Education

Coverage of schools from pre-k and kindergarten through higher education, including trade and online classes.

Build your own pie at Royal Oak’s Blaze Pizza

By Newsroom

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October 31, 2013

A California pizza chain known for its quick-fired, watch your pizza being made concept opened its first Michigan location in Royal Oak last week. Blaze Pizza, a fast casual restaurant concept that's in heated expansion mode, franchised a 3,900-square-foot, 80-seat store with an outside patio at 112 Main Street. The eatery introduced locals to its concept of an assembly-line system that lets customers choose from more than 40 toppings -- many gourmet or unusual -- and watch as a ball of dough made from scratch and left to ferment and develop flavor for 24 hours is pressed and topped before going into a high-heat oven that bakes the thin-crust pizzas in 120 seconds. The franchise is owned by Blaze Midwest out of Houghton Lake, which plans to open 10 Blaze Pizzas in Michigan. Source: Blaze Pizza Writer: Kim North Shine

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Ferndale gets new streetscape with extra bells and whistles

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 31, 2013

A six-month-long rebuild of West 9 Mile Road in downtown Ferndale is complete and showing off what it has to offer to people who drive, walk or bike the stretch of road that was redone in an effort to unify and promote the business district, create public art and gathering spaces, and update and maintain the city infrastructure. The $1.8-million project paid for the replacement of 2,600 feet of outdated water main and also remade the roadway and sidewalks from Livernois to Pinecrest with a new streetscape. The project, dubbed How the West was One, was paid for by the city of Ferndale, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, which has long wanted the west part of 9 Mile to be more connected to the east side across Woodward Avenue. You'll know the new western half by the bright yellow park benches, recycling bins, bike parking loops, new street lighting, plants, trees and shrubbery. In addition, the road was narrowed and designed with on-street parking, better crosswalks and bike lane arrows that give cyclists a designated, ideally safer place to ride. In addition, the new Kenton Pocket Park was carved out of the project and while the construction was disruptive, a new business opened, as did a new public art gallery. Source: Chris Hughes, spokesperson, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority Writer: Kim North Shine

Ford and U-M team up to open battery lab

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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October 24, 2013

Developing the next generation of hybrid and electric battery for autos is tricky business. Innovations don't always square with nusiness needs. Ford and U-M are hoping to close that gap by joining forces. Excerpt: "The center, on the university's campus in Ann Arbor, will bring together battery makers, car companies and researchers who will test new batteries for prototype vehicles. Ted Miller, who manages battery research at Ford, said the lab will be unique in the U.S. He said that labs currently testing new battery chemistries can't produce them in the amounts or formats needed for automotive research. And battery companies aren't always sure that what they're developing could be useful to the automotive industry." Read the rest here.

Schramms Mead sweetens Ferndale’s bar scene

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 24, 2013

The Metro Times (Ferndale's newest media resident) has a terrific profile of mead connoisseur Ken Schramm and his newly open tasting room. Excerpt: "Now, at 54, Schramm is finally getting into the production game. With laughing candor, he says, “I’ve had the books out for 10 years, and now I’m finally getting into the business when other people have had a five-year head start — and I’ve told them all my tricks! What kind of a businessman goes out and teaches everybody everything they need to know to be more successful than you are? Apparently that’s me.”" Read the rest here.

Age-friendly, plug-in ready neighborhood planned for Auburn Hills

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 24, 2013

A residential development in Auburn Hills is planned to be much more than another new subdivision. The Parkways, a project of The Moceri Companies, is meant to create public use spaces, become an entry into the city's emerging downtown district, promote alternative electric vehicle usage and offer specially-designed multi-generational housing in one neighborhood. City officials say the mix of housing styles and design of the neighborhood keep in mind the city's goals of offering more "age-friendly" and senior living options and promoting the inclusion of alternative energy technology in new construction. The Parkways is also believed to be the largest residential development in Michigan to wire all property with electric vehicle plug-ins. "This project was intentionally designed to meet Auburn Hills’ formal commitment to become an Age-Friendly Community with a variety of housing opportunities, parks, sidewalks and complete street considerations,” says Steven Cohen, director of community development for the city of Auburn Hills. “This private investment by The Moceri Companies to build a multi-generational development is a huge victory for the city. It’s a game changer for Downtown Auburn Hills.” As for electric vehicle wiring, Cohen says, "If considered when a project is first built, preparing for electric vehicles is very easy and inexpensive. By prepping these garages with proper wiring, new residents within this development will only need to add a charging station on the wall if they buy or lease an electric vehicle. It’s like adding a garage door opener and the costs are now very similar. Having proper infrastructure in place will help this technology succeed. It just takes forward thinking.” The Parkways will be made up of 76 townhouse, 72 stacked, flat units and a three-story 160-unit senior care complex. The market value of The Parkways, which will be built on 21.5 acres of property west of Adams road and north of the Clinton River Trail, is expected to be $75 million. Previous plans for a major housing development by another company foundered during the recession, and the property went into foreclosure and then back into the city's hands. A partnership with the city and Moceri means part of the land will become a two-acre public park and the major road through the property will be designed as a boulevard an eastern gateway into downtown Auburn Hills, where major projects such as student housing, will be completed soon. Construction on the first of five phases is scheduled to being in the spring of 2014 and be completed by the end of 2017. Source: City of Auburn Hills Writer: Kim North Shine

Lark & Co. revives the old general store in new Birmingham spot

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 24, 2013

The vision for Michael Collins and David Zawicki's new Lark & Co. in downtown Birmingham is modern day general store. The pair who previously ran Oliver's Trendz, a women's accessories store, in the same storefront at 138 N. Maple. After shutting down for renovations, they reopened nearly two weeks ago and have stocked the 1,100-square-foot space with products inspired by a 1940s general store. Variety is the name of the game: handmade candy, furniture, foodstuffs, lighting, purses, speciality soaps, rugs, books. Collins and Zawicki have lived in Birmingham 17 years and see a general store as a way to round out downtown Birmingham's retail offerings, a way to keep locals from leaving town to shop. Next door to Lark & Co. is Suhm-thing, a gift store that is also owned and operated by Collins and Zawicki and has a a selection of Michigan goods and unusual items from artists and designers around the world. Part of the their business plan is also to convey how much good supporting a local merchant can do for the economy and to set them themselves apart by providing a level of service that's harder to find at chains, malls and big box stores, Collins says. Source: Ed Nakfoor, Birmingham PSD, and Michael Collins, owner, Lark&Co. Writer: Kim North Shine

Lawrence Tech shows small biz the ways of digital manufacturing

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 17, 2013

A new partnership is forming at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield with the goal of making access to digital manufacturing more accessible to small- and medium-sized manufacturers. The university has paired up with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences to open a 1,200-square-foot facility where manufacturers will have access to software, hardware and training that teaches them how to incorporate typically cost-prohibitive digital manufacturing, modeling, simulation and visualization technology. NCMS is described as the largest cross-industry collaborative research-and-development consortium in North America. It is dedicated to driving innovation in commercial, defense, robotics and environmentally sustainable manufacturing industries. The new training facility is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2014 in LTU's General Services Building at 21301 Civic Center Drive. "This collaboration will truly help Michigan SMMs become more competitive on a national and global scale,” says NCMS President Rick Jarman. Organizations such as the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the Small Business Association of Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Aerospace Association of Michigan will identify manufacturers and publicize the program. “As a nation, we suffered a great deal when we shifted away from manufacturing," LTU president Virinder Moudgil says in a statement. "Now we have an opportunity to make manufacturing strong once more by helping the small and mid-sized companies that are the backbone of the U.S. economy.” Source: Eric Pope, spokesperson, Lawrence Technogical University Writer: Kim North Shine

Wanderlust Boutique brings affordable Euro fashion to Rochester

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 17, 2013

The women behind the new Wanderlust Boutique in downtown Rochester are bringing their love for European fashion to locals. Ally and Denise Martin say they've figured out a way to make Euro style affordable by scouring hundreds of vendors, looking not only for good prices but original styles. Besides casual clothing, the store sells accessories such as jewelry, watches, belts and shoes. Wanderlust opened Oct. 11 in a redone store painted in aqua blue mixed with exposed brick walls. A ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce is planned for Nov. 1. Source: Ally Martin, co-owner, Wanderlust Boutique Writer: Kim North Shine

Ferndale-based Schramm’s meets the need for mead

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 17, 2013

A decade since Ken Schramm started on the path to becoming one of Michigan's -- if not the country's -- mead authorities, he has opened his own meadery and bar. Schramm's Mead served its first customers Sept. 26 and celebrated with a grand opening party last Friday. After some unexpected hurdles, there was all the more reason to whoop it up. Schramm, whose day job is as manager of video services and manager of instructional technologies for Wayne County Schools, withstood delays brought on by the government sequester in April -- delays that caused crucial approvals from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to take several weeks or months longer than usual. Schramm says he's thrilled to see that his financial projections are being met. That's even after paying rent, building costs, salaries and going through refinancing to survive the delays. Schramm is the author of the Compete Mead Maker, which was published in 2003 and has sold about 60,000 copies. He started making mead a decade ago, knows its history, the many forms it takes, and realizes that turning craft mead into the next craft beer is "somewhat of an uphill battle" even when at least four metro Detroit craft brewers are succeeding at making mead. B. Nektar Meadery, also in Ferndale, is a supporter of Schramm's. The two make different styles of mead and B. Nektar is making mead as fast it can to keep up with demand. For Schramm the opening of his own establishment and the growing taste for mead is a dream come true. "I've worked hard to build this industry...I'm working hard to promote this hobby and this industry," he says. "This is such an exciting time for me." His daughter Allison is managing Schramm's Mead and "doing everything except making the mead," which is Ken Schramm's job. She has the help of several employees. Schramm's Mead will serve its fermented honey-based beverage with cheese plates and charcuterie. Schramm smokes meats too. It's located at 327 W. 9 Mile Road. So far the customers coming for a glass are about half mead drinkers, half not. "Some are familiar with it or know it well. They come from craft beer and wine circles," he says. "Some know who I am and were looking forward to the place opening. Others have never tried it, are interested in seeing what mead is." Source: Ken Schramm, founder and mead-maker, Schramm's Mead Writer: Kim North Shine

Guest Blogger: Amanda Uhle

By Amanda Uhle

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Arts & Culture

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October 10, 2013

Since 826michigan, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center, opened its doors in Detroit it has not only assisted elementary- through high-school students, it's also made a difference for the adult volunteers donating time and smarts to their community. 826michigan Executive Director Amanda Uhle elaborates.