Belleville & Ypsilanti: Inside the Newsroom

Here you can find the musings of writers and editors of the Ypsilanti Courier and the Belleville View.


Friday, January 28, 2011

Reporters outnumber citizens in audience at recent Milan City Council meeting

Earlier this week in the Milan City Council meeting, the reporters (two) outnumbered the residents (one) in the audience.

I've seen this before, at times. The weather and meeting agenda can be factors. Also, I think that satisfaction with your local government may play a part.

Remember the days when government played a small role in our lives?

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How do outside critters survive in the winter?

Submitted by The View staff reporter Jerry LaVaute:

We have a detached garage at my home, and it has long been our habit that, as we arrive home and pull into the driveway, the passenger disembarks from the vehicle before the driver pulls the vehicle into the garage.

Having unloaded the passenger, the driver pulls the vehicle into the garage, and joins the passenger a few moments later, waiting by the door of the house.

The wait outside the door is only a few moments, but these days it’s long enough to recognize and to feel the bitter cold outside, particularly after sunset, and to wonder again as you look into the backyard, how the small creatures who live back there survive in these conditions.

My wife Jan and I suspect that many of these outside critters struggle through such a bitter winter, and that many do not survive.

As you look into the backyard in the daylight, the number of footprints in the snow are a marvel.
There is not much ground back there that isn’t covered by footprints, suggesting a lot of activity out there each night. It’s another world out there, interesting to imagine.

We try to keep the wild animals fed – there’s a birdfeeder in the backyard that we fill every other day or so, and the animals use it often. There’s been everything up there from birds to squirrels to raccoons.

And when I’m feeling up to it, I walk down the steps to the west of the house, down the hill over the snow-covered ground, among the myriad of footprints, and walk carefully across the bridge to spread whole corn for the ducks and others to eat.

I’m encouraged to do this by the sight of a duck digging beneath the snow with its beak to reach the corn. Problem is, when he sees me coming, he flies away. I hope he’ll return. We also hang a suet cake out in the yard; it lasts a week or two.

The Belleville Mill has long supplied the food for our animals, domestic and wild. Good people, good merchandise, good service, good prices.

A few months ago, we began to spot a black cat that hung around. It sometimes waited near the birdfeeder, presumably preying on the birds that fed there.

We let it be, and my wife saw the cat again recently. We think it may be living below our deck – the dogs spend too much time sniffing the surface of the deck to cause us to believe otherwise.
Our live and let live attitude doesn’t extend to mice. You’ve got to stop somewhere.

I’ve set mousetraps near where the animal food is stored. These are a new mousetrap design that doesn’t use real food like cheese or peanut butter, but instead features a bright yellow piece of plastic that is elevated at a 45-degree angle as the trap is set.

The manufacturer claims it attracts mice into the trap. But I’m here to say that, when I got into the birdseed bin the other day, I found two live mice at the bottom of the container.

As resourceful as mice can be, I guess they were unable to scale back up the three feet or so of smooth plastic inside the bin.

After several tries, I trapped them in a small container that I use to scoop the seed, and threw them into the backyard.

Problem was, they immediately sought cover, and headed back toward the garage. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before they find their way back inside, and into the food.

Meanwhile, in the garage, the newfangled mousetrap sat within inches of the birdseed container, still set, unsprung. I’m gonna have to begin looking around for the older mousetrap technology that worked.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

'Twill be tough to replace VBT Planning Director

The followingwas posted by The View staff reporter Jerry LaVaute:

I wrote recently about Dan Swallow’s departure as Van Buren Township Director of Planning and Economic Development, and wasn’t planning to write anything further.

But after attending the VBT Work Study and Board of Trustees meetings earlier this week, and seeing a letter from a colleague and friend with whom Dan and I worked, I feel compelled to share these added dimensions of his role in our community.

Dan’s departure was such that he can’t be replaced immediately – a search will be conducted for a worthy replacement, and it may take as long as three months to complete.

In the interim, Dan will be replaced by three different people from the township’s planning consultants, McKenna and Associates.

Supervisor Paul White rightly said that the township’s long history with McKenna, and its qualified and highly skilled professional staff, make them a good choice for interim help in replacing Dan

One of the McKenna staff will work 40 hours each week; a second will work four hours each week; a third will work the equivalent of five hours each week.

The internal budget transfers that were approved to fund interim coverage while Dan’s replacement is being sought were over $35,000 for three months, or the annual equivalent of over $140,000.

Wow. When it comes our turn, we can only hope that as we depart our job, that our employer has to jump through as many hoops – three different people and the annual equivalent of $140,000 - to replace us, even temporarily. Because that is an important, hardworking, highly talented employee. That is Dan Swallow.

The other dimension of Dan’s role in our community was suggested by a letter of thanks to Dan that was written earlier this week by Woods Creek Friends member Dave Wilson.

WCF was started in 2007, and among several others, included Dave Wilson, Dan Swallow, Paul White and me.

Here’s the letter from Dave Wilson:

“At our Woods Creek Friends meeting tonight, the group asked me to write a letter to you on its behalf thanking you for the enormous amount of support and valuable counsel you’ve given WCF.

If it weren’t for your efforts back when things were getting started, WCF would not exist. Your work with us will be most gratefully remembered as long as there are WCF veterans of those early days on board.

As I well know from past experience, groups like ours cannot necessarily count on support from their local governments, especially not the sort of whole-hearted and knowledgeable support we received from you on our various projects. Many, many thanks.

Congratulations on your new position with Monroe; we wish you all the best. But we’re sure going to miss you here! “

Amen to that, Dave. Well said.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Happy New Year, Noah

The following was submitted by The View staff reporter Jerry LaVaute:

I was on the floor the other day, playing with my grandson Noah. I was entertaining him with a toy, and he was making me happy, as he always does.

It's a treat just to watch him react to things new and old with curiosity, intensity and a consistently good nature.

As I lay on the floor, the passage of time and the slick way that it slips away suddenly struck me - this kid wasn't going to be little for long, so I had better appreciate what I've got with him, in the here and now.

I was reminded of this a few days earlier when Noah's mom and dad gave us for Christmas a bound book with photos and comments, chronicling his first few months among us.

The book harked back to his birth on May 14, an amorphous little guy lacking clear shape and definition, yet beautiful to behold.

And the book clearly showed his steady growth for the his first seven months, reminding me that change is inexorable, reminding me that these days will pass, much too soon.

The recent New Year was another reminder of the passage of time and its impact on him, as we got to ring in the New Year with Noah, who was comfortably, quietly and safely asleep in the next room at midnight. For a new grandparent, it doesn't get much better.

It occurred to me that Noah had had a bunch of "firsts" last year, and that, technically, these first experiences would end this May.

First summer. First trip to the ocean. First football game between the universities of Michigan and Notre Dame. First Halloween. First trip to the apple orchard.

There were a couple special outings with grandma Jan and me, one designed as a photo opportunity among the pumpkins, another to affix his handprint on a variety of Christmas gifts - coffee mugs and plates.

Getting a clear, unsmudged handprint was tricky. At his age, he's inclined to put his small hand into a fist, so I held him on my lap in a chair in the store, as grandma held before him the object to be imprinted.

By the time the paint was applied to his hand, stretching the hand to the coffee mug resulted in the fist closing, and another attempt, another approach, was required.

There was one point when a young girl, probably four years old, walked by us in the store, on her way to get something. As often happens with children, they fascinate each other.

The little girl mesmerized Noah as he watched her passing by. She was oblivious to him, but he was distracted for a couple moments, the fist opened, and we completed about half the task in those few moments. The rest required a little patience. The gifts were a big hit with the recipients - mom and dad, grandparents and aunts.

A few days ago, Noah had his first Christmas. My wife Jan, ever thoughtful, had noticed that cell phones and TV remote controls fascinate him.

It's not surprising, when you think about it - they're objects used frequently by adults, and they're often lying around.

Noah learned to crawl a couple weeks ago, so he's now able to move to these objects. We're forever having to move them to safety, out of his reach - with that much handling, they've got to be too dirty to safely place in his mouth - and that's where most everything goes these days, after he briefly examines it.

So, for Christmas, Jan bought him his own cell phone and TV remote control.

The story of the cell phone purchase was a real hoot.

Jan went to an electronics store and requested an inexpensive cell phone. We knew that he'd have to be carefully monitored with the phone, given the small parts inside it.

The clerk went to the back room and returned with a brand new cell phone, in a clear plastic sleeve.

Jan asked the price, and initially thought he said that it was $3.99. But she wasn't clear that that was what he said, and she asked him to repeat it.

Whereupon he clarified: it was "Free 99," in fact, it was free. It was a display model that was not being displayed, so the clerk had no use for it.

It was among the first gifts that Noah opened in our home on Christmas morning. His mom held him in her lap as Noah opened his gifts or, more accurately, gifts that were opened for him by others.

He's too young for the motor skills required to unwrap presents, and even if he were, he was too much busy with the cell phone.

He loved it. He examined it, he chewed on it, as others opened his presents. He was oblivious to everything but the cell phone. Grandma had correctly assessed the situation, and scored a big hit with Noah, on his first Christmas.

Monday, January 3, 2011

SE Michigan winters milder than Central New York

The following was submitted by The View staff reporter Jerry Vaute:

There is winter, and then there is winter.

My wife Jan and I just returned from a brief trip to central New York State to visit our families, in a Christmas tradition that goes back over three decades now, and I was reminded of the wintry weather conditions that I left behind many years ago.

Back in 1977, when I was interviewing for the job that I eventually landed with Ford. I was curious about living conditions here, if ultimately I came to live in this area.

About all that I was acutely aware of was the moniker “Murder City” attached at the time to the city of Detroit.

Murder City. What would that mean to my family and me?

Fortunately, the threat of mayhem visited upon me in the Detroit Metropolitan area never materialized, and I‘ve been glad and grateful for that. But I recall also asking cab drivers at the time about the weather in this area, and I had a tougher time figuring that out.

I figured that, with the proximity of the Great Lakes, the snowfall and the temperatures would be a problem.

Ultimately, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I accepted the offer from Ford, but I’ve learned that weather conditions in this area, although they can be bad at times, are on average much better than in central New York.

The sun often doesn’t shine in the city of Syracuse, where I was born and raised.

I recall that my mother used to work in an office building in downtown Syracuse. She told me a story once about a summer day working in the office, when the sun came out from behind a cloud. It was such a noteworthy event, she said, that the office workers rose from their desks to enjoy the view of the sunlight, it being a rare event in Syracuse.

Years ago, I recall reading that Syracuse had the highest average snowfall of any Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States, almost 110 inches each season. A SMSA has a metropolitan area with at least 250,000 people.

The total was higher than that of the city of Buffalo, which has earned a reputation in the media as having sometimes-horrific snowfalls. Syracuse was worse.

At another point while I still lived in New York, I read that the U.S. military moved its winter operations from a site in Alaska to New York State, to better replicate the tough conditions of winter.

This winter, the official snowfall in the city of Syracuse is 70 inches, so far, through December.
In the city of Oswego, where my in-laws live, I suspect it’s much higher, because Oswego is at the southeastern edge of Lake Ontario, and often receives in excess of 200 inches of snow each year.

Much of it is “lake effect” snow, frozen moisture picked up from the lake by the chill westerly wind, carried over the lake and deposited on communities like Oswego.

The temperature was bitterly cold in the CNY area after Christmas. The temperature dropped as low as the teens, and winds gusted close to 30 miles per hour. Even longtime natives bundled up and complained.

I miss my ancestral family. And I still miss central New York State in many ways, for many reasons, after all these years.

But I’ve found many things to like about where I live in Belleville, and among them, believe it or not, is the winter weather.

After my recent visit to central New York, I was reminded that it could be worse – much worse.

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