By Andrew Cluley

Ann Arbor, MI – Downtown development strategies from the Calthorpe report will be in place more quickly than originally anticipated.
Ann Arbor's city council has approved revisions in the work plan that could cut six months to a year off the timeline.
When finished, the plan will create special overlay zoning districts, streamline the development process, create essential design standards, and clarify historic district criteria.
Public input is still being sought as the plan progresses.

By David Fair

Ypsilanti, MI – If the Michigan legislature fails to act by midnight Saturday, voters will decide the k-16 education funding proposal in November. The proposal would require annual funding increases for local schools, community colleges, and state universities equal to or greater than the rate of inflation.
Click on the audio icon to hear local opposition and support for the measure, featuring Ypsilanti Township Supervisor RuthAnn Jamnick, and Ypsilanti Schools Superintendent James Hawkins.

By David Fair

Ypsilanti, MI – Click on the audio icon to hear this month's Friday Focus on the Environment, featuring Michigan Environmental Council President Lana Pollack, and special guest, David Sandalow. Sandalow is a 1974 graduate of Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. He served as Deputy Secretary of State for Environment and Science in the Clinton administration. He's now Director of the Environment and Energy Project at the Brookings Institution. The topic this month is global warming.

By David Fair; Russ Collins

Ypsilanti, MI – Click on the audio icon to hear this week's Cinema Chat from WEMU.

By Andrew Cluley

By Bob Eccles

Ann Arbor, MI – The University Musical Society in Ann Arbor has been awarded a 750-thousand dollar grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Click on the audio icon for more on the story from WEMU's Bob Eccles.

By David Fair

Ypsilanti, MI – This November, Ann Arbor voters will decide a park maintenance and capital improvement millage request. Two separate millages expire this year, and the city wants to combine the issues into one that would draw one-point-two-five tax mils, generating over five and a half million dollars in annual revenue.
Click on the audio icon to hear more about the proposal on this week's Issues of the Environment from WEMU, featuring Ann Arbor's Community Services Area Administrator, Jayne Miller.

By Bob Eccles

Ypsilanti, MI – Since the first of the month WEMU has been conducting a somewhat subtle on-air fundraiser. With the start of the new fiscal year, WEMU finds a host of new financial challenges that all add up to a defecit...that's why WEMU is asking for contributions throughout the month of July. To better explain the situation WEMU General Manager Art Timko spoke with David Fair this morning.

By David Fair

Ypsilanti, MI – Back in February, WEMU's local Morning Edition host, David Fair, embarked on a very public effort to quit smoking.
As of Thursday, Dave has been tobacco-free for 144 days. Time for an update, and results of a new study on second-hand smoke. Click on the audio icon for more as Dave talks with Michigan Surgeon General Kimberly Dawn Wisdom.