What a Year It Has Been . . .

Happy New Year to everybody! And what a year it has been. Admittedly, it started off on a low note. On January 10, 2006, Liz and I ended our marriage of fifteen years. And my grandmother died on January 30. I did learn, however, that not everything about divorce is terrible, horrible, no good and very bad. Just mostly everything. On a positive note, however, divorces can bring good things. Like, for example, they can make a person become overly obsessive-compulsive and stay up all night re-designing blog templates. That, of course, is only one example. Another example is that pretty girls began flirting with me on my blog. Who woulda thunk? And one pretty girl in particular left a shameless hint in a comment expressing a clear desire to accompany me on my first post-divorce trip. [Well, okay, she didn't really, but I enjoy pretending she did and teasing her about it . . . she's a good sport] So, off to Memphis we went. And we had a truly wonderful time. Not wonderful as in, that was nice, but wonderful as in, we'll remember this trip forever! Thank you, Meredith, for leaving that hint ;) I traveled a lot during the year, here in Michigan, throughout the nation, and internationally. In Michigan, I went to a local coffee shop during a protest and regretted it, went to a local Wal-Mart and regretted it, went to a Denny's in Saginaw and regretted it, went to the Corner Brewery (many times) and did not regret it, went to Kneff Lake again with a group of wonderful people and had a wonderful time, traveled to Petoskey, to Marquette, to the Renaissance Festival, and to the Calder Dairy. I went to Las Vegas with Bill (and here and here), to New Hampshire to visit a friend from college, to see my girls while they spent the summer in Chicago. I also got to go to Colorado. I went to Honduras with my dad, and we had a fantastic time. In fact, we did so much, I haven't even blogged the entire trip yet! I think the best trip, though was to Silver Lake with Meredith for her birthday. We had a fantastic time. Don't be jealous, dad, Honduras came in a close second . . . ;) From a political standpoint, history was made locally, throughout Michigan and nationally. I got to pretend to be important and hang out with a bunch of politicians (even losing a canoe race with our now-former Mayor). And, lest we forget, there was an unhealthy dose of sleaze in the air during our local primaries. But, I hasten to add, we got past it pretty quickly. The Michigan Supreme Court, though, did not get past anything and its Justices are still fueding. I watched Keith Olbermann make mincemeat of a number of sleazy individuals, every single one of whom deserved it. I attended my daughter's Cotillion Ball, which was delightful, and both my daughters shared their first slumber party ever. And I shouldn't forget to mention that my 25,000th visitor stopped by, whoever s/he was. A great year, no? Your turn. How was your year?

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings, everyone!

Click on the links below for Christmas light extravaganzas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUOjbzs8NCA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m_Idbk-G5s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImUfI9gtcEs UPDATE: Some were complaining of slow load times for my blog, so I'm linking now rather than embedding.

Michigan Supreme Court comes unglued, part 2

Justice Elizabeth Weaver released a scathing dissent accusing the Republican majority on the Supreme Court of Michigan of stifling dissent. Among her comments in harshly attacking the majority's creation of a "judicial deliberative privilege": [A]ny judicial privilege does not extend to repeated resorts to personal slurs, name-calling, and abuses of power, such as threats to exclude a Justice from conference discussions, to ban a Justice from the Hall of Justice, or to hold a dissenting Justice in contempt. Nor does any judicial privilege extend to conduct such as refusing to meet with justices on the work of the Court as the majority of four have now twice done on November 13 and November 29, 2006. The privilege certainly does not extend to illegal, unethical, and improper conduct. . . . . Regrettably, under the guise of promoting frank discussion, the majority of four has tried to erect an impermeable shield around their abusive conduct -- itself the cause of the breakdown of frank, respectful and collegial discussion on this Court. No law or rule exists to support this idea anywhere. Over the past year and longer, the majority of four, Chief Justice Taylor and Justices Corrigan, Young and Markman, have advanced a policy toward greater secrecy and less accountability. I strongly believe it is past time to end this trend and to let sunlight into the Michigan Supreme Court. I could not find the other dissent(s) mentioned, so it stands to reason that it/they were suppressed by the Court's majority. If I hear or discover otherwise, I will update. This, folks, is the group of people interpreting our laws, legislating from the bench while saying they aren't, and otherwise eroding the rights of Michigan citizens, just a little at a time. What a proud day for our courts, and for Michigan! UPDATE: Justice Kelly wrote a brief dissent in an Order concerning placing this up for public hearing. Editorial coverage here and here.

My 25,000th visitor stopped by yesterday, and didn't even notice

Was it you? I installed a counter and stat program on my blog last October. It's been interesting seeing who visits, and when and where they come from. I've had days where more than 150 unique visitors have read my blog (don't quite know why), and I've had days when less than 20 have. I've had visitors from Indonesia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, Honduras, Mexico and almost everywhere in the States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most people come to my front page, but I have my share of search engine referrals, too. I get several hits a week seeking porn, usually under a search "Getto Girls," for which I must show up high on the list. I also get more than my fair share of hits on eyelash extensions from a post a very long time ago, and in searches for the former Sup't of Willow Run who is on a tether while under federal indictment. I frequently wonder if I get his hits because he is applying for a job somewhere. I can tell when someone comes from an email program (which means somebody emailed my link to somebody else), and I frequently wonder why anything I've got to say is worth emailing someone else over. Unless, of course, they're just making fun of me . . . Obviously, most visitors don't comment. So this week, as a holiday gift to me, if you have any inclination to do so whatsoever, leave a comment and say "hi." :)

Michigan Supreme Court comes unglued

What happens when four justices of the Michigan Supreme Court get scared that a colleague is about to reveal embarrassing statements that they have made while deliberating cases? Well, they enter a gag order against their colleagues, that's what. And they enter it with no notice to the public, without the ability for the public or the other branches of government to comment, and without meeting the minimum requirements of due process. They just enter it. You can read all about it here. The Michigan Supreme Court has been an embarrassment to its citizenry before. This is just the latest in a long tenure that has caused and will continue to cause Michiganders to lose faith in their courts. UPDATE: Once the issue of no public notice was raised, the Court belatedly plopped it on an agenda for January 17, to which both Weaver and Kelly have taken exception.

Laura Rocks!

If you haven't already, you've got to check out Laura Bien's blog, ypsi~dixit. She's always one of the first, if not the first, to post on local issues. This time, she's outdone herself. Stuff Your Stocking Night in Depot Town, just one block from my house, will take place this Sunday evening from 4 to 6. Be there or be square. And don't forget to check out Laura's blog. Special thanks to Cathleen for pointing out that I was late to the party on this one ;)

Did you see it?

As I drove home on I-94 from Kalamazoo after dropping my girls off with their mom, I noticed a faint glow in the sky to the north. At first, I thought clouds were rolling in. As I continued to drive across southern Michigan, the light show began. The most spectacular aurora borealis I've ever seen caused lights to shine and dance in the night sky just above the northern horizon. I pulled off the freeway, drove a couple of miles north on a rural highway, and parked to watch. I also made a few calls to be sure that others could see it, too. Meredith and Amy and their kids drove out north of Ypsi to get away from the lights and check it out, and they reported seeing shooting stars as well. It went on for a good couple of hours as I continued my drive home. It was a wonderful close to an otherwise uneventful day. UPDATE: Amy forwarded me this from the Free Press, and I heard on the radio that we will be experiencing magnetic storms that may give us another aurora this evening.

Email to residents from Mayor Schreiber

In case you didn't get this or hadn't seen it, here's an email from Mayor Schreiber concerning recent events: Ypsilanti Neighbors and Friends: As your new mayor I want to keep you informed about your city council’s activities. I will periodically email information to you through your neighborhood groups. I hope that you find these emails informative. If you have comments, please contact me at mayor@cityofypsilanti.com or call me at (734) 277-5446. WATER STREET I was very disappointed when Ypsilanti's preferred developer for Water Street, Joseph Freed and Associates, ceased negotiations on a development agreement with the city. This decision is based upon the Michigan economy, not the viability of the Water Street site. Freed is also halting development sales of luxury condos in Troy. In spite of the economy, we must examine all of our options to keep Water Street moving forward. To this end, City Manager Ed Koryzno will be forming an advisory committee of experienced local developers to examine all of the options available to the city. Also, I will be forming the Mayor's Ypsilanti 2020 Task Force at the beginning of the new year. The task force will be charged with proposing at least five long-term strategies and ideas to make Ypsilanti a thriving city in the year 2020. The task force is a natural setting for public input and ideas on Water Street. I look forward to working with city staff, city council, and concerned residents to examine all of the options available to make Water Street a development that will energize downtown Ypsilanti. PARKVIEW APARTMENTS OVERVIEW On December 5 the city of Ypsilanti unanimously passed a resolution allowing the Ypsilanti Housing Commission to acquire Parkview Apartments. Parkview is located at the corner of Hamilton and Harriet near I-94. It was constructed around 1970 in response to a loss in affordable housing from the federal urban renewal programs of the 1960s. In 2004 financial and management issues at Parkview prompted the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to look for an owner with the financial and management capability to renovate and run it as quality affordable housing. Since then, a series of complicated legal maneuvers have left Parkview in bankruptcy and HUD still looking for a new owner. Worse, the federal government has recently passed legislation that requires HUD to sell Parkview at market rate. Money that could be spent on renovations would instead be spent on buying the property. This is where the city council resolution comes in. It asks HUD to grandfather a previous plan by the Ypsilanti Housing Commission (YHC) and Chesapeake Community Advisors (a private affordable housing developer) to acquire Parkview for $100 and provide $4 million in funds for renovations. Parkview would not be government-owned public housing; it would be privately owned and managed mixed-income affordable housing. City Council believes that the YHC/CCA plan will provide needed funds for renovations, investment in the southern gateway to Ypsilanti, and a local board of directors that will be responsive to the needs of the Ypsilanti Community. Now it’s up to HUD to decide. Let's hope for the best. Paul Schreiber Ypsilanti City Mayor www.cityofypsilanti.com

Ypsilanti Haiku

I stole this idea from ann arbor is overrated, who took it from the Ann Arbor News. I'll start: Joseph Freed left us receivership imminent will you buy my house? Please leave yours in the comment section . . . .

Joseph Freed pulls out of Water Street

Though I'm late to the scoop here, it appears that Joseph Freed & Assocs. pulled out of their potential development deal of Ypsilianti's Water Street project. I'm sure the key questions on the minds of many are: How (if at all) will this affect our ability to pay back the outstanding debt on the project? How (if at all) will this affect City finances in both the short and long term? How much further will the timetable be set back for developing this project? What effect (if any) will this have on the City's desire to impose an income tax? I'm also wondering if I should stop filling out the Governor's Appointment Application for EMU Regent and start filling out the appointment packet for City Receiver, since I vividly recall being told by several people that if an income tax did not pass, we'd end up in receivership. That last part was, of course, me being facetious. The part about the appointments, I mean. UPDATE: Ann Arbor News article here.

Ypsi's City web site gets a C- from the A2 News

The A2 News reviewed municipal web sites throughout its readership area. It rated Ypsi with C-, which seems reasonably accurate given my limited use of it. At the ends of the scale, Saline Township and Lima Township both got D- grades, and the cities of Ann Arbor and Saline both got an A-.

Humorous critique of the limits of evidence-based medicine

One of the current trends in defending medical malpractice cases is to attack the plaintiff's medical positions on the basis that they have not been confirmed by randomized, controlled trials. This peer-reviewed scholarly article proves why evidence-based medicine isn't all that it's cracked up to be, all the time. And it's funny, too. I like how it advocates for a healthy dose of common sense. Evidence-based medicine is important both as a concept and a practice. However, for obvious reasons, it doesn't work all the time.