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Ecology Center Redistributes Award Several local agencies will reap the rewards of a $20,000 settlement to a lawsuit by the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor that stopped a local manufacturer from polluting the environment in the Whitmore Lake area, Center officials announced last month.
The five-year suit against Johnson Controls, a maker of automotive seat cushions, was settled in December and involved allegations that the company failed to report releases of toxic chemicals into the environment under the federal Community Right-To-Know law.
Washtenaw County will receive $14,000 of the settlement to establish a new Hazardous Materials Response Team (HAZMAT). "This fund will provide citizens of Washtenaw County a service never seen before," said James Payeur, Chair of the County HAZMAT. "Team members will be able to stop leaks, contain spills, as well as control many other types of hazardous material emergencies."
Other recipients include the Whitmore Lake Public Schools and Land Action of Green Oak. Each will each receive $2,500 for work to improve the Whitmore Lake area environment. (The U.S. Treasury will get $1,000.)
"While the biggest victory occurred early on with environmental and occupational health improvements made at the Whimore Lake plant, this legal settlement with Johnson Controls is icing on the cake," said Charles Griffith, director of the Ecology Center' s Toxics Reduction Project.
The Ecology Center is a nonprofit community environmental organization, founded in 1970, which provides citizen action and environmental education programs to improve the environment in Southeast Michigan.
AIDS Memorial Quilt Youth Day Planned Friday, Feb. 7, 1996 will be Youth Day at the Ann Arbor Memorial Quilt Display, when school age children can tour the Quilt during the day from 9 am to 10 pm.
The four-day display, Feb. 6-9, 1997 is cohosted by the Ann Arbor Jaycees Foundation and the U-M Athletic Department. Over 1,800 panels will cover the walls and floor of the UM Track and Tennis Building.
Any educators wishing to organize field trips to the display should contact the Quilt Display Committee at 913-9629 or mail: JCQuilt97@aol.com.
New Church Launched A church for the homeless, the marginalized, and the poor is organizing in Washtenaw County. Named after one of the assassinated heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, The Community of Medgar Evers and Other Modern Saints and Martyrs will conduct services and ministry at several locations in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
Modern heroes of peace and justice, not the saints of old, will guide the church' s schedule of worship, according to Thom Saffold, one of its organizers. Heroes like Archbishop Romero, Steven Biko, Benjamin Linder, Rigoberta Menchu, Mohandas Gandhi, Elias Chachour, and many others famous or forgotten will be lifted up throughout the year as inspiration for the struggle for peace and justice.
The church's parishioners, according to the church's organizers, will be people who are homeless, marginalized or poor, or who do not feel welcome in traditional churches. Part of the ministry will include self-help groups for substance abuse, support in finding jobs, parenting skills education, and advice on how to confront a system hostile to poor people. To learn more about the Community of Medgar Evers project, call Thom Saffold, 668-1549.
Hoop Happenln' Encourages Readlng Read a book, get tickets to U-M Basketball. Families registering for the second annual Family Reading Program (co-sponsored by U-M's Athletic Dept.) at the Ann Arbor District Library beginning the week of Jan. 6 will receive free tickets to the U-M Hoop Happenin' basketball game at Crisler Arena Jan. 12. Pregame will include lots of fun activities. Doors open at noon, game time is 2 pm.
Visit the Youth Department at the Main Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., your local branch library, or cali the Youth Department at 994-2345.
Ark Concert to Benefit Interfaith The Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice will sponsor a musical celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on Jan. 18 at The Ark.
East Coast musical storyteller and political satirist Charlie King will team up with local performer Elise Bryant to commemorate King 's lifelong struggle for equality, justice, and peace.
ICPJ was founded in 1965 so that congregations and concerned persons could work together for social justice and peace.
The concert starts at 8 pm. Tickets are $9 in advance, $10 at the door, and $20 for patrons. Call ICPJ for tickets and information, 663-1870.
Safety Tips for Women Looking assertive, walking with friends or co-workers, and taking a self defense course are some of the recommendations for women outlined last month by the Mayor's Task Force on Increasing Safety for Women. The task force was formed in 1995 after a serial rapist stalked the city in 1994.
The Mayor's Task Force is also distributing free automatic devices to turn on porch lights, putting posters on AATA buses, and distributing wallet cards listing emergency phone numbers.
Other safety tips include: having your keys in hand when heading toward your car, planning the safest route to destinations, avoiding secluded areas, and walking the long way if it's the safest. If you need help head to the local police station or emergency room or cali the Assault Crisis Center (483-7273), the U-M Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (483-7273), or the Domestic Violence ProjectSafe House (995-5444). Call the task force at 994-2766 for more information.
Survey Sheds New Light on Suicide in Gay Community A controversial new survey on youth suicide is now available on the Internet. The Canadian study, "Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Factors in the Youth Suicide Problem," found that young gay and bisexual men are 14 times more likely to attempt suicide than are straight young men. It also suggested that among to 27-year-old men, those who are celibate are far more likely to try to harm or kill themselves than those who are sexually active. The most at risk are celibate gay male youth.
"The silence also makes it extremely difficult for these youth to begin talking about their problems, mostly because they will have to initiate very risky highly taboo conversations, " wrote editor Kevin Howell in the December 1996 issue of PFLAG-Ann Arbor, the newsletter for the Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays-Ann Arbor.
To find the survey on the Internet check http://www./qrd.org/qrd/wwwyouth/tremblay or http://www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide; or write or call the Suicide Information and Education Centre at 210, 1616, 10 Ave. S.W. Calgary, AB. T3C 0J7 (ph. 403-245-3900) for a copy of the study. For more information on PFLAG-Ann Arbor, call 741-0659.
Sound Policy Needed for Sonar Use Since the Republican-controlled State House relaxed environmental standards with landmark legislation in 1995, critics have railed the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for not protecting the state's environmental treasures.
Local environmental watchdogs worry the department may be sleeping again.
The Huron River Watershed Council issued a blanket warning to the MDEQ and to lake residents throughout Michigan that Sonar - an aquatic herbicide now used across the state to combat an invasive aquatic plant - is dangerous for the environment.
"The research conducted over the last several years shows Sonar, at 5 ppb or greater, can eliminate key native species from our local lakes, and so, we feel, is not conducive to sound lake ecosystem management," wrote HRWC Executive Director Paul Rentschler in Huron River Report, the council's winter newsletter.
The HRWC, working with the MDNR, found that concentrations of the herbicide at levels as low as 5 parts per billion caused "greater than acceptable damage to nontarget, native plants which provide vital habitat for fish and wildlife." To find out more about the use of Sonar in Mich. lakes, contact the HRWC at 769-5123.