Urban expert to seek better way for Acme

May 19, 2004

Urban expert to seek better way for Acme

Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist will speak on “A True Acme Town Center” this Tuesday, May 18 in a citizen forum at the Grand Traverse Resort.
The purpose of the forum is to generate ideas toward the creation of “a new Acme town center, with shopping and new neighborhoods and without big-box stores,” states the Michigan Land Use Institute, which is sponsoring the event along with the Concerned Citizens of Acme Township.
Norquist is president of the Congress for the New Urbanism in Chicago. He was mayor of Milwaukee from 1988-2003. Under his leadership, Milwaukee experienced a decline in poverty, saw a boom in new downtown housing and became a leading center of education and welfare reform.
Norquist presided over a revision of the city’s zoning code and reoriented development around walkable streets and public amenities such as the city’s 3.1-mile Riverwalk. He received widespread recognition for championing the removal of a .8 mile stretch of elevated freeway, clearing the way for $250 million in development in the heart of Milwaukee.
Norquist is the author of “The Wealth of Cities” and has taught courses in urban policy and urban planning at the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and at Marquette University.
The forum is free of charge with all welcome from 7-9 p.m. at the Grand Traverse Resort. Norquist will also reportedly tour sites in Traverse City, including the Grand Traverse Commons, for those interested in tagging along.

Race is on for 4th District

Rep. Dave Camp - R, Midland, has some competition for his seat from Michael R. Huckleberry, a Democrat from Greenville who threw his hat in the ring last week.
Camp outlined his battle plan in a campaign speech: “My friends, I choose to stay and fight for a better America; for an America that will not be intimidated by terrorists; for a Michigan and an America that offers fewer taxes and greater prosperity; for a Michigan and an America that offers the best training and education in the world; for an America that shows generous concern for those most vulnerable in society; and, I choose to fight for an America that is still the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Huckleberry, whose hometown has been slammed by the departure of the Elextrolux refrigerator company for Mexico had this to say in his announcement: “The 4th District of Michigan U.S. Congress race is about JOBS! JOBS! And JOBS! Without jobs, properly funding education, national defense, health care, Social Security and any other number of services is impossible.”
“Huck,” as he is called in Greenville, is a restaurateur who earned acclaim for a “placemat campaign,” which called attention to the fact that the town was threatened with the loss of 2,700 jobs.
Camp has been Traverse City’s congressman for two years now, the result of resdistricting which removed the city from the Northern Michigan/U.P. district of Bart Stupak. The current 4th District is a triangle-shaped area extending from Traverse City to Saginaw and Greenville.

Calling all Grobanites

Interlochen officials are thrilled to announce that alumnus Josh Groban will perform on July 20 in Kresge Auditorium.  Groban, who attended Interlochen for two summers in 1997-‘98, is touring in support of his sophomore album “Closer,” featuring the single “You Raise Me Up.”
Groban’s first self-titled album with the hit “To Where You Are,” was released in 2001 and sold more than five million copies.  Through numerous televised appearances and his duet with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Groban has amassed a loyal following of fans who refer to themselves as “Grobanites.” The show is expected to sell out with tickets from $59.50 to $120.

Meanwhile...

Those who like the flavor of their music a little more on the wild side will be pleased to learn that DJ Hurricane, who manned the turntables for the Beastie Boys from 1986-‘97 and dj‘d for Run DMC and Dr. Dre is playing Streeters Ground Zero on May 30...

Attack of the puppetheads

Giant puppets are planning to crash the Michigan Wetlands Conference in TC sometime during the May 20-22 event, “To put the pressure on several key state officials who are negotiating a settlement with eco-criminal Bill Clous, the notorious president of Eastwood Custom Homes who destroyed over 80 acres of precious East Bay Township wetland in late 2002,” according to an e-mail from the group.
Members of the Sweetwater Alliance (a water rights group) and the Little Artshram earth-arts organization plan to appear at the conference dressed as fish, a heron, and a three-headed monster representing state officials (including the governor?) who haven’t been tough enough on Clous in the wetlands settlement to dramatize the situation.