November Events with the Dearborn Sustainability Coalition

On behalf of the Dearborn Sustainability Coalition and Student Environmental Association (SEA) at UM-Dearborn, thank you to all who presented or participated in the round table on earth, ethics, and religion!

Ian Tran and Sarai Richter greeting attendees of the Earth Ethics and Religion round table for sustainability.  Photo credit to Michelle Martinez.

Your attendance, insight, and the formative consensus that emerges from these events is an affirmation of our ability to make a difference in the world as engaged citizens.  The diversity of your perspectives and insight adds to the resilience of the greater Southeast Michigan community, and makes it a better place for all.  Approximately 40 people attended this round table, and we look forward to seeing all of you again.

Upcoming November events:

Nov. 15th,  4-5:30pm - Protecting our Health, Protecting the Clean Air Act at UM-Dearborn EIC

Nov 17th,  3:30-5pm -  Beans or Bypass Surgery?  A scientific discussion about food and well-being at HFCC
Nov. 17th,  7-9pm - Privatization of Public Services Roundtable - LWVDDH, Christ Episcopal Church

Nov. 22nd, 4:30-5:45 - Alberta Tar Sands and Keystone Pipeline Overview and Actions - UM-Dearborn

Below you'll find a brief recap of our October "Earth, Ethics, and Religion" round table, and more details of upcoming November events.

Footage and Photos from 10/10

The Cool Cities Dearborn Sierra Club brought together several groups to host events on 10/10 as initiated under 350.org.

Dearborn's Community Television Channel also got footage of some of our activities and interviewed us:

http://dearbornvideo.org/videos/271/dearborn-journal-#243

I'm finally uploading pictures from 10/10!  It was a great event with upwards of ~45 people joining us to enjoy the outdoors for the Global Work Party Climate Action Day to walk, learn about the area, put bottled water to the test against tap (LWVDDH report no significant difference in preferences, but tap is 1,000 times cheaper!), paint pumpkins and gourds, and meet other community members.

Jenni Dunn of the Dearborn/Dearborn heights League of Women Voters at the blind tap vs. bottled water taste test table. Find out more about their actions and findings at their blog post on the 10/10 tap water taste test! 

Attendees gather for opening remarks on environmentally conscientious recreation, sustainability, and climate action from Ian Tran and Shannon Morrow before touring the Environmental Interpretive Center rain gardens, natural areas, and Rouge River Henry Ford Estate.

Pumpkin!  Apple from Apple Charlie's!  Cider and donuts also came from Apple Charlies, and we had attendees use compostable cups as planters for wild mountain mint (Pycnathemum pilosum) seeds collected by SEA--it was a leave-no trace event so all other items were composted or taken back for recycling/reuse.  The Fordson High School Environmental Club came forth in strong numbers and hosted the pumpkin painting table.

350.org participants gathered in all kinds of shapes, we made an Evergreen 1Sky, and the Sierra Club have signs up.

Several local parents hiked with their children, literally!

FAA Notice of Public Meeting: Proposed modification of Detroit, MI, Class B Airspace Area

FYI
To whom it may concern,

It looks like the FAA's looking for info about an area around Detroit Metro Airport to revise the airspace.  I got this letter in the mail, presumably because I live in Wayne County beneath the flight path of a major airport.  You might too, and they'd like to know your perspectives about what it's like, and any other facts which may be relevant to their revision of the airspace (re-zoning for the sky?).


The letter's contents were pasted from govpulse, which has an online transcription of the FAA Air Trafic Organization (ATO) notice of public meetings:   http://govpulse.us/entries/2010/05/13/2010-11496/proposed-modification-of-the-detroit-mi-class-b-airspace-area-public-meetings

[This site looks like it's a heaven send for US citizens, I'll investigate it more later, but so far I found that they use open source software, they gather together public statements and other things happening at the local level, and they also have decent web design]

Summary:

This notice announces three fact-finding informal airspace meetings to solicit information from airspace users and others concerning a proposal to revise the Class B airspace area at Detroit, MI. The purpose of these meetings is to provide interested parties an opportunity to present views, recommendations, and comments on the proposal. All comments received during these meetings will be considered prior to any revision or issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking.

Dates:

The informal airspace meetings will be held on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at 1:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 21, 2010, at 5 p.m.; and Thursday, July 22, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. Comments must be received on or before September 6, 2010.

Addresses:

(1) The meeting on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, will be held at Troy Holiday Inn, 2537 Rochester Court, Troy, MI 48083. (2) The meeting on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, will be held at Eastern Michigan University, Student Event Center, Ballroom B, 2nd Floor, 900 Oakwood Street, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. (3) The meeting on Thursday, July 22, 2010, will be held at Monroe Holiday Inn Express, 1225 North Dixie Highway, Monroe, MI 48162.

Comments: Send comments on the proposal, in triplicate, to: Anthony D. Roetzel, Manager, Operations Support Group, Central Service Center, Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration, 2601 Meacham Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas 76137, or by fax to (817) 321-7649.

For further information contact:

Tim Funari, FAA Detroit Metro (DTW) ATCT, Building 801, Detroit Metro Airport, Detroit, MI 48242; (734) 955-5000.

Supplementary information:

Meeting Procedures

(a) Doors open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each meeting. The meetings will be informal in nature and will be conducted by one or more representatives of the FAA Central Service Center. A representative from the FAA will present a briefing on the planned modification to the Class B airspace at Detroit, MI. Each participant will be given an opportunity to deliver comments or make a presentation, although a time limit may be imposed. Only comments concerning the plan to modify the Class B airspace area at Detroit, MI, will be accepted.

(b) The meetings will be open to all persons on a space-available basis. There will be no admission fee or other charge to attend and participate.

(c) Any person wishing to make a presentation to the FAA panel will be asked to sign in and estimate the amount of time needed for such presentation. This will permit the panel to allocate an appropriate amount of time for each presenter. These meetings will not be adjourned until everyone on the list has had an opportunity to address the panel.

(d) Position papers or other handout material relating to the substance of these meetings will be accepted. Participants wishing to submit handout material should present an original and two copies (3 copies total) to the presiding officer. There should be additional copies of each handout available for other attendees.

(e) These meetings will not be formally recorded. However, a summary of comments made at the meeting will be filed in the docket.

Agenda for the Meetings

—Sign-in.

—Presentation of meeting procedures.

—FAA explanation of the planned Class B airspace area modifications.

—Solicitation of public comments.

—Closing comments.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2010. Edith V. Parish,

Manager, Airspace and Rules Group.