Dreary March in Ann Arbor is not a bad time for a trip abroad. Anyone looking for a transporting experience in town, though, could have done no better than the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s “Scheherazade” program Friday night at the Michigan Theater.
Just as the “Arabian Nights” stories whisked readers off to exotic adventures, so, too, the did orchestra succeed on Friday in placing us elsewhere while we were fixed in our seats: most of all in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Arabian Nights-inspired symphonic suite “Scheherazade,” which gave the program its title; but also in Evan Chambers’ “Crazed for the Flame,” which opened the program; and in the Elgar Cello Concerto, with cellist Amit Peled as soloist.
With their decidedly Eastern flavor, “Crazed for the Flame” and “Scheherazade” were an inspired pairing and a terrific frame for the concert.
Evan Chambers
Sufi music inspired Chambers to create this incantatory piece, with its infectious rhythms, frequent syncopations and strophic form. Verse and chorus alternate via orchestral solos and tutti that echo each other; repetitions are insistent and mounting, spiraling forcefully higher till they consume themselves in a virtual cannonade of sound. Music Director Arie Lipsky led a stirring performance of the piece; Chambers, chair of the composition department at the University of Michigan School of Music, was on hand to receive the accolades of the crowd.
If the Chambers’ piece was new to the audience—he created it in 2001 for the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings and then completed a full orchestral version for the U-M Philharmonia Orchestra in 2005—Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” has had more than 100 years of musical life to become familiar. Even if this was your thousand and first hearing of the piece, Friday night’s performance would have seemed fresh.
Arie Lipsky
courtesy of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Lipsky’s pacing was inspired: all the music’s dance was there, and if he permitted the music to unroll on its own terms, spaciously, it never spilled into distortion. And the playing was color-filled and utterly enchanting: from the orchestra as a whole; and from soloists within it like Concertmaster Aaron Berofsky—entrusted with intoning the sinuous strains of the Sultana Sheherazade as she begins and ends a tale. The winds, especially clarinetist Brian Bowman, bassoonist Eric Varner and flutist Penelope Fischer, were particularly remarkable, phrasing with ineffable liquid beauty.
The Elgar Cello Concerto transports to a less happy place than either of the works that framed it Friday. In 1919, the year of its composition, the world, and England and Elgar, too, were still reeling from World War I. The concerto, autumnal in feeling, bears witness to the war’s emotional toll and to the end of an era.
Peled’s playing, resonant and deep and direct, was eloquent and affecting. Early on, his body language was distracting, but as he settled in, he quieted physically, letting the music speak for him and to us. His encore, simple, direct, and evocative, was a movement from Joachim Stutschewsky’s “Hasidic Suite.”
Across town, more than 300 people participated in LaFontaine Chevrolet'sOne Year Strong , a second community-wide event on Friday that gave the Dexter area a chance to reflect on the first anniversary of the tornado that damaged hundreds of homes.
Organizers of both events said they showed that amid the damage caused by the tornado, one lasting effect was an even stronger sense of community.
"It was a nice first year," said Bob Jazwinski, who organized the run. "We did it because we knew we could make some money for the organizations that helped out with the tornado."
"With the turnout, we’re going to be able to give more people some type of money," Jazwinski said. He estimates at least $10,000 will go to groups helping with tornado damage.
Giving back was important to Jazwinski because over half of his home was destroyed by the tornado. He and his wife, Katie and their three children were able to move into their refinished house only within the last month.
"Everyone who lived in Dexter was affected by the tornado," Jazwinski said. "It’s not one person more than another. It was pretty traumatic for everyone."
Matt and Heather Leszczynski, who lost their home to the tornado but were able to rebuild it by November, both participated in the 5K.
"It was a great idea," Leszczynski said. "I’m really impressed and humbled by how many people showed up."
At LaFontaine, Quaila Pant, the dealership's business coordinator, said staff had to purchase a second box of hotdogs, because the first box of 250 wasn't enough to cater the event.
"We've had a big turnout," said Matt LaFontaine, the dealership's general manager.
"People seem to take a lot of comfort from getting together," said Nancy Paul, director of Faith In Action. "It really is emotional for people."
Dexter Relief Fund, which has distributed more than $300,000 worth of aid to affected families, was at the event accepting applications for trees to revitalize the lawns of affected families.
It was a reminder of how much the community has worked to recover from the tornado and how much left there is to do.
"There's still a handful of people who are not in their houses yet or who've gotten in them in the last few weeks, so that's pretty shocking," Paul said.
Paul, who sits on the fund's committee, said it has about $37,000 left. Some of that money will be used for trees and some will be used to pay SunGlo to vacuum up debris that is embedded in people's yards.
"The best thing we can do is help people who've still got glass in their lawn," she said.
Urban Ashes was also at the event, selling $38 frames made from the wood of trees that fell during the tornado. Proceeds were to go to the fund.
At the entrance to the dealership, David Innis, a student at Dexter High School, stood with a video camera, inviting people to share testimonials of how the tornado affected them.
"A lot of them say where they were, who they were with, what they were feeling," he said. "A lot of them said it was scary. It was a really traumatic event for Dexter."
Erik and Julie Cabble, whose home suffered $60,000 worth of damages when the tornado hit, were at the One Year Strong event with their three daughters.
"I think it's really great," Cabble said. "LaFontaine is an example of what a great place Dexter is and how a community pulls together after an event like that."
At Hudson Mills, Jazwinski echos that theme.
Jazwinski said he wants to hold the 5K every year in order to continue support for the nonprofit organizations that help the Dexter community.
"We will always give back to the nonprofit organizations that stand up for everyone," he said.
When the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America undertakes its inaugural tour this summer—from Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center to Moscow, St. Petersburg and London—its ranks will include Pioneer senior Giancarlo Latta.
Latta, a 17-year-old violinist who is the son of Joanne Tangorra and John Latta of Ann Arbor, was one of 120 exceptional young musicians ages 16-19 to be selected for the orchestra, created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The program’s goal, according to Carnegie Hall press materials, is “to shine a light on the extraordinary talent of young American instrumentalists, offering each
NYO-USA member a transformative musical and cultural experience as they develop their musical skills, receive training at the highest professional level, and travel abroad, serving as musical youth ambassadors for the U.S. “
Three other musicians from Michigan—Cullen O’Neil, cello (Kalamazoo); Caelan Stewart, horn (Clarkston); and Jacob Warren, bass (South Lyon)—also made the cut.
All four join peers in the first year of this tuition-free program that begins with an intensive two-week residency at SUNY-Purchase, directed by James Ross, associate director of the Juilliard School’s conducting program and artistic director of the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland.
At the end, Ross and the faculty turn their protegees over to famed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who leads the orchestra on tour in the U.S. and abroad. U.S. superstar violinist Joshua Bell tours with the orchestra, soloing in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Other repertoire for the tour includes the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E Minor and a new work by young American composer Sean Shepherd, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall specifically for NYO-USA.
Violinist Latta got interested in the NYO-USA when the project was announced about a year ago.
“I read about it, and I mean, it sounded like a great thing, obviously,” he said in a phone call. “It got a lot of attention when they first announced it. There’s so much to like about it. So I decided to apply.”
The main attractions were opportunities to work with artists like violinist Bell and Gergiev, and to gain more orchestral experience.
“That’s something I haven’t had a lot of, other than with the school orchestra. That’s part of the reason to seek this out,” he said.
And the tour was icing on the cake. “That’s not something I’ve ever really done,” he said.
Latta began studying violin at age 6 with Anna Bittar Weller. His current teacher is famed violin pedagogue Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy for pre-college musicians, where he is an Academy Special Merit Scholar, a distinction awarded to students demonstrating an “unusually elevated level of proficiency and musicianship.” He's been doing this Chicago commute for five years.
He has performed with the Toledo Symphony and the Dexter Community Orchestra as a winner of their concerto competitions in 2011 and 2012, respectively. He has also performed with the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the Eighth Annual DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers, and has won prizes in the Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra Young Artist and the Society of American Musicians competitions.
A passionate chamber musician, Giancarlo is a member of Quartet Enigma at the Music Institute of Chicago, and has studied chamber music with members of the Cleveland and Cavani quartets and the Lincoln Trio. As a member of the Calliope Quartet, Giancarlo won the SHAR String Quartet Competition in 2012 and 2010. He is the founder and leader of the Pioneer Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless string ensemble based at Pioneer High School.
He has attended the Chautauqua Music Festival, the Meadowmount School of Music and the Ithaca Suzuki Institute’s Preludio Violin Program. He was concertmaster of the Pioneer High School Symphony Orchestra for performances in Vienna, Salzburg and Munich in April 2011, and was previously concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Latta has now completed his auditions for college music programs and is awaiting the results. But he said an eventual orchestral career has appeal. “Especially if it was an orchestra that travels occasionally. I like traveling a lot also.”
St. Patrick's Day returns Sunday, and several local events will mark the occasion. Here's a sampling (to add an item to the list, email AnnDwyer@annarbor.com):
• The University of Michigan student government is presenting a "Bash on the Diag."
• Conor O'Neill's will open at 7 a.m. and will have live music all day until close. They will also have Irish dancers and bag pipers throughout the day. They will also do this on Saturday ("St. Practice Day"), from noon to close.
• Irish bar the Blue Leprechuan will open at 7 a.m. They will have St. Paddy's T-shirts available and serve Irish breakfast $5 all day long.
• Arbor Brewing Company will open at 7 a.m. and feature a special breakfast menu a morning Happy Hour until 11 a.m. Dragon Wagon plays at 7:30 p.m.
• The Corner Brewery will offer a special breakfast starting at 7 a.m. at their St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza along with daily specials. Live music by Kevin and the Glen Leven. A beer bus will be running every 45 minutes between Corner Brewery and Arbor Brewing.
• St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Saline will host a St. Patrick's Feast to benefit Father Patrick Jackson House.
• Grizzly Peak is featuring a special Irishfest menu.
• Bar Louie will be celebrating both Saturday and Sunday for their St. Paddy's Party. $10 per day will get you breakfast, a T-shirt, DJs on Saturday night and live entertainment all day Sunday. They will also open at 7 a.m.
• Ashley's will have Saturday Green Beer Specials 6 p.m.-close. Sunday, they will open at 6:30 a.m. and serve alcohol at 7 a.m. $10 cover includes breakfast and a St. Paddy's Day Ashley's T-shirt.
• Bill's Beer Garden will be opening for the St. Paddy's weekend, March 15-17. 5-11 p.m.
(This story has been updated with comments from the assistant chief of the Augusta Township Fire Department.)
A 63-year-old man died at the scene Friday night after another vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into his car.
Michigan State Police said Michael Toth of Willis was driving through the intersection of Bunton and Talladay roads in Augusta Township at about 5:30 p.m. when the crash took place.
The 2nd driver - identified as 18-year-old Halee Campbell of Ypsilanti - was westbound on Talladay "and failed to stop at the stop sign," according to a news release from MSP.
Campbell, driving a 2010 Ford Focus, crashed in the 2010 Ford Explorer driven by Toth. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles and both were wearing seatbelts, police said.
Rescuers from Huron Valley Ambulance and the Augusta Township Fire Department were called to the scene.
The call came in as a rollover crash, said David Music, assistant fire chief in Augusta Township.
Within moments, that call was upgraded in priority after a bystander reported that the driver of the Explorer - the vehicle that rolled - had no pulse, Music said.
Rescuers determined that he could not be saved, and also removed the driver of the Focus from her vehicle.
"The front of the car was sheared off to the engine," Music said. Campbell was "alert and talking" on the scene as rescuers assisted her.
Campbell was taken to Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital for treatment. Hospital officials said she was not admitted.
The force of the impact pushed both vehicles out of the intersection, Music said, and they ended up an estimated 40 feet apart.
Crews remained on the scene for 3.5 hours, Music said. His team diverted traffic from the intersection at Judd Road and prevented drivers from entering the intersection where the crash took place.
Both MSP accident investigators and the medical examiner spent some time gathering evidence while township crews controlled traffic.
Toth's family declined comment Saturday afternoon. Funeral information was not available.
A couch fire caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette Friday night in an Ypsilanti apartment left three cats dead and the residents temporarily homeless, firefighters said.
Lt. Scott Maddison of the Ypsilanti Fire Department says the call came in about 10:45 p.m. Friday from a neighbor reporting the fire in the 300 block of Pearl Street near North Hamilton and West Michigan Avenue.
The occupants of the home had been gone for an estimated 90 minutes when the fire was reported, he said.
In addition to the Ypsilanti Fire Department, the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department, Pittsfield Township Fire Department and the Ann Arbor Fire Department all responded to the scene of the fire.
Madison says that the three cats succumbed to smoke inhalation. The apartment is not livable and the damage is estimated at $16,000. Two other apartments had to be evacuated, but tenants were permitted to return.
Ann Arbor's Larry Freed knows a lot about customer satisfaction: His Foresee analyzes consumer satisfaction data from companies around the U.S., using it to give advice to corporations.
Data from Foresee was used in a recent report on USA Today that names the "9 retailers with the worst customer service."
Of the worst-performing stores, just one was an online retailer. That's significant, according to Freed, who says service standards are sinking at national bricks-and-mortar stores.
Familiar names on the list include The Gap, Sears, CVS and - number 1 - Walmart.
The Washtenaw Housing Alliance appreciates the many ways the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority has been an important partner in our community’s efforts to end homelessness by investing in affordable housing. The WHA has long understood that successfully developing affordable housing in our community of expensive housing and tight markets, means we need every possible partner at the table—nonprofits, private developers, city and county government and, we are pleased to say, the Ann Arbor DDA.
Baker Commons, as it looked in October 2012, before a nearly $3 million grant from the DDA provided funds for a new roof and energy efficiency upgrades.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
The WHA understands that our partners join us in our efforts to end homelessness because this will benefit the entire community. We are pleased the DDA understands these community benefits and has also been forthright in articulating how affordable housing and ending homelessness benefit the downtown.
The DDA has recognized that people with nowhere to live can create challenges to the atmosphere of downtown and that while panhandling and homelessness are not synonymous; it is not healthy for downtown, or for our vulnerable citizens, for people to be living on the street. And the DDA has also joined our community in sharing a goal of creating integrated, diverse neighborhoods, including the downtown and near-downtown residential areas.
Since 1999, the DDA has been the most significant source of local public support for affordable housing. During a period when the city’s budget severely limited contributions to the Ann Arbor Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the DDA invested $2,380,438 to help develop and sustain the affordable housing stock in and immediately adjacent to downtown. This complemented the $1,799,726 in local funds invested by the City between 1999 and 2010.
The DDA has invested in projects as diverse as Baker Commons owned by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission; support for Courthouse Square, an affordable housing development for seniors in the heart of downtown; Avalon’s scattered site supportive housing in and near the downtown; and Dawn Farm’s Chapin Street transitional housing project.
These projects have been critical to our ability to serve those with the greatest need for housing in our community. Whether it is roof repairs, energy upgrades to keep costs low, or general rehabilitation, the DDA has provided invaluable leverage that allows our housing providers to bring in other money to our community to protect their investments and keep people safe and well housed.
We are grateful to the members of the DDA Board and staff for their commitment to helping the most vulnerable members of our community. We all know that together, we can end homelessness.
Julie Steiner is the executive director of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance.
Manchester High School girls basketball coach Cori Kastel and her team will take on Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday, March 16.
Mike Mulholland | MLive.com
EAST LANSING -- It all comes down to this.
The Manchester High School girls basketball team has raised the ceiling on program expectations for the past four years and on Saturday it will play for the ultimate prize in the MHSAA Class C state championship game against Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central
Will Manchester win its first championship in program history or will Nouvel capture it third since 2006? Tipoff is at 4 p.m., follow along and find out.
An unknown person attempted to break into the Carrot Way Community Center in Ann Arbor on Thursday evening but was unsuccessful, according to police.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said officers responded at 8:38 p.m. Thursday to the building at 31 Carrot Way.
She said investigators found evidence someone tried to force open a window.
No entry was made into the building and police are still investigating the incident. There was no suspect information available.
Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call the Ann Arbor police anonymous tip line at 734-794-6939 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP (773-2587).
The Manchester High School girls basketball team celebrates after winning the MHSAA Class C girls basketball state championship with a 57-52 win over Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday, March 16.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
Updated 7:30 p.m.
EAST LANSING -- In a postseason where nearly everything had gone right for the Manchester High School girls basketball team, slow starts were one glaring weakness.
And when the Flying Dutch fell down 14-2 against Saginaw Nouvel on Saturday, it looked like that weakness might finally catch up with them with a state title on the line.
But Manchester had one more comeback left in it, and rode it all the way to the school’s first ever team state championship with a 57-52 win in the MHSAA Class C state championship game at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Down 14-5 after the first quarter and being dominated on the boards, 12-4, it looked like Manchester's depth and athleticism wouldn't be able to save it from Nouvel's defense and height.
Then the team got a wakeup punch to the mouth literally.
All-State senior forward McKenna Erkfritz went on a personal 7-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, capped off with a pair of technical foul shots after getting slapped in the face by Rachel McInerney under the hoop while battling for position.
McKenna Erkfritz, far left, grabs her lip after taking a slap to the face from Rachel McInerney during a scrum under the net. McInerney was issued a technical foul on the play.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
The sequence made the score 16-12 at the time, but more importantly seemed to ignite Manchester.
"To be honest I didn’t really know what happened, it really took me by surprise the play wasn’t even started before it happened. I thought I was bleeding and I thought I lost my teeth a little bit. But you have to play through it," Erkfritz said. "My teammates I knew they had my back the entire game and I just had to go out and play my game and not worry about what she was going to do next."
McInerney owned up to the slap after the game and said Erkfritz had pulled on her injured fingers during a scrum under the basket prior to the retaliation.
“She was grabbing my hand and trying to pull back on it and it’s really painful and so it was almost like a reflex I guess,” said McInerney. “It’s still not appropriate, I like feel so bad about it, but it was I don’t know.”
As if motivated by her fat lip, Erkfritz couldn't be stopped the rest of the way, putting her team on her back to the tune of a game-high 22 points, 11 rebounds four blocks and two steals, despite a scoreless first quarter.
Erkfritz knew she was on after swishing her free throws following the McInerney foul.
“It was about time because I could not hit a brick wall (from the free-throw line) lately,” Erkfritz said with a laugh. “I just kept taking my time and I kept finding openings I missed a couple in the beginning and then once it started falling, I just got my confidence back up and, exactly what Taylor (Manders) said I was able to breath."
After what Cori Kasel called a “sloppy” first half, Manchester trailed 22-18.
“At halftime we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘we’re playing this bad and we’re only down by four?’” Manders said.
Fittingly, Manchester (27-1) took its first lead of the game after Erkfritz got a block, then hustled down for a shot to put Manchester up 29-28. Nouvel took the lead right back with a 3-pointer from Paige Albito, but Manders countered with a 3-ball of her own and Manchester led the rest of the way.
“They did a nice job I thought too, I thought of picking up the tempo and attacking the basket (in the second half),” said Nouvel coach Kris Hengesbach. “They got to the basket or we’d foul and they’d make the free throws.”
Mark Manders embraces his daughters Jessie, left, and Taylor after the game against Saginaw Nouvel on Saturday, March 16.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
Manchester made 17-of-21 free throws (81 percent) and out-rebounded Nouvel 31-16 after the first quarter.
“We just weren’t moving to the seams that they gave us. We were forcing things and we weren’t patient. When we try to force and make things happen that’s when we kind of fall apart instead of maintaining our composure,” Kastel said of the first quarter.
Kastel credited seniors Erkfritz, Manders and Jesse Coltre with figuring out the team’s deficiencies on the glass and correcting it the rest of the way. They finished with 11, five and six rebounds respectively.
“These girls knew what had to be done. We asked, we demanded and they did it,” Kastel said. “There’s a lot of fight in these kids and they showed that tonight.”
Manders finished nine points and her sister, Jessie Manders had 11.
Taylor Hengesbach finished with 17 points to lead Nouvel (25-3) and McInerney had 15.
Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies are seeking a man who dressed up a bit before robbing a TCF Bank branch.
From WCSO
A holdup alarm went off at the TCF Bank at 2150 Packard Road at the corner of Hewitt in Ypsilanti Township at about 2:25 p.m., according to a media release.
While deputies were driving to the scene they learned a crime had taken place and they called for backup.
The suspect ran away from the bank after the holdup. He was not located in the immediate area, though officers searched the vicinity.
The man is described as a white male, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 165 lbs. He was wearing dark colored pants, a white dress shirt, tie and red jacket.
Sgt. Geoffrey Fox said no weapon was observed during the robbery.
Deputies did not release further details of the crime, but they did release photos taken from bank surveillance cameras.
Anyone with information is asked to call the W.C.S.O. Confidential Tip line at (734) 973-7711 or 1-800-SPEAK UP.
University of Michigan students clad in everything from Leprechaun hats to green spandex pants, and everything green in between could be spotted along Hill Street near Washtenaw for much of the day Saturday.
The reason: Some University of Michigan fraternities were celebrating St. Patrick's Day a day early by offering party hats and other partying accessories earlier in the day than usual.
According to the Ann Arbor Police Department, there were a lot of parties going on Saturday - dubbed "St. Practice Day" - but nothing too significant.
"It was light compared to a football Saturday," said Sgt. Travis Strang from the AAPD. "We had some noise complaints and some cases where people drank too much, but no one is in custody.
"We're really focused on tomorrow."
That's because on St. Patrick's Day, Strang says six local bars will be opening at 7 a.m. The green beer is already flowing Saturday at area some bars, including the Village Pub on Washtenaw, Banfield's Bar & Grill on Packard, and at Conor O'Neills on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.
Business was booming this afternoon at the Village Pub and busy as well at Banfield's.
"Today is St. Practice Day," said Caroline Kaganov, general manager of Conor O'Neills. "The place is hopping. We have Irish dancers and bagpipers, Irish music all day, and drink specials every hour."
As one of the bars opening at 7 a.m. Saturday, Conor O'Neills will be offering an Irish breakfast that includes Irish bacon and sausages, black and white pudding, and Irish brown bread (a.k.a. "The Donegal Fry.")
Aubree's in Ypsilanti's Depot Town starts selling its green beer at midnight Saturday and is also offering corned beef and cabbage. At Haab's Restaurant on Michigan Avenue, there will be a St. Patrick's Day dinner Sunday - along with green beer.
Michigan forward Phil DiGiuseppe skates away from Western Michigan players during the two teams’ Friday night game.
Matt Gade | Mlive Media Group
This file will be updated
KALAMAZOO -- The Michigan hockey team continues to flex its muscles as it cruises toward Detroit. And Saturday night may have been its most impressive display yet.
Michigan scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the second period and took a 5-1 win and the CCHA quarterfinal series sweep over Western Michigan Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena.
Michigan, the No. 7 seed in the CCHA tournament, is now just two wins away from a tournament title and automatic NCAA tournament berth following a 13-18-3 regular season. Michigan has been to a record 22 consecutive NCAA tournaments.
The Wolverines will play a semifinal game Saturday at Joe Louis Arena against either Miami, Ferris State or Ohio State.
Michigan take an eight-game unbeaten streak into that game, after two straight sweeps to end the regular season and straight playoff sweeps.
Michigan got on the board 1:08 into the game, when Lee Moffie threaded a long pass to a streaking Kevin Lynch at the blue line, and Lynch fired a shot high over Western Michigan goaltender Frank Slubowski.
The Wolverines dominated the first period, winning the shot battle 15-3. But they went into the first intermission tied, after Western’s Garrett Haar fired a shot past a screened Steve Racine.
Michigan’s second-period barrage started two minutes in, when Slubowski left the net to play a loose puck, and Michigan’s A.J. Treais dug it out of the corner and found Andrew Sinelli in front for a wide-open goal.
The Wolverines’ next two goals came 49 seconds apart, the first on their first power play chance of the night, when forward Alex Guptill picked up a loose puck in front and buried the shot.
Derek DeBlois added to the lead less than a minute later when he netted a backhand shot. That goal chased Slubowski, who had a 1.92 goals against average in 37 games on the year.
After Racine made a save on a Western breakaway chance with a minute left in the second period, Guptill notched his second goal of the period with a top-shelf shot over Broncos backup Lukas Hafner.
Guptill’s goals gave him points in nine consecutive games, and multiple points in seven of his last nine. Moffatt, a junior, finished with three assists, the the most he’s tallied since his freshman year. Treais finished with two assists.
Racine, starting his eighth consecutive game, gave up one goal for the third time in his last six outings.
To drivers traveling on Island Lake Road near Dexter, it might look like one of the county’s most historic barns was torn down in recent weeks.
But in five months, the barn, which likely was constructed in the 1830s, will be re-erected and given new life as an events space for Zingerman’s Community of Businesses.
“This place has a very long legacy in this community,” said Alex Young, managing partner of Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor. “(Our) vision was built around using the barn to celebrate agriculture as it becomes sustainable it just made all the sense in the world to restore it and have another hundred years or more ahead of it.”
Last summer, Zingerman’s purchased the 27-acre site at 8540 Island Lake Road from the estate of Frances Hoey for $475,000, property records show. Young said he had been eyeing the property for years since it abuts his Cornman Farms operations, which produces vegetables, dairy and meat that are sourced to Zingerman’s Roadhouse.
The house on the property will be renovated to include a large kitchen and dining areas, where Zingerman's can have farm-to-table dinners and other events.
AnnArbor.com file photo
Now, Young and a team of people are renovating the existing house on the Island Lake Road property, restoring the barn, and expanding the Cornman Farms operations.
“It’s going to be a big, beautiful events space for weddings, parties and farm-to-table dinners,” said Pete Sickman-Garner, Zingerman’s marketing manager.
Starting in early March, the barn was dismantled piece-by-piece and the salvageable wood will be cleaned and sent to a barnwright in Ohio called Christian and Son. It will be dated using dendrochronology — tree-ring dating — and Rudy and Laura Christian of Christian and Son will determine the barn’s measurements and exactly how it was assembled more than a century ago. From there, Ann Arbor architect Charles Bultman will work to rebuild the barn.
The barn before it was deconstructed.
Courtesy of Zingerman's
Although it’s a lot of work for saving an old barn, the entire team agrees: It’s an essential part of the community and its history.
“I can’t come out here and entertain the concept of taking down an 150-year-old barn without treating it with a good deal of reverence,” Bultman said.
Added Rudy Christian: “It’s a great project. Any time we can be involved in saving a barn that’s over 150-years-old is definitely well worth getting involved with.”
A covered walkway will connect the barn to the house, and the house will be renovated to include an open kitchen for cooking classes, demonstrations and family-style dinners. Rooms in the house will be used for dining and hosting events. Young said the barn will seat about 100 people and the house will seat about 40. The expansion, said Sickman-Garner, also means Zingerman’s will hire additional events staff.
“I think one of the most significant glories of this place is the front yard with 300-year-old trees,” Young said. “In the summertime, people will be sitting (in the house), coming in and out to the porch, and having really cool suppers.”
Since Young already leads school tours at Cornman Farms, there will be smaller gardens installed on the new property for educational use. A goat-milking parlor also was constructed on the site.
Acquiring the property allows Young to grow more produce and double the amount of animals on the site. At this time he has about 60 goats, 30 Tunis sheep, 20 calico sheep, 18 cattle and 150 chickens.
And expanding the farm-to-table concept is something Young feels passionately about: “There is an epidemic of processed food and unhealthy people it’s mostly because of agricultural practices in our nation,” he said.
“If we can invest some portion of our time in helping to improve that, I think it’s worth it. A cornerstone of the farms’ vision for years has been to just share as much as possible,” he continued.
The barn will be re-erected this summer and the entire project should be completed by spring 2014.
A layer of gravel covers a portion of Trinkle Road, a dirt road, between Dancer and Lima Center in Lima Township. The is one Washtenaw County road that recently required repair.
The deal exempts Enbridge from adhering to seasonal weight restrictions by binding the company to fund the repair and reconstruction of the roads it is using -- the majority of which are in Lyndon Township in the northeast corner of Washtenaw County.
Construction of the new, $190 million Line 79began in September. It runs parallel to an existing Enbridge crude oil pipe - Line 17. The company says the new pipeline is necessary to double the amount of crude oil it is carrying to the Marathon Petroleum Corporation's refinery in Detroit and the BP-Husky Refinery in Toledo.
The new pipeline will be operational as of April 1, said Jason Manshum, spokesman for Enbridge.
Enbridge began building the new line in Freedom Township near the Freedom junction, and moved northward towards the Stockbridge junction in Ingham County. The company's staging grounds for its work crews are on the west side of U.S. 23 just south of the exit for Whitmore Lake on the northern Washtenaw County line.
By the end of February, when the road commission implemented its seasonal weight restrictions on all its roads, Enbridge still had a considerable amount of construction left to do in Lyndon Township, said Roy Townsend, managing director of the road commission.
Under those weight restrictions, construction of Enbridge’s pipeline would have been halted altogether.
In the interest of sticking to its construction schedule, Townsend said Enbridge pursued the agreement that came to a total of $1.3 million -- $200,000 of which is a security deposit that likely will be paid back to the company.
“For them, it was a business decision,” Townsend said, noting the county has never negotiated an agreement like this before with a company.
The costs included in the agreement were compiled under the assumption that Enbridge would damage the gravel roads to the point they would need to be completely rebuilt, said Ken Schwartz, member of the road commission’s board of trustees.
“We have similar agreements across the U.S.,” Manshum said, explaining that the company works with local municipalities to repair roads. “Due to either higher traffic volumes or heavy equipment, we will work with a road commission to compensate or repair the roads, much like when we’re on a certain parcel or property.”
For about 10.6 miles of gravel roads in Lyndon Township that will be heavily used by Enbridge during its pipeline construction in March, Enbridge will pay the road commission $60,000 per mile for reconstruction with a $100,000 security deposit.
Those roads are:
Boyce Road between M-52 and Joslin Lake Road
Embury Road from North Territorial Road to Joslin Lake Road
Farnsworth Road from the Jackson County line to Boyce Road
Joslin Lake Road from the right-of-way crossing to North Territorial Road
Roepke Road from Bowdish Road to Boyce Road
Fourteen gravel roads totaling 25.8 miles will incur light use by Enbridge crews, for which the company will pay the road commission about $1,000 per mile. Enbridge also will pay the county $20,000 per mile for 24.6 miles of 10 paved roads in the county, with an additional $100,000 security deposit for the use of the roads.
Those roads are:
Baker Road between Jackson Road and the eastbound ramp to I-94
Dexter-Chelsea Road from the railroad crossing to Dancer Road
Fairway Drive from Stofer Road to Hayrake Hollow Road
Hakyrake Hollow Road from Riker Road to the right-of-way crossing
Island Lake Road from Lima Center Road to Dexter-Townhall
Jackson Road from Fletcher Road to Baker Road
North Territorial Road from M-52 to Madden Road
Pleasant Lake Road from M-52 to Schneider Road
Scio Church Road from M-52 to Guenther Road
Stofer Road from North Territorial Road to the right-of-way crossing
Reconstruction of the gravel roads will occur in the summer, though they will be patched before then, Townsend said. Per the agreement signed between Enbridge and the road commission, the road commission has six months after Enbridge has finished construction to fix the roadways.
Following construction, Enbridge will return only to the area to inspect both the new Line 79 and existing Line 17.
Enbridge follows federal regulations for inspecting all its pipelines, Manshum said.
Near what the industry calls “high-consequence areas,” like bodies of water, pipelines are inspected every five years using a computer that’s driven through the pipe and fully scans for cracks, dents and corrosion, Manshum said.
To do that kind of inspection, the computer device would have to be driven through the entire line, Manshum said.
An external, physical patrol of the line to check for potential hazards either by foot or by airplane is required 26 times per year.
“We do that primarily by aircraft patrols,” Manshum said. “We also do that by foot and vehicle, and often times we exceed that.”
Pressure in all of Enbridge’s pipelines is monitored around-the-clock by a computerized control system that is able to immediately shut down the pipeline if there is an issue, Manshum said.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
In fact, Orr's seven years at U-M provide some of his strongest ties to the state whose largest city he's tasked with saving.
Kevyn Orr in 1980, the year he enrolled in U-M's law school.
Photo courtesy of U-M's law school.
Orr enrolled in U-M in 1976 as an out-of-state undergraduate from Florida. By 1983, he had obtained his law and bachelor's degrees from the school.
In a video introducing himself, he said his mother received her master's degree from U-M and that, prior to attending, he never visited the campus because his family didn't have the money.
"I came to University of Michigan sight unseen," he said in the video, recalling when his plane first landed in 1976.
"My uncle picked me up from the airport and he took me around Detroit, I stayed with him that night and then he brought me to school. For the years I was here in school, from 1976 to 1983, we would regularly go into Detroit," he said.
Michigan Gov. Rick Synder, who appointed Orr as emergency manager Thursday, was acquainted with Orr while at U-M. Snyder, who graduated with a law degree and MBA in 1982, reportedly met Orr during a snowball fight on campus.
“They participated in a snowball fight, as the story goes, that they were both in as part of their quads on the U-M campus when they were in law school," Snyder's press secretary Sara Wurfel told MLive on Thursday.
Orr has visited campus many times since graduating with a law degree in 1983 because he represented his law firm, Jones Day, as a recruiter at the law school. He has hired several U-M law students as associates and clerks for his firm over the years, says Susan Guindi, assistant dean of the office of career planning at the law school.
Kevyn Orr
AP Photo/Courtesy Jones Day
He is scheduled to attend a weekend event for newly admitted law students at U-M's Law School later this month.
"He’s a loyal wolverine. He really valued the education he got here and he really valued the students that we produced," Guindi said.
"From my perspective, he's a big draw for why students become interested in and accepted offers at his firm. He's just amazing to talk to, he's such an interesting man," she continued. "He's the one I call when I want to learn about a law firm's perspective about something. He is always willing to take my call."
A bankruptcy expert, Orr also represented automaker Chrysler LLC during its successful restructuring.
Now this U-M graduate has returned to the mitten state, tasked with turning around a city that has lost a quarter-million people during the last decade and remains saddled with a $327 million budget deficit and more than $14 billion in long-term debt.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Ann Arbor Fire Chief Chuck Hubbard says he's still in favor of consolidating area fire departments and forming a regional fire authority — an idea that's been kicked around for years.
"We've been talking about it probably for five or six years now, trying to do that," Hubbard told AnnArbor.com. "The unions all have to get on board, the politicians have to get on board, the chiefs have to get on board. I think at the chiefs level, we're pretty much ready to do it."
With the retirements of fire chiefs in both the city of Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Township, Hubbard said it makes sense now more than ever to think seriously about a regional fire authority.
Ann Arbor Fire Chief Chuck Hubbad at his desk in 2011.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
"That's the time you want to do it, when the chiefs are leaving," he said. "If you get a new chief, that creates another hurdle. So this would be the prime time to create something like that."
The level of momentum around the idea doesn't seem to match Hubbard's enthusiasm for it, though. Even he characterized the talks as "stagnant."
"And if you look at what's going on in Ypsi city right now, they're talking about a hybrid system that's a police and fire combination," he said.
Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti officials have been engaged in loose discussions within the last few years about eventually moving toward a regional fire authority.
But that idea essentially has been put on hold as the city of Ypsilanti, in an effort to cut costs, is pursuing a new hybrid public safety model that involves consolidating the city's police and fire departments and cross-training police officers and firefighters to do both jobs.
In a report Ypsilanti officials submitted to the state in February as part of the state's incentive funding process for municipalities, they acknowledged creating a regional fire authority as soon as 2014 remains an option, but the idea is temporarily on hold.
"A fire authority will require an agreement between policy makers, labor unions, and administration," Ypsilanti's report to the state reads, going on to acknowledge members of the proposed authority "continue to fail to successfully navigate these three issues."
The report mentions four meetings were held in February, July, September and October last year where representatives from Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township and Ypsilanti Township discussed collaborating in ways that could lead to a regional fire department.
The report notes they've looked at standardizing fire and building codes, sharing or contracting prevention services, and creating an arson task force. They've also talked about enhancing the box alarm system for mutual aid to an "automatic aid response."
The Ypsilanti Fire Department could be combined with the police department into a larger public safety department under a proposal being considered.
Jeffrey Smith | AnnArbor.com
Ypsilanti officials said it's their intention to continue meeting with the other area fire departments and to collaborate in ways that cut costs and improve safety.
In the last year, the Wayne and Westland fire departments merged services, as did those of Pontiac and Waterford. Hubbard, who lives in Westland, cited the new Wayne-Westland Fire Authority as an example Ann Arbor could follow to create a singular fire entity for the area.
"There are many ways you could set that up," he said. "It would help to get someone in here who was an expert in that area and let them kind of guide you as to how to do it."
Hubbard sees a regional authority as an improvement over mutual aid.
"Mutual aid is a request for help. This would be automatic, when the bell rings the closest trucks would go," he said. "It makes sense to have a system that sends the closest truck to the fire."
Former Ypsilanti Fire Chief Jon Ichesco, who retired in December, was in favor of the idea of a larger fire district that would include Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and the townships of Pittsfield, Ypsilanti Superior and Ann Arbor if those jurisdictions were interested.
As recently as December, the city of Ann Arbor was in talks with neighboring Ann Arbor Township regarding a potential merger of their two municipal fire departments. The township turned down the city's request, saying it wasn't in the best interest of township residents.
"It didn't save us any money and it lengthened response times," said Township Supervisor Michael Moran. "They proposed to close our two stations and respond from a station that's farther away."
Moran said it was difficult for him to comment on the larger idea of a regional fire authority since there's no specific proposal on the table.
"We have not been participating in any discussions," he said. "There's a relationship between Ypsilanti and the city of Ann Arbor, and there are mutual aid agreements between many departments, but I have not heard of anything regarding a wider-ranging proposal."
Moran said it makes sense to move in the direction of regional collaboration, and the improvement of mutual aid among departments in recent years has been a good first step.
"There's been some thought that perhaps if there was a wider area, there might be the ability to close some stations or combine equipment use, but for each jurisdiction you have to look at it and see if it makes sense," he said of creating a regional authority.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department has 86 full-time employees and a budget that totals about $14 million.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
"We have modern equipment, we have a dedicated income stream and no legacy costs, so any sort of regional approach would have to leave us in a similar position," he added.
Moran said Ann Arbor Township doesn't currently have a mutual aid agreement with the city of Ann Arbor, but it has such agreements with other local jurisdictions.
Matt Harshberger, director of public safety for Pittsfield Township, said the box alarm system for mutual aid among four participating fire departments — Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township — has been very effective.
The way the box alarm system works, if the initial alarm of firefighters responding to a fire determines upon arrival that mutual aid is needed, it can trigger the dispatch of a second and even third alarm of firefighters from the other jurisdictions.
Harshberger said Pittsfield Township is always interested in exploring regional efforts to maximize collaboration and provide the best service to the public.
He said he personally isn't involved in any discussions about forming a regional fire authority, but he knows Ypsilanti officials had brought up the idea in the past.
"It never got far enough along that we actually sat down and crunched numbers to see if it would be a benefit for Pittsfield," he said.
"Really the box alarm was a first step," he added. "It has worked really well. We've had to tweak it a few times to maximize its effectiveness, but so far that's about it.
"There haven't been any further discussions about going past that right now, other than to get more departments to participate in the box alarm system."
Hubbard said there would be many details to work out for a regional fire authority, including how it would be funded. Right now fire services in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are funded by the cities' general funds, while Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township have special millages.
Hubbard said he's not sure which municipalities would buy in, but he said it would make sense to include at least the four communities already participating in the box alarm system.
"I would suspect those four would be pretty major players in it," he said. "And then possibly Superior and Ann Arbor townships may come on board since we're all connected in a way."
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said he's working with Yousef Rabhi, the new chairman of the county board, to resurrect the Washtenaw Metro Alliance, a coalition of local government officials Hieftje helped form a decade ago to focus on regional collaboration, including on fire services.
"I'm a big believer in regionalization," Hieftje said. "This is the modern trend in fire services. We can cover the area and provide better service to our residents with regionalization."
The mayor put it another way: "If my house is on fire and firefighters show up, I don't really care which department they're from."
Hieftje said he sees a singular regional fire department as a good longterm goal, but in the shorter term he said local governments need to remove barriers to greater collaboration.
"There are some labor contract barriers out there that need to be resolved," he said, pointing to a provision in the Ann Arbor firefighters contract, for example, that requires the city, if there's a box alarm request for mutual aid where other departments are called in at no extra cost to the city, the city also must call back its own firefighters from two shifts that are off duty to respond as well.
"And we pay a minimum of four hours of overtime to anyone who is en route, and that typically runs $1,000 to $1,500 per occurrence and it could be more than that," Hieftje said. "We need to look throughout the region at the barriers that prevent us from fully utilizing our resources."
In addition to its partners in the box alarm system, Ann Arbor also is part of a countywide mutual aid pack where it can request aid — although not automatic — from departments throughout the county.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department provided mutual aid 33 times and received mutual aid 29 times in 2012, according to figures provided by Hubbard.
Local fans of filmmaker Ken Burns (“The Civil War,” “Jazz,” “Baseball,” etc.)—who’s coming to town soon for two events—might wonder if growing up in Ann Arbor influenced him as an artist.
“Oh, man, yeah—yes, yes, yes, yes,” said Burns in a recent phone interview. “I came to Ann Arbor in early July of 1963. I was 9 years old, about to turn 10 at the end of that month. My mother died in 1965 in Ann Arbor; my father taught at the university, and participated in first teach-in against the Vietnam War. I couldn’t have been in Ann Arbor at a better time.
"Despite the personal family tragedy, growing up, I worked at a record store at the corner of South U. and Forest for many years, and left to go away to college. But I went to a small enough college (Hampshire) that they had no athletics department, so I retained my utter loyalty to the Wolverines in every manifestation, particularly football and basketball."
Burns also, from a young age, attended the Ann Arbor Film Festival often with his father, and watched countless movies both on U-M’s campus and in local theaters.
“I am a child of Ann Arbor. Both my parents are now buried in town. I come back frequently, and I reminisce about walking across the Diag in the middle of the 1960s, and going after school to Drake’s sandwich shop on North U, and into Nickels Arcade. It’s who I am. It’s where I came from. It’s what made me.
“ I’m also engaged in trying to make history come alive, and if you consider the personal history, particularly the difficult personal history that took place in Ann Arbor, you could understand that in a way, what I do for a living is wake the dead, and that has obviously personal meanings as well.”
As part of the Penny W. Stamps lecture series on Thursday, Burns will discuss race and inequality with Daniel Okrent, the former New York Times public editor (and former Michigan Daily editor). Then two days later, following a screening of Burns’ “The Central Park Five,” during the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Burns will take questions from the audience.
In anticipation of these events, Burns spoke to AnnArbor.com:
Q. You’ll be focusing your Penny Stamps talk on race, which is a topic that often plays a large role in your work. Why do you think that is?
A. It is the central subtheme of American life, from the moment we were created, when Thomas Jefferson was articulating freedoms that apparently didn’t apply to the people he owned, up to the present moment, when people vibrate strangely about the race of the president of the United States. I’ve done 25-plus films, and only a couple seem to have nothing to do with race. You don’t go looking for it. It finds you, if you’re interested in something more than a sanitized, Madison Avenue, whitewashed version of American history.
A still from "The Central Park Five," a documentary feature directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
Photo provided by Ann Arbor Film Festival
Q. “The Central Park Five” focuses on a relatively recent (1989) event, while much of your work takes audiences considerably farther back in time. Did this affect your approach?
A.
I think it’s still within the province of journalism-slash-history, whereas after you get beyond the 25-year mark, you’re solidly and confidently in the historical realm. But one of the reasons why there’s no narration (in “Central Park Five”), and one of the reasons why it has a different rhythm and style, has to do with its proximity to the present. And yes, it is informed by the passion and rawness of a story that is relatively new; but I think that’s its strength, and not a weakness.
A. I was working, editing ‘The Civil War’ in New York City and commuting on the weekends back home to New Hampshire. Sort of like everyone else, I bought the story that these 5 kids were guilty, and wrung my hands at the decay of society and parenting and the hopelessness of the city at the peak of the crime wave. And I was aware, too, in 2002, when they were all exonerated. A lot of good it did them. They lost their childhood.
But it took my daughter, who was a junior at Yale, who worked on a project about this, and then later, was so obsessed by the case that she wrote a book that was published in 2011. And somewhere around 2007, 2008, her husband David McMahon and I had the privilege of seeing the first pages come out of her computer, and were so stunned at what a great story it was that we wanted also to make a film. The three of us are listed as the co-directors, co-writers, and co-producers of this film, which is exactly accurate to the contributions that people made.
Q. Did you enjoy working with your daughter on a film?
A. It was beyond thrilling. I remember I walked out of a taping of The Charlie Rose Show and the next guest, who was celebrated writer Ken Auletta, was about to go on. He said hello to me, and nodded to me, and walked past me, and went right up to my daughter and said, ‘When you watch this on TV, pay close attention to the cutaways to your father. I’ve never seen a more proud parent in my life.’ So obviously I was kvelling over my daughter’s performance. She is a gifted, intelligent woman, and I was happy to work with her. And my son-in-law David McMahon, who was the day-to-day general of this project, deserves a lot of credit. This is the one drawback when you make a Ken Burns film, is that then it becomes the shorthand for journalists to just say it’s a Ken Burns film, and forget that I’m merely a conductor of an orchestra that’s extraordinarily talented that’s making the music.
Q. Could you tell us what’s coming down the pipeline, in terms of your projects?
A. Because of the length of these films, a lot of what we do is incredibly complex scheduling, so that “The Central Park Five,” is about to be broadcast when that theatrical run ends on April 16 of this year. But meanwhile, we are in the last week literally of finishing a 7-part, 14-hour series on the history of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that will be broadcast in the fall of 2014.
We are halfway through producing—that would be Sarah and Dave and myself—a 2-part, 4-hour bio of Jackie Robinson. And we are finished shooting, and about ready to begin editing, a massive, 8-part, 16-hour series on the history of the war in Vietnam. And we are now just beginning shooting a big series on the history of country music called “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
That won’t be out until 2018, but these projects take long enough—the fundraising is so incredibly difficult in the public television grant world that we have to plan these things a decade out in advance, and then figure out how to make sure that when you finish editing one film, that editor is not laid off, but can suddenly pick up and start editing another. So it’s very complex time management and at the same time, I’m so greedy for creativity that it keeps me completely active, running from one project to another.
Q. Do you consider yourself a historian as well as a filmmaker?
A. I’m an amateur historian. I know that people attribute that to me, and that’s OK, because I think there’s a huge role for public and popular and amateur historians. And in fact, the academic academy has been woefully neglectful in the last half century in communicating the glories of our past to a general public. They’ve been more concerned with talking to each other and losing the rest of us. And so it’s fallen to popular historians to remind people how important our history is. So I’m happy to do that. But I am first and foremost a filmmaker. The last time I took a course in American history was at Pioneer High School in the 11th grade.
Q. We all just watched the Oscars. What did you think of “Lincoln” and this year’s crop of nominated films in general?
A. I thought all of the nine films were terrific. But I was stunned that ‘Lincoln’ didn’t win. I just thought it was so far and away the best film. Not to take anything away from ‘Argo,’ which I think is a wonderful film, but Steven Spielberg is our reigning master. The film he made is incredibly important. And while it was obvious that no one could ignore the extraordinary performance of Daniel Day Lewis, the fact that the best adapted screenplay went to ‘Argo’ and not Tony Kushner for this magnificent (screenplay), and more importantly, that Spielberg did not win best (director) and ‘Lincoln’ did not win best picture is a head scratcher for me. It’s happened to him once before, I’m sorry to say. You might remember a film called ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ The film that won that year was ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ which is a lovely little film, but it ain’t ‘Saving Private Ryan.’
Q. Because so many of this year’s nominated films focused on historical events, there’s been a lot of discussion about accuracy and representation. As someone who makes history documentaries, what’s your take on that issue?
A. Sometimes people like to get on their high horse about how many liberties Oliver Stone took with ‘JFK,’ and I’ve been one of those people. People have obviously dissected ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ for the implication that it actually was enhanced interrogation—or shall we just say it, torture—that provided the initial clue that led to Osama bin Laden. Or in the case of ‘Argo,’ that there was no chase on the tarmac, and that very little due was given to the Canadians, and that ‘Lincoln’ got the votes of the Connecticut delegation wrong.
Let me just remind everybody as we have this discussion that the person who comes down to us as the greatest of all storytellers and dramatists is a person that did all of those things and more: played fast and loose with the facts, conflated characters, made up events—and William Shakespeare is considered the greatest of all time. And we do know that in art, there is sometimes a larger truth. That a photograph of that woman would not be as valuable as a painting by Picasso of that woman, even though we would say, if you showed it to somebody, that looks nothing like a human being, we allow art to have a larger truth.
So I think we can calm down and say, ‘Nobody’s saying that this is the godawful truth.’ They can say it’s based on true events, and ‘Lincoln’ is far and away the most accurate of them all. I’ve been studying Lincoln most of my life, and that was one of the most powerful senses, in the middle of that film: that I’d had the privilege to meet him and look over his shoulder—to be on the fly on the wall of history. And then you shake your head and say, ‘Wait a second, this is a movie.’ So when you put it to the Shakespeare test, it’s all OK, and everybody can stand down and not get so excited.
Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.
