Sun Spots

SUN SPOTS

Here we go again, off for a month and back on the job at SUNSPOTS.

Musically speaking, the new year is off to a good start. The UAC-Daystar Concert Series opens the year with four big ones; Seals & Crofts will be at Crisler on Jan. 20. Joni Mitchell sings at HUI on Jan. 26, then it's Bob Dylan and The Band at Crisler on Feb. 3, and last, but not least, is a jazz spectacular with Gato Barbieri, Keith Jarrett and Esther Phillips on the same program at Hill on Feb. 23. Speaking of Dylan, his newest album, Planet Waves, on his new Ashes and Sand label will be out Jan. 18. And if that's not enough music, the SUN benefit featuring CJQ and the Vipers at the Primo on Sunday, Jan. 13 will also be broadcast live on WCBN-FM (89.5) starting at 11 p.m.

Smokers' regret. 25 to 30 tons of fine Colombian reefer headed for the Detroit-Ann Arbor area was seized in Tallahassee, Florida, when 11 brothers and sisters were busted in what was billed as the "largest seizure on record". Estimated street value was $20 million.

Ann Arbor News subscribers, 350 of them anyway, got a pleasant surprise last week when their distributor gave them copies of the Ann Arbor SUN while explaining, "This is my last day with the News".

What with all the ice and snow on Ann Arbor streets, you may have heard about Ann Arbor's "Award Winning reduction in salt use" for keeping the roads drivable. Well, it's a big shuck. Bob Elton has done a little research and come up with some interesting figures. Only 2.4% of fatal accidents and 5% of all accidents occur on snowy roads. Statistically, you are 150% safer on a snowy street. Cities that have stopped salting roads have had as much as a 5% reduction in accident rates. The city claims that salt usage has dropped from 7300 tons in 1970-71 to 6100 tons in 1972-73, thus the "award-winning reduction". However what didn't come out is the fact that Ann Arbor uses 2.65 tons of salt per mile of road, despite industry standards set by the Salt Institute for 1 ton per mile for optimum results. This means that $45,000 of tax payers' funds were wasted on the streets last winter alone. In addition to the extra taxes, salt costs the car owner $100 a year in body damage, plus damage to grass, trees and shrubs; and the city's drinking water increases in salinity. Elton suggests several alternatives to salt use that would also reduce costs and damage potential. These include the use of sand, more plowing, encouraging more snow tire and chain use and higher Federal standards. Right on, Bob Elton. Thanks to Applerose for this information.

The American Indians will Pow Wow here in the Michigan League Ballroom on Jan. 12 from 1 p.m. to midnight and on Jan. 13 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Space watchers can get a close up shot at Comet Kohoutek from U-M's observatory on the fifth floor of Angell Hall on Jan. 16 and 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. for free, unless overcast skies force cancellation. Those in the know report that Kohoutek is a dud, not nearly as bright as the astronomers once thought.

The Alien Poisonburger Invasion advanced another step January 8, when the A2 Planning Department demonstrated its allegiance with the forces of Destruction. With the aid of franchise capital and artistically sterile department members they unanimously approved the two-story MacDonald's site plan, which hinges on the destruction of the Nichols House (next to the Nichols Arcade). The 74-year-old house has been a beautiful landmark, appreciated by all who walk through the strict commercial area. But the planners did not mention that they were condemning the house, and even went so far as to congratulate the designer's use of "foresight and community interest" as their plan "saved all the trees on the lot."

There is also a plan before the commission for a Burger King further down the block; not to mention the loathsome Gino's, already entrenched on State St. (for which another fine old house was demolished).

But perhaps A2 can be saved. On January 21, the A2 City Council will give the final approval/disapproval of the MacDonald plan. Help save A2 from the Destroyers and Poisoners. Walk by the Nichols House -- 331 Maynard, then call a council member or come to the meeting. The character of A2 is at stake.

If it's falling apart -- your favorite old book or magazine, that is -- now you can have it bound at the Outpost, the "world's smallest book bindery". The Outpost is located in the alcove at David's Books, 209 S. State St. (downstairs). The Outpost was opened by the Academy Book Bindery of Dexter to bind books, repair old book bindings and distribute a new line of blank books for sketching or journals bound in antique style. Even if you haven't got a book in mind, founder Ellen Fink invites you to come down to David's evenings and Saturdays to watch the craftsmen and women at work... Also in the welcome-to-the-neighborhood dept., Crow Quill Graphics has just opened on the corner of Liberty and Ashley, (across from the notorious Mr. Flood's Party) they do sign painting, ad art and they sell the works of local artists in their shop. Check them out... Also a warm hello and welcome to the good folks down at The Whiffle Tree (formerly the Odyssey Bar) on Huron and Ashley...

"Women and Work" is the theme of the Southeren Conference Education Fund's 1974 calendar, which focuses on the role of the Southern working woman in the past and present, complete with graphics, poems, stories, and special dates. Also SCEF has its own Radical Cookbook with a large vegetarian section and lots of Southern recipes for feeding large groups on low budgets. The calendar is $2.50 and the cookbook is $3. Order from: SCEF 3210 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40211.

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Sun Spots

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State Rep. Jackie Vaughn III (D-Detroit) blasted proposals before the House to appoint all judges and do away with judicial elections. Terming the proposals, "a direct attack on the right of the American people to determine what happens to their lives," Vaughn said, "To claim that our judges should be appointed is to say that the American people are incapable of governing themselves, that they should have all their decisions made for them by an elite cadre unanswerable to anyone. When we start appointing all our judges, we might as well burn the Constitution and turn the government over to the American Bar Association." Right on, Jackie.

Besides running out of money, Ann Arbor is running out of gas for city vehicles. Only buses, police vehicles, and the sanitation dept. were receiving full gas allotments. All other city vehicles were cut by 60% in December. So, once more, as taxes rise you get less and less in city services in return, thanks in this case to a manipulated and distorted energy "crisis."