalamazoo Gazette]

Tiny bug may end ash’s long hitting streak silence the crack of …

It looks like the emerald ash borer has spread through Ohio to Pennsylvania. This is now a problem that warrants national attention.
[via Pittsburgh Post Gazette]

Rappers Battle It Out For $50000 In Tag-Team Competition

Bringing back the essence of the battle rap, the World Rap Championship is gearing up to begin this year’s competition where MC’s face off for the chance to win $50,000.

The competition, which began last year, features a 2 on 2 rap battle format in which three hundred rappers from all across the globe go head to head in 8 divisions. The lyrical sparring sessions are set to take place before a select industry crowd at secret warehouse and rooftop locations across eight city divisions, including New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Toronto, London and Melbourne, Australia.

[via The Elements]

Library to host ‘drummunity’ circle

Lori Fithian, a drum circle facilitator from Ann Arbor, will bring hand drums and percussion toys to the library for the free rhythmic event.

Did you know there was such a thing as a drum circle facilitator?
[via Flint Journal]

Detroit rocks visitors

Detroit is aiming to boost its summer visitor numbers with the return of its free “Rockin’ On the Riverfront” concert series, featuring such names as The Guess Who and Eric Burdon and the Animals.

Concerts will be held every Friday night through Aug. 10 at the GM Riverfront Plaza, behind the GM Renaissance Center.

[via Toronto Star]

Quirky wheels join the classics Rolling Sculpture draws a crowd

Another unconventional piece of automotive artwork was a 14-inch-tall fairy car, entered by fairy lore enthusiast Jonathan Wright of Ann Arbor. The tiny car had a bronze-metal frame, a bottle cap seat for its occupants and an alternative fuel system - a bottle of Vernor’s ginger ale.

Oh no, a uniquely Ann Arbor phenomenon (fairies) meets a uniquely Detroit one (Vernor’s).
[via Ann Arbor News]

Day trips to Canada plunge to new low

Most officials agree the trend is due in large part to a misconception of unbridled border congestion and confusion about the documentation needed to get across.

This is really affecting Windsor. There are many great reasons to make a day trip to Windsor such as eating dim sum on Sundays during lunch or having a great Italian meal any evening on Via Italia, Windsor’s Little Italy. Unfortunately, our federal government has been spreading fear and confusion which has been reducing the number of Americans traveling abroad in general and to Canada specifically. You don’t need a passport to visit Canada yet! Spread the word.
[via DetNews.com]

Eastern Market changes coming

An Eastern Market welcome center set to open today will be among the first tangible results of a $10.8 million renovation of the Detroit landmark.

The center — at Adelaide and Market streets — will serve as an information hub to guide visitors through more drastic renovations expected to kick off later this month.

Historic renovations are planned for the market’s other sheds so that the area looks as it did in the 1890s. The overall goal is to create a more appealing location to attract first-time visitors and better serve long-time customers and those in nearby neighborhoods.

Once completed, Eastern Market will operate three days a week instead of just Saturday and provide a heated shed for more comfortable year-round operations.

The group that took over operation of the Eastern Market has finally begun making changes. I look forward to the market being open three days as well as a day in the future where the neighborhood is as lively 24/7 as it is every Saturday.
[via DetNews.com]

The perfect day . . .

Few pleasures equal an afternoon spent browsing through a good bookstore. But rather than driving to one of the usual mega-suspects — you know who they are — why not consider one of Michigan’s endangered independent bookstores, under heavy siege from the giants and the Internet? Some great choices include the great-granddaddy of all used-bookstores in the state, Detroit’s John K. King Books, 901 W. Lafayette Blvd. Another used emporium worth going out of your way for is Ann Arbor’s Dawn Treader Books, 514 E. Liberty St. Stuck on new? Check out Oak Park’s Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield Road, or Rochester’s splendid children’s bookstore Halfway Down the Stairs, 114 E. Fourth St.

John King Books just west of downtown Detroit is the biggest warehouse of used books you’ll ever see. Make sure you block out a couple hours in your schedule to explore at least a few of the floors. Ann Arbor itself is blessed to have the highest number of used bookstores per capita in this country not to mention being the home of Borders.
[via DetNews.com]

City wins award for efficient lighting

The city of Ann Arbor won an award for its plan to have more efficient light bulbs installed in downtown lights.

Ann Arbor won the Climate Innovation Invitational held in Fayetteville, Ark., and will get $1,000 and the chance to present the plan at the Sundance Summit meeting of mayors around the country in September.

Treetown gets its reputation from doing thoughtful things like this as much as from its hippie past. Many cities which they had the leisure to be focused or concerned about such things as the environment (or Palestine as is often the case).
[via Ann Arbor News]

Ypsi water tower triggers some unusual postcards

Ann Arbor photographer Shela Palkoski has re-invented the old joke with a tongue-in-cheek postcard that has sold almost 5,000 copies since last fall.

The cards show the legs of a woman in a short skirt, high heels and fishnet stockings standing over the tower. And the image has city leaders struggling to find a diplomatic way to react to the innuendo.

Ypsilanti Water Tower postcard artist
Funny postcards of the penis-looking water tower in Ypsi. See them at Miss SheLa’s web site.

[via
Ann Arbor News]

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« Detroit News Roundup for Thursday and Friday July 12-13, 2007
» Detroit News Roundup for Monday July 16, 2007