Downtown newsmagazine | Birmingham/Bloomfield

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Bloomfield Hills Schools Adams Pointe Court, Troy

Fabulous Curb Appeal on Expansive Lot Argyle Street, Birmingham

Coveted 5.83 Acre Parcel Barden Road, Bloomfield Hills

Elegantly Appointed Estate on 1.4 Acres Barden Road, Bloomfield Hills

Award Winning Newer Build S. Bates Street, Birmingham

In-Town Luxurious New Construction Brookside Avenue, Birmingham

Custom Built 3-story Contemporary Cole Street, Birmingham

Completely Rebuilt on 2.4 Acres Country Club Road, Bloomfield Hills

Neighborhood Living in Bloomfield Village Covington Road, Bloomfield Twp.

The Ultimate Private Oasis on 1.17 Acres Cranbrook Court, Bloomfield Hills

Renovated with Sleek Modern Design Dennison Road, Franklin Village

Upper Straits Lakefront Walkout Build Site Elmgate Bay Drive, Orchard Lake

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DOWNTOWN11.19

56

Ransomware attacks now threaten municipalities Ransomware attacks cost millions of dollars each year for businesses, whether in ransom to retrieve a victim's data, costs to rebuild systems, lost business and down time and now municipalities are targets of cybersecurity threats.

LONGFORM

39

There is an explosion in the collection of DNA information, which raises privacy concerns, whether access is by law enforcement concerns or other entities, about data people once believed was private.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

16

With the GOP in a serious death spiral, national and now state party officials are jumping on the disinformation train to disparage Congresswomen Haley Stevens and Elissa Slotkin in hopes of reclaiming their districts.

CRIME LOCATOR

21

A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, presented in map format.

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL

27

Opponents scarce for Padma Kuppa; keeping powder dry at GOP leadership confab; state AG weighs in on local prosecutor race; Peters numbers up; rubbing shoulders with Romney; plus more.

MUNICIPAL

69

No 2020 bistro applications; Birmingham water lead testing; cuts start in Bloomfield Township; First Amendment lawsuit settled; president retires; two restaurant projects okayed; plus more.

THE COVER Cover design: Chris Grammer

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51

Ray Margherio & Drew Prokop

METRO INTELLIGENCER

94

Writer/reporter Dana Casadei helps provide us with quick takes on what is happening in the world of food and drink in the metro Detroit area.

SOCIETY NOTEBOOK

103

Society Notebook reporter Gigi Nichols provides the latest news and snapshots from the society and non-profit circuit fundraising events.

ENDNOTE

110

Our recommendations in the November Birmingham City Commission election; vote YES on Birmingham Schools and OCC millages.

FACES

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Sarah Jane Post Ray Margherio & Drew Prokop Barbara Heller Jessica Mindell LaNeice Galloway Madeline Yang

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FROM THE PUBLISHER ack in April I used this space to raise a cautionary flag about the effort launched by the National Republican Party to sully the reputation of two congresswomen from Oakland County – Democrats Haley Stevens and Elissa Slotkin – both of whom at that writing had spent less than three months in the U.S. House following their election in the fall of 2018.

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I expressed concern then that the GOP would weaponize the label of “progressives” – think the “progressive squad” comprising renegade Democrat caucus members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib (from Detroit) – and apply it to these two House members once we got into the heat of the 2020 election to create a false narrative in an attempt to erode their standing back home.

Well, the 2020 contest is already reaching fever pitch and in recent weeks we now witness the Michigan Republican Party joining in on the Slotkin/Stevens disinformation campaign as these two Oakland County members of Congress have lent their voices to the growing Washington D.C. call for impeachment hearings on President Trump's effort to solicit foreign governments to interfere in our national election by digging up possible dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

Certainly an impeachable offense, without even considering the Mueller report conclusions (yes, I read it more than once) that – for the record – did not clear Trump of collusion as he would have his sycophants and rally audiences believe.

I did not fall off the turnip truck yesterday, as the colloquial expression goes, when it comes to politics in general, much less the politics of impeachment. I was tuned in starting with the Nixon impeaching hearings, just to date myself, as well the impeachment of Clinton. One would expect a united front of defense from Republican National Committee (RNC) officials, led by chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, she of the Romney political dynasty, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, raised in Bloomfield Hills. Since her elevation to the top GOP spot in 2017, she has built a track record of fawning over Trump in her national role. I was particularly disappointed when Michigan Republican party chair Laura Cox jumped with Romney McDaniel on the disinformation train of late to call out the congresswomen from Oakland County. From her I had hoped for more elevated political discourse this election season.

But the Republican party, nationally and certainly in Oakland County, is in a death spiral, for a variety of reasons.

The Republican party has finally realized, in just under three years, it is no longer the GOP of old. The party, lock, stock and barrel, is the party of Trump.

Forget about the storied GOP history of pushing an inclusive racial agenda that included an end to slavery, helped create the Environmental Protection Agency or built its reputation for conservative spending, just to name a few stanchions that have been kicked asunder by Trump.

While the vast majority of Republicans – some 90 percent, according to recent polls – still back him, Trump is off-putting to a growing number of people, including the all important Independents who, face it, will be a major factor in the 2020, as well as future, elections. Trump may be able to hold and energize his base of support with his ongoing attacks on the media, Twitter account assaults on those daring to criticize his policies or lack thereof, the xenophobic schtick, and his false characterization of what his presidency has accomplished, but it is unlikely membership will be increasing in that party which is already having a tough time finding respectable candidates here in Oakland County to run for some offices. As for the wayward Democrats who voted for Trump in 2016, count many of them returning to the fold in 2020.

Is it any wonder that the national and now the Michigan Republican party officials are in a panic? No other way to put it.

As for the congresswomen from Oakland, neither is a member of the committees now holding hearings on possible impeachment of Trump. Both have shown they

can walk and chew gum at the same time – lending support for the hearings yet not deterring them from the other tasks at hand.

Voters in 2018, determined to send two strong women to Congress from districts that had been under the gerrymandered stranglehold of the GOP. Both are alumni of past presidential administrations – Stevens as part of the Obama Auto Task Force that helped bail out that industry and Slotkin who served in Intelligence as a CIA officer and did three tours of duty in Iraq, while also having served the George W. Bush administration and helped shape foreign policy for the Bush and Obama administrations. They brought to Washington D.C. experience and a familiarity with Congress that gives them some added cachet as part of the 62 new members of House elected last year.

Both are considered moderate Democrats. Both are pragmatists.

In the case of Slotkin, her 8th District includes Rochester, most of Rochester Hills, the large swath of the north Oakland area, along with portions of Livingston and Ingham counties.

Under the Committee of Armed Services, she serves on the subcommittees for Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and subcommittee on Readiness.

Under the Committee on Homeland Security, she is a member of the subcommittees on Counterterrorism and Intelligence; and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection.

Slotkin has a list of issues on which she has been actively working in Congress, ranging from veterans' affairs, lowering drug costs raising worker wages, retirement savings, funding to remedy the PFAS problem, Michigan road and water infrastructure.

Aside from congressional work, Slotkin has held more local district town hall meetings than any past representative from this district.

As for Stevens, her 11th District encompasses Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, a small piece of Rochester Hills, the west Oakland lakes area and portions of western Wayne County. She is a member of two subcommittees with the House Committee on Education & Labor – the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and the subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

Under the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, she chairs the Research & Technology subcommittee and is a member of the House subcommittee on Energy.

Stevens has worked diligently on behalf of the manufacturing community in this district, acting as a strong advocate for both the manufacturing and remanufacturing section as she worked on a bipartisan basis to pass legislation and authored successful bills. Stevens has backed legislation to improve the Affordable Care Act, has pushed to force the EPA to prioritize funding for development of a national strategy to ensure the economic viability of local recycling efforts, has focused some of her energy on vulnerabilities in voting technology and remains a spokesperson for education issues.

Stevens has hosted countless in-district town hall meetings and has quickly built a reputation of having developed an effective office operation to help constituents navigate the government and resolve problems.

In just the first nine months of a two-year term, both of these women have accomplished more than anyone we have sent to Washington since I started monitoring Congress, dating back to when Bill Broomfield was in Washington D.C. Local residents need to keep this in mind as the masters of deceit start spinning out a different narrative from now until November of 2020. Call it for what it truly is.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com

M ARNI

S IES M ARJAN

R OCHAS

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CURATED. COLLECTED. COVETED.

SS20

TRUNK SHOW November 1 November 2

271 West Maple • Birmingham • 248.258.0212 •

@TenderBham

PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Hillary Brody Anchill | Dana Casadei Kevin Elliott | Stacy Gittleman | Austen Hohendorf Gigi Nichols | Bill Seklar PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Esme McClear | Laurie Tennent | Chris Ward Laurie Tennent Studio ADVERTISING DIRECTOR David Hohendorf ADVERTISING SALES Mark Grablowski GRAPHICS/IT MANAGER Chris Grammer OFFICE 124 W. Maple Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464 DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS Mailed monthly at no charge to most homes in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Birmingham/Bloomfield.

For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available for a $12 annual charge. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order online or scan the QR Code here.

INCOMING/READER FEEDBACK We welcome feedback on both our publication and general issues of concern in the Birmingham/Bloomfield community. The traditional “letters to the editor” in Downtown are published in our Incoming section and can include written letters or electronic communication.

Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 W. Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009.

If you are using the mail option, you must include a phone number for verification purposes.

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FACEBOOK facebook.com/downtownpublications TWITTER twitter.com/downtownpubs OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL oaklandconfidential.com METRO INTELLIGENCER metrointelligencer.com Member of Downtown Publications DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM/BLOOMFIELD

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J E F F & M AT T BA R K E R ED C 00 U ,0 ED 00 R $2

3057 Heron Pointe Dr 1450 Clarendon Rd 4 BR, 4.3 BA, 5,620 SF, 4 Car Gar 4 BR, 5.2 BA, 5,479 SF, 4 Car Gar 24HR Manned Gated Heron Bay 1.5 Acres. Chalmers Lk Privileges Bloomfield Hills Schools Bloomfield Hills Schools $1,599,900 $1,499,900

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6932 Willow Rd 1104 Park Place Ct 4 BR, 4.1 BA, 3,692 SF, Built 2007 4 BR, 3.1 BA, 3,826 SF All Brick Ranch, Walkout LL 1st Flr Master Detached Condo 3 Car Gar, Union Lake Privileges Bloomfield Hills Schools $799,900 $699,900

IN ST LI EW 5220 W Bloomfield Lake Rd 5 BR, 4.1 BA, 5,690 SF Finished Walkout Lower Level West Bloomfield Lk Lakefront $499,900

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CRIME LOCATOR

NORTH

Map key

Sexual assault

Assault

Murder

Robbery

Breaking/entering

Larceny

Larceny from vehicle

Vehicle theft

Vandalism

Drug offenses

Arson

These are the crimes reported under select categories by police officials in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills through October 15, 2019.

Placement of codes is approximate.

INCOMING For decades, the Left has sought

Michigan press silences truth

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to enflame tensions along every fault line that exists in Western society. This has reached a fever pitch since the 2016 election, and the Left's hatred, ignorance and viciousness was exemplified by the recent successful effort of Democrat Reps. Andy Levin and Debbie Dingell, along with the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and others, to shut down a 9/11 event scheduled for the Bloomfield Hills Baptist Church – based entirely on false premises.

Democrat state reps. Abdullah Hammoud and Mari Manoogian piled on, with the bogus claim that the event sought to "assign blame for 9/11 to the entire Muslim community." Let's be clear: their real goal was to silence us.

USA Today and its subsidiary, the Detroit Free Press chimed in on behalf of their ideological soul mates without seeking any response from those of us who could actually speak to the issue. This newsmagazine added its own bias (From the Publisher/October) by ascribing to the organizers and speakers the Left's constantly overused shibboleth "racism." Embedded in these presumptions is a towering conceit only exceeded by willful ignorance.

I was one of the speakers scheduled for that event. I have studied these issues for 30 plus years, and worked in the White House budget office for three presidents, Republican and Democrat. My credentials speak for themselves, but I and others with critical knowledge are denied the opportunity to speak by people who unscrupulously defame our character with absolutely no evidence whatsoever. Allow me to correct the numerous falsehoods that have been advanced about this event, and hopefully give you pause to reconsider your ongoing efforts to silence people you disagree with.

You might just be wrong: 1. This event was cancelled out of fear. Members of a Christian school co-located on the church property were literally terrified that by falsely characterizing the forum as "hate," its opponents had put a target on their children's backs. Not an unreasonable fear these days, when antifa types beat up old ladies and

DOWNTOWN

homeless people for supporting Trump, and Islamic terrorists launch murderous attacks against Americans with alarming and growing frequency. Media actually fosters this climate of fear.

2. This was not an "anti-Muslim" event. It was intended to describe how terror-supporting, subversive, Muslim Brotherhood groups, like CAIR, and its leftist allies, directly threaten America. The many press articles, and the dishonest, irresponsible actions of Reps.

Dingell and Levin, actually make the case for me.

My belief is that most MuslimAmericans – like all Americans – enjoy the freedom, affluence and relative security living in the U.S. provides. Terrorism is the last thing on their minds. But CAIR and groups like it are intent on destroying that freedom and security, engage in a constant campaign of agitation, and seek to intimidate into silence anyone willing to expose them.

Did you know, for example, that Minnesota Somali Muslims publicly accused CAIR of facilitating recruitment of Somali youths to fight for the terrorist groups ISIS and Al Shabaab? Relatives of a Minnesota Somali killed in Somalia said CAIR is "supporting the groups we suspect of recruiting our kids. We refuse to be silent.” Muslim protesters chanted, “CAIR out! Doublespeak out!”

CAIR warned Minnesota Somalis not to talk with the FBI. One Somali Muslim, Abdirizak Bihi, whose nephew was murdered by Al Shabaab, testified to Congress about terror recruitment, saying, "I tried to warn America," adding that CAIR worked to destroy his reputation, even calling him an "Islamophobe" in its 2013 "Islamophobia" report.

If, as it claims, CAIR is an upstanding civil rights group, why would it attack anyone trying to prevent terrorist recruitment? CAIR's actions, especially its increasingly aggressive efforts to silence us, prove our case. The media dangerously abdicates its responsibility by refusing to report these realities – instead attacking the messenger.

3."Islamophobia" is a word invented by the Muslim Brotherhood to facilitate defamation and intimidation of anyone who exposes them for what they are. They are joined by the SPLC, the ACLU, and 11.19

MATTHILDUR x MARK KELLER 929 S. ETON BIRMINGHAM MI THURSDAY-SATURDAY 11-5:30PM 586.202.0008 www.matthildur.com @matthildur.official

That's right. By signing up to receive the email newsletters from Downtown, you will be automatically entered into a drawing for one of 10 $50 gift certificates we are giving away to The Morrie in Birmingham.

Anyone signing up for our newsletters by the end of December will automatically be entered into the drawing for the $50 gift cards. Winners will be notified by email at the end of the year.

Go to downtownpublications.com and register to receive at least one of our newsletters – weekly and breaking news updates, society notebook, metro intelligencer, oakland confidential, promotions – and you will be automatically entered into the drawing.

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now, apparently much of Michigan media, including your paper.

"Islamophobia" is simply the Muslim Brotherhood's adoption of a defamation tactic first articulated 100 years ago by Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, who said, "We must write in a language that sows hate, revulsion and scorn toward those who disagree with us." The International Communist movement refined this idea in the 1940s, discrediting Western society as incurably "fascist," "anti-Semitic," "Nazi," or other names "that already have a bad smell" in the public mind. Now we can add "Islamophobe."

The SPLC institutionalized this Leninist "hate" strategy with its "hate list," "hate watch," "hate map" and such. SPLC learned the tactic from German Communist Herbert Marcuse, who SPLC co-founder Julian Bond worked with for years.

Marcuse developed the concept of "partisan tolerance," that is, tolerance of Left ideas only, and complete intolerance of ideas from the right.

Marcuse advocated violence, deception and suppression of opponents, even to the level of thought. Doesn't that sound familiar?

CAIR has followed suit. All of these terms are thrown at people like myself, who simply know what the facts are and seek to articulate the dangers of this subversive, antiAmerican agenda. Michigan's current leadership, and much of the organized Left is completely on board with them.

4. Ignorance is no excuse. Are all of you left wing "journalists" so ignorant that you don't know any of this, or are you so invested in your agenda that you are unwilling to admit it? The Left and its Islamist allies have debased political dialogue in the U.S. to infantile, elementary school namecalling, even if it means putting a target on the backs of school children. Are you really comfortable being part of this? When will you people grow up and start doing your jobs? (Note: unlike USA Today, Detroit Free Press, this publication deserves credit for publishing this response.

The others refused.)

James Simpson Baltimore, Maryland (James Simpson is an economist, businessman, investigative journalist and former career civil servant in the White House Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton)

SPEAK OUT We welcome your opinion on issues facing the Birmingham/Bloomfield communities.

Although we do not have a fixed maximum length for letters sent to us, we recommend a maximum length of 175-200 words. We also reserve the right to edit letters for length if necessary.

Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 West Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009.

Say it as you see it David Hohendorf’s recent column in Downtown Birmingham Bloomfield (October) was very moving.

As a first term elected official, I’ve achieved many firsts: I’m the first Democrat to be State Rep. for Troy and Clawson, Michigan’s 41st House District, the first woman of color to represent this district, the first Indian immigrant (I arrived here in 1988 with a foreign student visa), and the first Hindu in the legislature.

While I am often discouraged and drained by the political arena and games played there, I have hope and am actually quite amazed at what my simply being in office does to the issues of racism and racial bias you describe. It changes what leadership looks like.

I truly appreciate your editorial.

Thank you for being the Fourth Estate that says it as you see it.

Padma Kuppa Michigan State Representative 41st House District

Struggle for country’s soul I never thought I would enjoy another play after seeing Hamilton. I was mesmerized by the acting of all the actors in To Kill A Mockingbird (From The Publisher/October).

I was saddened by the reality that as much progress we had made even electing the first African American president in my life time, we find ourselves right back to the 1960s in the struggle for the soul of country between the forces of good and evil.

I am stunned that intelligent friends do not see how fragile democracy is and how they are supporting a strong man dictator.

Germany was one of the most enlightened countries in the world and look how quickly they turned to hate their friends and neighbors.

DOWNTOWN

How is this happening? How is To Kill A Mockingbird so relevant today?

I enjoy your magazine and David Hohendorf’s editorials Scott A. Goodwin Past President Michigan Association for Justice Birmingham

Column hits the mark Once again David Hohendorf’s publisher’s column hits the mark (October/Downtown).

I am glad that you are continuing to use your newsmagazine for political and social commentary that is very important to our area. It would be easier for you to shy away; rather you continue to take risks to point out our local ills. We are grateful.

I had heard from a respected area executive that It was not long ago that Jews were not even allowed to own property in Bloomfield Hills and were on a quota system for admission to some area private schools. Those words are stunning but remind us of how far we have come…and how far we have yet to go.

We too have felt racism and bias in our family, and we have learned to not be astonished.

Keep it up, please.

Gary Gerson Bloomfield Hills

Newsmagazine an asset I am a recent transplant to southeast Michigan and a frequent contributor to the peer-reviewed scientific literature concerning human health effects of PFAS, which was one of the topics of a recent issue of this newsmagazine (October/Downtown).

I was impressed by the high level of scientific accuracy and public service in Kevin Elliott's article "Invisible Poisons in Our Food Supply."

A local newsmagazine is a community asset, and you have provided solid information for consumers looking to make informed choices about contaminants in food purchases.

Nice work.

Alan Ducatman M.D. Birmingham

Food insecurity Thanks again for giving me the chance to speak on the topic of food insecurity (July/Downtown). And thank you for highlighting this important issue.

Sara Alqaragholy University of Michigan-Dearborn 11.19

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THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS

Pierre Boutros

THE LAST FOUR YEARS:

THE NEXT FOUR YEARS:

9 Reduced the City tax levy while continuing to maintain its AAA bond rating.

9 Reinvented Old Woodward with new sewers, water lines and streetscape improvements.

9 Reconstructed the Chesterfield Fire Station to better serve citizens for decades to come.

9 Reinvested in residential sewer lines to update infrastructure and extend service life.

9 Refinanced the City’s bond debt, saving taxpayers $1.3 million in future debt payments.

9 Invest in a permanent home for our senior center that adequately meets their needs.

9 Complete all three phases of the Baldwin Public Library renovation.

9 Unite the east and west sides of Woodward to create one vibrant five-mile radius for living, working and playing.

9 Explore and invest in parking solutions that do not burden taxpayers.

9 Improve the 26 miles of unrepaired roads in the city.

9 Maintain the City’s AAA bond rating.

facebook.com/WriteInPierreNovember5 • writeinpierre.com PAID FOR BY PIERRE BOUTROS FOR CITY COMMISSION | 285 HAWTHORNE BIRMINGHAM, MI 48009

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HOLIDAY EVENTS 2019 SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY |

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Shop in Birmingham and support the local economy! Find unique NPM[Z MVY L]LY`VUL VU `V\Y SPZ[ ;OL L]LU[ ^PSS RPJR VɈ ^P[O H Birmingham Santa Walk at 9:30 a.m. Information: 248-530-1200 or AllinBirmingham.com/calendar.

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Shain Park will come alive with activity during the annual Birmingham Winter Markt. Enjoy European food and drinks, gift items, holiday greens, ice sculptures, live reindeer, warming stations, Santa House, horse-drawn carriage rides and live entertainment. Tree Lighting Ceremony – December 6 at 6 p.m. Information: 248-530-1200 or AllinBirmingham.com/WinterMarkt.

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On weekends throughout the holiday season, children are invited to visit the Santa House under the pavilion in Shain Park. Also enjoy complimentary horse-drawn carriage rides throughout downtown Birmingham. View the complete schedule for the Santa House and carriage rides at www.ALLINBirmingham.com/calendar.

DOWNTOWN

11.19

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-the-record by staff members at Downtown newsmagazine. We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklndConfidential@DowntownPublications.com.

All sources are kept strictly confidential. The gossip column can be viewed at OaklandConfidential.com where you can sign up to receive updates each month via email.

FOUR’S A CROWD: When Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter was appointed the first Democrat to ever hold the office, it was supposed to be as a temporary oneyear stop gap until the 2020 election. But word is Coulter, Ferndale’s mayor until the executive gig, has suspended his campaign to run for state representative for the 27th District, to replace term-limited Rep. Robert Wittenberg (D) (now running for county treasurer). Coulter had planned to run for state rep prior to being tapped for the county job, and as one county employee said, “He behaving like he’s campaigning for it.” By all accounts from Democrats and Republicans, he’s doing a stellar job of stepping into late executive L. Brooks Patterson’s extra large shoes – which might not be good news for Oakland Board of Commissioners Chair Dave Woodward (D-Royal Oak) or Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner (D), who have already begun to duke it out for the exec spot. We hear Julie Secontine of Milford, who was with the county for 22 years as an attorney and risk manager, and is now state Fire Marshal, is looking to make it a foursome. “She’s making a lot of noise that she is going to run, likely as a Democrat, although she always worked in Republican administrations,” a county source said. “I don’t know about her fundraising capabilities.” Keep an eye on the ball.

STATE SEAL OF APPROVAL: Former Oakland Circuit Court Judge Karen McDonald, running in next year’s Democratic primary to unseat Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, picked up a possible big boost when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) announced her endorsement in early October. “Karen McDonald will be the effective, smart prosecutor Oakland County needs. She understands the need for common-sense criminal justice reform.

I’m proud to endorse her as the Democrat for Oakland County Prosecutor,” Nessel said. Some Democrats are perplexed by the early seal of approval, considering most fellow party MCDONALD members abstain from endorsements until after a primary. Some in the prosecutor’s office are perplexed by Nessel’s endorsement, with one stating, “I’m not aware of any animus between her and prosecutor Cooper.” McDonald, who told Oakland Confidential she is a progressive who is running because COOPER “this prosecutor does not believe in drug courts and because of juvenile lifers,” has had fundraisers hosted by former assistant prosecutors, bankruptcy attorneys, and legal stalwarts such as Ira Jaffe of Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss.

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KEEPING THEIR POWDER DRY: Mackinac Island is a beautiful vacation destination anytime...but for those Republicans looking to run for office, or keeping their options open, the Michigan Republican Party Leadership Conference September 20-21 was a particularly lovely port-of-call.

In attendance? Former U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester), who has been playing coy as to whether he wants to take on the woman who arm wrestled him to the ground in the 8th District 2018 election, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, northern Oakland County, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties). While he told fellow GOPers on the BISHOP island he doesn’t want to run again in 2020, let’s point out that he showed up, shmoozed and glad-handed his way through the event. He’s also become something of a regular political panelist on WDIV newscaster Devin Scillian’s Sunday Flashpoint show. Also on the island for the confab was Ingrid TIGHE Tighe, executive director of Birmingham Shopping District. While flattered she’s been asked to run against Democrat Mari Manoogian (Birmingham, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills) for the state House 40th District, she told us recently the time isn’t right. Yet, she was all over Mackinac, posting photos of herself. Hey, timing in life is everything. Or not.

PARTY ON: While Republican Senate hopeful John James of Farmington Hills continues to avoid the “identity crisis” that the Michigan Democratic Party asserts he is having in avoiding his previous “2000 percent” support of President Donald Trump and his agenda, which is proving more difficult as impeachment hearings continue, James is turning to another hopeful Republican leader for cover. Politico reported that James is one of the candidates Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is hosting in late October in New York City for Republican Senators and candidates downtownpublications.com

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who “need daylight from Trump.” James also picked up the endorsement of Kochfunded FreedomWorks. In the third quarter of 2019, James announced his campaign raised $3 million from approximately 30,000 donors. Political wonks think James is going to need all that money to beat rival Senator Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township), as the race was recently rated as “Likely D” – meaning Democrat.

TARNISH BUILDING: Republican Senatorial candidate John James is being billed as a celebrity not only in Michigan, where he closed a huge gap in 2018 running against Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) to a six-point loss, but across the country where he has been raising big bucks for his run against Senator Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) in 2020. Disciples of the Farmington Hills businessman and combat veteran, such as former state Sen. Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), describe James as a charismatic and religious man who is called to serve. But recent polling numbers by Ed Sarpolus of Target Insyght indicate James might have to wait. As of the end of September, Peters was up statewide, 53 percent to 37 percent, with a 3.1 percent margin of error.

James, who we have been told was treated like “a rock star” when he arrived on Mackinac Island for the Michigan GOP Party Leadership Conference, as was keynote speaker Vice President Mike Pence, has been trying to erase his “2000 percent support for President Trump” in 2018, scrubbing his social media clean, but Democrats have no intention of letting him or voters forget. The Michigan Democratic Party sent out an email that “Politico recently described Trump as James’ number one ally,” and James did attend a fundraiser in Florida with a top member of Trump’s finance team. Whether official pollsters, Richardville or Republican leadership, all privately note that Trump will be a drag on Michigan Republicans next year.

CONGRESSIONAL WAR CHEST: With more than a full year left before the 2020 general election, Michigan’s 8th and 11th Congressional Districts challengers will need to start building their war chests as Democrats Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, northern Oakland, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties), and Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Commerce Township, Novi, western Oakland and western Wayne counties) have raised nearly $4 million combined. Stevens’ campaign raised $667,109 in the third quarter of 2019, for about $2 million this election cycle. Slotkin’s SLOTKIN campaign on Tuesday, October 15, filed her totals with the Federal Elections Commission, showing she raised $815,922 in the third quarter for a total of $2,153,910 this election cycle, with $1,729,527 cash on hand. Other Oakland County Democrats who filed campaign finance reports on October 15 include Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Southfield, West Bloomfield, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Waterford, Detroit), who STEVENS raised $214,230 in the third quarter for a total of $408,460 and $769,151 cash on hand; and Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township, Franklin, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, part of Macomb County) who raised $161,463 in the third quarter, for $324,056 total and $210,665 cash on hand.

NO SOLO DINING: Lawmakers in Lansing looking for ways to skirt campaign finance laws intended to eliminate the influence of dark money are currently targeting corporate donors for their non-profit fundraisers. While Michigan law prohibits corporations from contributing to campaigns directly, corporate donations given to non-profit and administrative accounts established by lawmakers aren’t subject to the same disclosure or scrutiny, meaning donations can’t typically be tracked by the public. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) found that half of the 148 lawmakers serving in 2018 had direct connections to non-profit organizations or administrative accounts that could raise money in secret. The MCFN found at least three representatives – Pete Lucido (R-Shelby Township), Triston Cole (R-Mancelona) and Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) – who had participated in fundraisers asking for “corporate contributions only,” however, the sponsor for Lucido’s “A Brighter America” event later updated its invitations to say that all checks would be accepted.

HANDS OFF: Senator Gary Peters isn’t the only one appearing to be enjoying the benefit of President Trump’s declining popularity in Michigan. The Democratic surge of 2018 in Oakland County appears to exhibit no signs of abating, with Republicans having a difficult time coming up with quality candidates – or any candidates in some races – to take on some of the newly-elected state lawmakers.

GOP kingmakers privately acknowledge that it is going to be difficult for any Republican to win in Oakland next year, and sacrificial lambs are running to pasture. Take, for example, the 41st District, encompassing Troy and Clawson, which Democrat Padma Kuppa won last year. Kuppa, who came to the United 28

States at the age of four and grew up out East before returning to India as a teenager, is a mechanical engineer who returned to the U.S. for graduate school and a successful career. Republicans have told Oakland Confidential that so far, they cannot get anyone – at all – to run against the first Indian immigrant and Hindu in the state legislature, who is a board member of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity. With only a few House seats still held by the GOP in Oakland – including that of term-limited Kathy Crawford in Novi – will Oakland help flip the House?

KUPPA

INTO THE LION’S DEN: A town hall meeting slated as a discussion on gun violence erupted into a shouting match on Tuesday, October 1, as 11th District Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Commerce Township, Novi, western Oakland and western Wayne counties) brought the gun fight to the bastion of Second Amendment advocates at the Multi Lakes Conservation Association site, (replete with gun range) in Commerce Township. “This is why the NRA has got to go,” Stevens shouted into a microphone amidst heckling from protesters, some chanting “NRA” in reference to the National Rifle Association. The meeting, billed as a “Town Hall to End Gun Violence,” was hosted by Fems for Dems, Michigan State House of Representatives Democratic Leader Christine Greig (DFarmington, Farmington Hills) and Rep. Robert Wittenberg (DHuntington Woods, Ferndale, Berkley). Meshawn Maddock, die-hard Trump lickspittle and chair of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee, said gun rights advocates would MADDOCK show up to oppose the meeting. Others questioned why Stevens would hold the meeting at club that has strongly supported the NRA and gun rights. Others claimed that the event was booked under the name “Fems for Life,” rather than “Fems for Dems.”

OUT OF THE WOODWORK: Republicans willing to take on 8th District Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin have been hard to find, at least until recently. Just before the start of October, Michigan State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder (R-Dexter) announced she would be running for the Republican nomination in hopes of facing off with Democrat Slotkin in 2020. Days later, Snyder was joined

by Republican “patriot” Mike Detmer of Howell, who opted to suspend his race for the state House and instead run for the congressional seat. Snyder, 35, is a registered nurse and lactation specialist serving her first term on the State Board of Education. She is no relation to former governor and lifetime nerd Rick Snyder.

Detmer, 43, is a licensed real estate agent and a general sales manager for a Michigan auto dealership. Both Detmer and Snyder said the current impeachment investigation didn’t factor into their decisions to run, albeit neither said they support the investigation or believe Trump committed any impeachable offenses.

Lansing lawyer Kristina Lyke told a GOP event in Livingston County on October 3 that she also plans to throw her hat in the ring.

TALKIN’ TRASH: Entrances to the Bloomfield Township Hall over the weekend of October 5-6 were closed, as township officials caught wind of a plan by several residents to make a stink over the recent cancelation of an annual hazardous waste recycling event by dumping their toxic garbage on the steps of township hall. “The callers made several references that they themselves or a ‘lot’ of other people were planning on dumping waste on the steps of Township Hall or other facilities,” Bloomfield Township Superintendent of Public Works Noah Mehalski said in a memo to other township officials and department heads two days prior to the event. “In addition, people are posting on several social media outlets that everyone should dump the waste in the elected officials parking spots.” The township said it would block off entrances to the township campus and place signs with alternatives to stop any littering. The township recently announced it would cancel its annual Household Hazardous Waste recycling event BUCKLEY due to budget cuts after voters in August rejected a proposed Special Assessment District (SAD) to fund police and fire retiree benefits. While the recycling event and other cuts were discussed as potential cuts prior to the vote, some opponents of the SAD claimed the cuts were simply a scare tactic and not likely to be implemented. Several who WALSH said they voted against the SAD – including township trustees David Buckley and Dani Walsh – have since claimed at public meetings that the cuts appear to be punishment for opposing the tax, despite welldocumented discussions – for months –about the proposed cuts, which both those trustees supported. Well, hello – reality bites.

DOWNTOWN

11.19

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Sarah Jane Post tarting with sculpture at Cranbrook Kingswood High School to painting and welding at the University of Michigan, Sarah Jane Post has always looked for new mediums to incorporate into her artwork.

Today, Post works with acclaimed leather artisan Jutta Neumann in New York City's East Village.

"Originally, I had done some bronze sculpting, and that's a step-bystep process that starts with a small sketch and builds on itself," Post said. "At each step, there's an opportunity for it to go wrong. Leather is very similar. You're starting with a hide that is a flat piece of leather. The steps and processes in between looks nothing like it's going to end up, which I find really fascinating."

Looking to start a career in the art world after college, Post moved to the East Village after graduating. But for a Michigan native, the urban pavement of New York can be a bit much.

"I was so used to being around nature, and New York was a little shock to me," Post said. "But the East Village is scattered with these community gardens, so I volunteered a couple of Sundays there to get access."

By volunteering to help maintain a garden, Post was able to get use privileges to do some painting in a natural setting. It wasn't long before Neumann, who owns the garden, took notice.

"I met her and she told me about an apprenticeship program she was starting," she said. "I was like, 'sign me up.'"

Neumann, a native of Germany, moved from Paris to New York in the 1980s, where she honed her leather working skills with another artisan.

In 1994, she opened her own storefront in the East Village, where her signature designs have gained popularity among designers and the general public.

"I like working with my hands, and leather is a very sculptural thing the way we produce it. It came very easy to me," Post said. "The thing I learned most from Jutta was the attention to detail needed. People expect quality from their leather products. It has to be very exact and done very well."

Now, about two years after her start working for Neumann, Post is crafting some of her mentor's designs for customers and bringing new life to older products brought in for repairs.

"A man came in with sandals that he was wearing that day that he had bought here and brought in for repairs," she said. "I was working on those, and they were as old as me, and they were in great condition."

Post has also created designs of her own, following Neumann's blend of fashion and functionality. Recently, Post made a special pair of sandals for her cousin, who can only wear sandals due to a medical condition.

"Some people will ask for different straps on products, and she will know instantly if it will work. I love the functionality," she said. "My cousin's sandals were my favorite project to do. I knew how badly he needed them."

Outside of the store, Post is continuing her studies at Pratt Institute.

She has also continued to develop her own artwork, exploring painting, sculpture and 3-D technical aspects of artwork, incorporating metal into all her projects. Meanwhile, her work at the store has given her a crash course in both leatherworking and business.

"We sell hundreds of sandals a week in the Japanese market, where they really found a niche," she said. "It's very cool to see it go beyond the walls you live in."

S

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Kevin Young

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O

nce mostly thought about in the realm of criminal investigations, the use of DNA technology has since expanded into the area of entertainment, as websites like Ancestry.com and 23andme.com make it possible for anyone with $100 to submit a swab of DNA from their cheek and trace their ancestry. But the vast amount of information contained in the genetic code sent to commercial databases is increasingly being accessed by law enforcement, raising privacy concerns.

Perhaps even more alarming is the number of possible uses of DNA information in the future, as data people once believed was private is sought by public and private entities.

"There are some privacy issues, and it should cast a light on what you're giving to these direct-to-consumer (genetic testing databases)," said Donald Shelton, a retired Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge now serving as director of Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at the University of Michigan in Dearborn.

"They have everything. There's a big difference between a fingerprint and DNA. It contains your medical history and everything."

First developed for use in the medical field, DNA can now be used to trace genealogy, produce a physical description of an unknown person and predict the probability of illness and disease. Used properly, the information can be used to track down lost relatives, produce new leads in unsolved crimes, or prove a person's innocence who has been wrongfully convicted. However, left with unrestrained access, the same information could be used in the future to deny medical insurance coverage to individuals with a genetic predisposition for certain diseases or drag an innocent person into a criminal investigation.

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"This uncanny ability to identify specific individuals based on an exam of DNA makeup is a double-edged sword," said retired Judge Donald Shelton. "It has a tremendous ability to identify and incriminate individuals, but has equal power to exonerate individuals. We know it's an astronomical likelihood that a DNA sample at a crime scene came from a suspect, but it also has the same certainty that semen or blood didn't come from that suspect. We now have over 2,000 people that have been exonerated by the use of DNA. Between 25 and 40 percent of those who were wrongfully convicted were convicted by using other forms of forensic evidence."

Considered an infallible silver bullet for crime scene investigations, DNA evidence can provide a certain link connecting a person to a specific location. But while the science is exact, it is still prone to some human errors.

"DNA doesn't mean the person committed a crime," Shelton said. "If semen, for instance, is proof there was penetration, it can also tell you that a person did or didn't leave that evidence.

A rape case that has DNA evidence only means that a person was there – they didn't necessarily commit the crime. You have to be careful when saying that DNA proves identity. It proves who left it, but not that they did or didn't commit the crime."

In some instances, it's actually possible for investigators and jurors to rely entirely too much on DNA evidence. Take for instance the case of James Chad-Lewis Clay, who was convicted in 2017 of raping a teen in Detroit 20 years prior.

Despite claims of his innocence, investigators found Clay's DNA inside the victim, which led to his conviction. The conviction was later overturned when Detroit Free Press reporter Elisha Anderson showed the victim a photo of Clay from his teenage years – at which point she recognized him as someone she dated and with whom she had consensual sex. Clay was subsequently released from prison. DNA in the case had gone untested for nearly a dozen years after being held by police.

The case is one example of why DNA evidence doesn't – or shouldn't – always result in a conviction, or in rare cases, results in a wrongful conviction. obyn Frankel, who heads the Michigan Attorney General's Conviction Integrity Unit and serves on the state's Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act board, said the Clay case is the perfect example of why DNA must be considered in context.

"You need to remember DNA is an incredibly powerful tool, but it's not unlike other evidence.

You have to look at it with all the other evidence of the case," Frankel said. "Clay went to prison because it was a DNA match. It's the quintessential case that says 'just because your DNA matched doesn't mean you committed a crime.'"

Still, Frankel said DNA is crucial to bolstering convictions and in excluding suspects or proving innocence. When looking at wrongful imprisonment compensation cases, she said many cases involve convictions made prior to the widespread use of DNA testing.

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"When looking at those that have been vacated, many are connected to DNA," she said.

"Everyone knows about the 11,000 untested rape kits found in Wayne County, and some of those have now been able to identify suspects and exclude others."

In 2009, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office discovered more than 11,000 rape kits that had been untested for years in an abandoned evidence warehouse. In August, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said all of the kits have been tested, leading to the closure of more than 3,000 cases and earning 197 convictions.

Greg Hampikian, a forensic DNA expert and professor at Boise State University and a founder of the Idaho Innocence Project, also said DNA evidence alone isn't enough for a conviction. Rather, he said, there are other factors that still have to be investigated.

"There are many facts and parts of a story that are part of a conviction. You have to look at each of those facts to find a conclusion," he said. "One of the challenges is that as instrumentation has gotten so sensitive, improvements in evidence collection by first responders and police officers hasn't improved that much. We are detecting single cells, and if there's an old bit of DNA somewhere – DNA is pretty stable – it may not mean anything even though it's part of a crime scene investigation.

In some cases, you have one sperm cell, which has a very small amount of DNA, and there are other people who have had contact with the victim or live in the same house. You have to be careful about inference of small amounts of DNA that may transfer from another person.

There has to be more caution."

In some cases, the information about DNA may influence findings of lab technicians.

In 2010, Hampikian and his colleague Itiel Dror, a cognitive neuroscientist with the University College London, conducted a study that looked into potential complications of DNA evidence. The study sent evidence from a 2002 Georgia rape trial that had relied on DNA to 17 different lab technicians. Results were mixed, with some labs finding the evidence inconclusive and others excluding the defendant as a suspect. Just one found the defendant was a positive match.

"It's well established that humans are subject to subjectivity," Hampikian said. "We are still waiting to see if that man will be free after 20 years. In the case, the original analyst had access to information of what happened, and because of that it may have been influenced. It corroborated what the co-conspirator was saying. But we showed the evidence to 17 other labs, and only one included the defendant."

Hampikian said such issues can arise when the lab technicians are familiar with the investigators and cases in which they are testing evidence.

"That's a very fertile ground for bias," he said.

"If there are disputes or gray areas, like a mixture interpretation, then subjectivity and bias become more important because many people you know have a particular desire for a particular result."

Hampikian said removing labs from police and making analysis available to the defense and the accused would help to ensure guilt or

innocence in a more timely manner. As it is now, a prosecutor can order a test, and it will happen, he said, while a defense attorney has a much harder time.

"It's not that analysts are doing sloppy work, but humans like me and other analysts will come to conclusions when they shouldn't. That's what the national survey shows," Hampikian said.

A survey, conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, centered around a hypothetical bank robbery that involved a ski mask recovered at the crime scene. The fabric of the mask showed a mixture of DNA from four people, which initially appeared as a mixture of two. Labs were given two of the four likely contributors, as well as a fifth that never had any contact with the mask.

Sent to more than 100 labs, at least 70 percent got the answer wrong by including the fifth, innocent person, in the DNA mixture.

As Hampikian said, the results show that while DNA sensitivity has increased, interpretation of those clues hasn't always kept pace.

"The goal was to see how many labs would say (the mixture) is too complex to interpret, but the majority forced it and got the wrong interpretation, often including someone who was innocent," he said. "There's nothing wrong with asking a lab (to look for findings), but demanding an answer is probably a problem." ampikian said there is a more recent push to allow computers to make a determination of whether DNA is linked to specific persons in complex evidence mixtures. However, computer models are still programmed by humans, with potential to input bias into software.

"It's programmed by people and operated by people who can choose certain inputs and can use it beyond its capacity," he said. "There is a linear response with each of these instruments where they are reliable. If we push them – sometimes we are pushing things beyond their validated limits."

Despite the possibility of human error with DNA evidence, the use of it remains an invaluable tool for law enforcement, and is expected as evidence by the majority of juries hearing violent crime cases, particularly rape cases.

"Jurors will expect and perhaps demand DNA in rape cases," said Shelton, who studied jury expectations, surveying more than 1,000 random jurors in the Ann Arbor area in a former study. "But DNA only establishes penetration. In many cases, the issue is consent. So the expectation that DNA will handle all legal issues is misplaced."

Outside of the criminal justice world, the use of DNA has countless applications, from developing vaccines to making it easier to trace a family tree. However, as DNA technology advances, its exact uses, as well the access of your DNA information by others, is unknown. To better understand the capabilities and differences of DNA use, it is necessary to understand basic advancements in the field.

Historically, DNA use, particularly by law

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enforcement, has involved Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis, which compares specific locations on DNA from two or more samples.

Essentially, the technology is used to compare a DNA sample, which could help law enforcement to either include or exclude a person as a suspect.

In 1990, the FBI started a DNA database program, which was later expanded into CODIS. The database includes DNA information on known offenders, those arrested for crimes, and information collected at a crime scene, which may not be linked to a specific known person.

CODIS contains more than 13 million offender profiles, three million arrestee profiles and more than 840,000 forensic profiles.

"They started collecting DNA over the past 30 years, originally from those convicted of felonies, and now by Supreme Court approval, as part of the booking process, so this large database has developed," Shelton said. "But the database isn't lots of samples. The DNA is analyzed and a 'description' of the DNA is recorded, which is numbers and letters in the database. he Michigan legislature updated the state's DNA collection and submission laws in 2015, following the Supreme Court's approval in 2013 of DNA collection at the time of a felony arrest. The Michigan State Police (MSP) CODIS Section receives and processes DNA samples, which are linked to an overall CODIS database that includes samples from throughout the country. Names and other personally identifiable information aren't stored in the database, but rather that information is retained by law enforcement agencies.

Under the state's DNA Identification Profiling Systems Act, individuals arrested for committing or attempting to commit any felony are required to provide a DNA sample to law enforcement.

The legislature updated the law two years later with a package of bills requiring the state police to dispose of an individual's DNA under certain circumstances. Those situations include: a written request from the investigating police agency or prosecutor indicating the sample is no longer necessary for investigation or prosecution; if the state police receive an order or request by a court certifying the complaint was dismissed or resulted in an acquittal.

The American Civil Liberties Union in 2015 was behind an effort to ensure DNA evidence would be removed from the database after a person is cleared of a crime.

The FBI states that DNA information in CODIS may be expunged when: a lab receives a certified copy of a final court order documenting the conviction has been overturned; or for arrestees, if the participating lab receives a certified copy of a final court order documenting the charge has been dismissed, resulting in an acquittal or no charges have been brought within the applicable time period.

"A lab will analyze evidence and put it into the national database, and if there is similar DNA in there, they will have a match. However, for many people and some crimes for sure, there is no match. Usually that means whoever left

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the DNA hasn't been entered into the system. In that case, we have a DNA sample, but don't know who it belongs to."

While the federal DNA database contains only a snapshot description of a person's DNA, databases maintained by commercial databases using direct-to-consumer testing contain raw samples of DNA. As such, samples are typically used to find certain genetic traits. However, the same sample can be used to develop much a greater range of information.

As others submit their DNA information, the databases can be used to find people who may be related to each other. Sites typically don't identify other users, but allow them to communicate and have the option of identifying themselves. Going further, GEDmatch was founded in 2010 to help amateur and professional researchers and genealogists, including adoptees searching for birth parents.

GEDmatch allows users to upload their raw DNA data from the commercial companies and identify potential relatives who have also uploaded their profiles.

It was with GEDmatch that genealogy and crime investigation first intersected. In April of 2018, GEDmatch was used by law enforcement to identify a suspect in the Golden State Killer case, which involved a serial killer, rapist and burglar who committed at least 13 murders, 50 rapes and 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986.

By accessing the commercial databases, law enforcement can expand their search for a DNA match. However, the same DNA may be used to find relatives of a potential suspect who may help locate that suspect. It can also be used to build a genetic profile of a person, which can predict hair color and type, estimated height, eye color and other information of an unknown person.

"Police can hire a genealogist who can build a family tree, and using their tools use public data to scour out relatives," Shelton said. "Who is the right age, height â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all of that is in there."

In the Golden State Killer case, law enforcement had DNA evidence for years but never found someone to match in CODIS. It wasn't until investigators used DNA and GEDmatch to build a family tree and expand results. Investigators then obtained the suspect's DNA from a used soft drink container.

"Sure enough, it popped up that it was him," Shelton said. "He wasn't in CODIS because he was a cop."

Going even further, Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs developed a snapshot DNA Phenotyping service, which creates composite face imaging sketches based on DNA samples using specially developed algorithms. The lab also is able to identify family members from commercial databases and determine kinship between DNA by six degrees of relatedness. The lab is one of the leading third-party service providers to law enforcement agencies, resulting in an average of one case solved per week, since May of 2018.

"They are all lead generation tools. They don't replace traditional forensics for identifying someone," said Parabon Vice President Paula Armentrout. "We can do that because of single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNP (snips). That is the blueprint for any human and the

information rich part of the DNA ... in the early 2000s, we started analyzing DNA when trying to sequence the human genome.

"In 2009, we got federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security, and we started looking at SNPs. About the same time, 23andMe and Ancestry.com were taking off, and they used SNPs that required about 200 nanograms of DNA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that's a lot of DNA. Most crime scenes, you're lucky to get one nanogram.

We turned genotyping on its head. We found you can do it with a lot less than 200 nanograms, so we set about changing the protocol. Everyone thought we were crazy."

Initial uses involved therapeutic utilization and clinical testing, but the advances led Parabon to work with the U.S. Department of Defense.

"That started the path to DNA phenotyping," Armentrout said. "Say someone left an unexploded IED on the road, and we could get DNA from it. That can tell you something about the person who planted it. We can mine the human genome and probably tell you the ancestry of a person, what they may look like, including skin pigmentation. We found we can get a pretty good likeness."

Kinship references were first thought of to identify POWs from wars who were previously unidentifiable. Parabon then offered the service to law enforcement, as mandated by its contracts.

Armentrout is quick to point out that the services offered to law enforcement aren't used as evidence for an arrest, rather they are for generating leads when other investigative avenues have been exhausted.

"They aren't making arrests based on names we give them. We give them names to investigate. It's up to them to go out and do the work," she said. "We can say this group is related or these are cousins, and should have the same genetic makeup as the perpetrator. It's up to them to get the match at the end using STR, or short tandem repeat analysis. That's the approved forensic process, and that's a fingerprint of your DNA. Lead generation is all we do." nowing what privacy protections may or may not exist may be an important factor for those considering submitting DNA strictly for ancestry purposes.

"Insurance companies want that information, and they might treat you differently for nefarious purposes," Shelton pointed out.

While current law prohibits access to such information for commercial reasons, Shelton said it is currently possible that DNA information is used without someone's knowledge to conduct broader research.

"It started with them saying, 'We will only release it to certain people, and not sell it' â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but some of them do," he said. "They have been selling it for some period of time, but not the identifying information. But maybe at looking at the overall population to determine what percent will develop Alzheimer's, or something like that."

Christine Pai, a spokeswoman for 23andMe,

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said that the company stores user samples, but gives customers the option to destroy those samples if they choose, as well as the option to have their account deleted at any time.

"23andMe does not sell, share or lease any customer's information without their explicit consent," she said. "It is against 23andMe's privacy policies to share any information with employers, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies or any public databases, even if a customer is deceased."

Further, Pai said company policies prohibit it from voluntarily working with law enforcement, and "has never given customer information to law enforcement officials," and that it doesn't share customer data with any public databases or with entities that may increase the risk of law enforcement access. ncestry.com's privacy policy states that it will not share personal or genetic information with third parties without written consent. "In particular, we will not share your genetic information with insurance companies, employers or third-party marketers without your express consent," according to the policy.

While Ancestry doesn't volunteer genetic information to law enforcement, it does provide advance notice to users if they are compelled to disclose information through the legal process.

GEDmatch uses an "opt-in" policy that allows users to determine whether they want to share information with law enforcement.

"They wanted people to opt in, and I have argued both sides of what is our ethical and moral responsibility," Shelton said. "If my DNA can assist with police in finding a rapist or murder, what is my ethical obligation? These aren't just the 50-year-old Golden State Killer, these are current cases.

"I've opted in. Frankly, if it was a relative or not, it doesn't make any difference. I choose to exercise my ethics by saying 'if this helps another victim, then I should do it."

Frankel, with the Michigan Attorney General's Office, wasn't so sure.

"What if I left my DNA somewhere where a crime happened to be committed," she questioned. "In general, you can't date DNA. It's the context that allows you to date it."

In terms of accessing private databases, the only state that prohibits familial searching of databases, or locating relatives of a suspect, is Maryland.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice released its interim policy on forensic genetic genealogy, which combines DNA analysis with traditional genealogy. The policy, which goes into effect on November 1, 2019, gives criteria for when the use of forensic genetic genealogy can be used.

"When using new technologies like forensic genetic genealogy (FGG), the department is committed to developing practices that protect reasonable interests in privacy while allowing law enforcement to make effective use of FGG to help identify violent criminals, exonerate innocent suspects and ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice to all Americans," the policy states. "The interim

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policy establishes general principles for the use of FGG by department components during criminal investigations and in other circumstances that involved department resources, interests and equities."

Under the policy, suspects can't be arrested based solely on genetic association. "If a suspect is identified after a genetic association has occurred, STR DNA-typing must be performed, and the suspect's STR DNA must be directly compared to the forensic profile previously uploaded to CODIS," the policy states. "The comparison is necessary to confirm that the forensic sample could have originated from the suspect."

The policy also states that FGG work may be considered "when a case involves an unsolved violent crime and the candidate forensic sample is from a putative perpetrator, or when a case involves what is reasonably believed by investigators to be the remains of a suspected homicide victim. Additionally, the prosecutor may authorize the use of FGG for violent crimes or attempts to commit violent crimes other than homicide or sexual offenses when circumstances surrounding the criminal act present a substantial and ongoing threat to public safety or national security."

The policy goes on to state that before an investigative agency attempts FGG, the sample must first be uploaded to CODIS and have failed to produce a match.

"Agencies shall identify themselves as law enforcement to genetic genealogy services and enter and search profiles only in those services that provide explicit notice to their service users and the public that law enforcement may use their service sites to investigate crimes or identify human remains," according to the DOJ policy. "An investigative agency must seek informed consent from third parties before collecting reference samples that will be used for FGG, unless it concludes that case-specific circumstances provide unreasonable grounds to believe that this request would compromise the integrity of the investigation." espite not having the ability to use genetic genealogy investigations at its labs, the use of DNA by the Michigan State Police is exploding, said Jeff Nye, assistant division director of the department's forensic science division.

"There's definitely a huge expectation that DNA has been analyzed in cases," Nye said, noting a 41 percent increase in requests for DNA analysis from 2013 to 2018. "If you think back to 1996, when I started, we had five DNA examiners. Now we have well over 90."

While the state has added capability, the demand for DNA testing across the state means there still remains a backlog of samples to test.

"With every new technology comes a new set of potential applications of DNA," Nye said.

"Sensitivity has increased, so we are able to get DNA profiles from smaller samples, so that opens the net for more sample types to be submitted, and that has outpaced our ability to hire new individuals. That said, we went into the new fiscal year and got 14 new DNA

D

scientists, so that's a nice enhancement in our ranks when the state budget is focused on infrastructure and roads. That lends itself to the importance of forensic DNA." Nye said there still needs to be additional education about DNA evidence, as is evident by what many call the "CSI effect."

"They understand the time it takes to get a result, but if there's an episode of CSI they watched, we have people trying to submit the same evidence when it's not good," he said.

"We need a lot of education."

The Michigan State Police operates eight DNA laboratories in the state. Additionally, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office operates its own forensic lab capable of analyzing DNA and uploading information to CODIS. "It's invaluable," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said about DNA evidence.

"In a lot of scenarios, it's a very unique identifier. When you have that at a crime scene, it's incredibly powerful and persuasive, and it's part of what we do with our lab."

Because the department operates its own forensics lab, Bouchard said investigators can utilize DNA evidence for non-violent crimes, such as burglary. Agencies relying on staterun forensic labs tend to focus DNA evidence solely on violent crimes.

"Say you have a serial burglar in a neighborhood and they cut themselves and leave DNA," he said. "If you can solve it, and they did 200 or 300 homes, that's invaluable."

Bouchard said while some agencies are utilizing expanded uses of DNA, such as genealogy searches and phenotyping, he said his office hasn't done so.

"We haven't attempted to expand the collection. We feel pretty good just collecting when people are arrested and convicted, or if you have a suspect with probable cause, we get a search warrant," he said. "Michigan law is pretty specific as to when you can collect."

Michigan law allows DNA to be collected at the time of booking for felony arrests or in cases where probable cause exists. There are no state laws in Michigan prohibiting police from working with third parties for additional DNA services.

As DNA technology continues to advance, the public might expect that everyone's DNA could â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and will be â&#x20AC;&#x201C; accessible, eventually.

"Anytime there's an investigation, there's a loss of privacy," Hampikian said. "Where does the balance favor loss of privacy or protection of the greater population? We have courts for that, and to get certain information, you can go to court. But other methods are legal. It's legal to pick up cigarette butt and test it, but to detain a person is illegal unless you have a warrant.

"It's a totally different world than what I grew up in. I'm now 57," he said. "Because so much of our lives are documented in one way or another, we can tell where someone was and what they post online, and it's changing dramatically in terms of DNA. The number of profiles that are or will become available soon are as large as the number of people that participate, even after they die. I think we will have a lot of DNA data pretty soon.

Eventually, we won't have DNA we can't identify."

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Raymond Margherio and Drew Prokop or high school seniors Raymond Margherio and Drew Prokop, doing good for others runs in the family. In 2014, their big sisters Eliana Margherio and Emily Prokop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; now both studying business in college â&#x20AC;&#x201C; started a non-profit organization to help disadvantaged teens called Trends for Teens (TFT).

Under the girl's leadership, TFT raised $50,000 for school supplies, clothing, and accessories for homeless and low-income teens in the Detroit metro area which were distributed in five pop-up stores located in schools. Items were "sold" to students who traded in merits earned through academic, athletic and civic achievements.

"When my sister ran (TFT), she made others happy by getting rewarded when they achieved their goals," said Prokop, a senior at Seaholm High School, who hopes to study broadcasting in college. "When our sisters graduated in 2017, Raymond and I took over TFT as co-presidents and put our own athletic spin on it."

The boys decided they wanted to focus their philanthropic efforts on Loyola High School, a private Catholic school in Detroit.

As a punter and a linebacker, Margherio knows the kind of beating a football player must endure. The Detroit Lions recently donated new football helmets to the Loyola Bulldogs. But new shoulder padding was sorely needed. After the boys got to know their fellow athletes in Detroit, they spent the summer fundraising through backyard barbecue benefits, a letter-writing campaign and working with Detroit-based athletic equipment manufacturer Xenith to match their efforts. TFT raised $2,000, and with the help of Detroit-based athletic manufacturer Xenith, provided the Bulldogs new shoulder pads in time for the fall football season.

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equipment as we do, just because they live in the city and we live in the suburbs?' And from there, TFT began to fundraise for their team."

The boys also started a varsity letter sweater campaign that so far has raised enough money to purchase 75 letter sweaters to deserving Loyola scholars who have earned a letter by participating in an extracurricular activity.

Bill McGrail, Loyola's director of advancement, said the teens have greatly helped his high school's mission. "Thanks to their support, it's great to know that our young men are in the best equipment available with the proper fit to help ensure they are as protected as they can be when they compete on the football field."

After the frenzy of football season, the boys want to go high tech.

Detroit high schools need computers and tablets, and they hope to fundraise for another city high school to provide them with 21st century essentials for academic success.

The boys say TFT will continue after they graduate thanks to friends and their younger sisters. Prokop hopes to hand down his responsibilities to his sister Jules, and Margherio hopes to do the same with his sister, Molly.

With his goals set on studying business in college, Margherio's work with TFT has shown him how businesses can work with non-profit organizations to do good for others.

"I'm looking to pass this on to younger friends," said Margherio. "I am trying my best to lead by example and make sure my younger classmates understand the importance of helping others and to teach them how TFT operates. And for Drew and I, we are pretty sure our little sisters will continue running this non-profit that brings happiness to the kids it helps."

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Photo: Laurie Tennent

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the threat of a

to pay or not becomes the

It's a dirty secret no one wants to talk about.

It's not sex, infidelity, cross-dressing or any other previously scandalous issue. There's intrigue, confusion and it crosses international date lines. It is ransomware attacks and cyberthreats to businesses, non-profits and municipalities across the country, causing havoc and financial mayhem in its wake. And no one ever really wants to talk about it, whether out of fear of it happening to them, embarrassment that it already did, sensitivity in providing information on security protocols, or even the turmoil done to the organization's operations. Yet ransomware attacks costs millions of dollars each year, whether in ransom to receive the “key” to retrieve a business' own information and data, costs to rebuild systems, insurance, on and offpremises back ups, lost business and down time while systems are encrypted and being rebuilt.

Ransomware is the scariest entity information technology experts, business executives and municipal leaders are currently facing on the computer landscape. According to the FBI, ransomware is a type of malicious software cyber actors use to infiltrate computer systems and then deny access to those systems and data. The malicious cyber actor invades systems and holds the system or data hostage until the ransom is paid – hopefully. After an initial infection, the ransomware attempts to spread to shared storage drives and other accessible systems, extending the reach of the tentacles of the ransomware and preventing the use of the affected machines. If the demands for ransom are not met, the system or encrypted data remains unavailable, data may be deleted – and the business or government is hobbled and, sometimes, totally incapacitated.

“Ransomware is a global threat targeting

by lisa brody

ransomware attack question for the victims

organizations in all industries. The impact of a successful ransomware event can be material to an organization – including the loss to data, systems, and operational outages,” wrote Matthew McWhirt in “Ransomware Protection and Containment Strategies.” “The potential downtime, coupled with unforeseen expenses for restoration, recovery, and implementation of new security processes and controls can be overwhelming. Ransomware has become an increasingly popular choice for attackers over the past few years, and it's easy to understand why given how simple it is to leverage in campaigns – while offering a healthy financial return for attackers.”

“When you ask tech people what keeps you up at night, it's ransomware,” said Dwight Levens, executive director of technology for Birmingham Public Schools. “The tricky part is it's a constant cat and mouse game, because as always with technology, threats evolve and change constantly.

A new threat could be introduced next week which could make the safeguards we have in place not as secure as we thought. I don't know anyone who could be as bold as to say 'we will not be hit.' It's trying to be as secure as you can be with the information you currently have at the time.”

“The people delivering the ransomware – they're being run by criminal elements. They're definitely not a 14-year-old in their mom's basement,” emphasized Garrett McManaway, senior director, Information Security and Compliance, Wayne State University, who has spent years in the information technology industry before taking over IT for Wayne State last year. “Like any well-run business, they're going to find their potential targets to make their returns on investment.”

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McManaway explains further, “Where ransomware has become prevalent in the last four to five years has been with hospitals and health care systems, where they've been shut down. Two, three years ago, the bad actors moved on to manufacturing companies, such as several (international) shipping companies, public corporations, where they shut them down for a few days. Now, I'm not sure why municipalities are being hit, but being a public institution, they are a business, and they're after the same thing.”

Kimberly Goode, manager of financial crimes analysis for FireEye, a cybersecurity company in California, which provides hardware, software, and services to investigate cybersecurity attacks, protect against malicious software, and analizes IT security risks, said attackers aren't turning to government entities so much as “deploying ransomware in different ways. They're moving laterally to identify all the systems they can within a system to get into a privileged system which will allow them to get into an administrative level access. That's what's going to allow them to deploy even more ransomware to more machines. In this scenario, they'll have hundreds or thousands of work machines, and maybe a backup system, that can be infected and that they'll have deployed the ransomware.

“They're trying to identify as many critical systems as they can through their ransomware and that's how they're able to have such a critical impact,” Goode noted.

She noted, “I track financiallymotivated actors. They're trying to extort you. Because they're highly disruptive, they're able to extort so much more money, from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.”

Typically, ransomware demands are for payment in bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user-to-user on the peerto-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Another advantage for those who are operating in the margins of society as bad actors is that bitcoin can be paid on the dark web, where it is untraceable.

Regardless of who is hit, law enforcement takes the same tack: do not pay.

“If an organization chooses to pay, there's no guarantee the hacker will provide all the files,” Goode said, “which is why last week the FBI recommended to not pay the ransom. There's no guarantee, and you're incentivizing them to continue.”

“As law enforcement, we do not encourage furtherance of the crime by paying the ransom – but we understand,” said Michigan State Police Detective/Sergeant Jeff Hoffman, along with Information Technology Specialist Luke Salem with the department's CyberCommand Center. They often work in conjunction with the FBI on ransomware crimes.

“As long as people keep paying, there's no incentive for the bad guys to stop doing this,” Hoffman stated. “As long as governmental entities are paying, they'll still hit governmental entities, or large companies. They'll go for the big fish. Their goal is to get paid.”

Michigan State Police and the FBI, along with Homeland Security, see it as a crime that “absolutely is growing,” Hoffman said.

“There have been dozens of incidents this year – at least that's what's been reported,” Salem said. “Even with governmental entities, entities don't report. A lot don't report because they have

good back ups and figure the likelihood of catching the bad guy, or the likelihood of catching the bad guy in Michigan, is close to zero.

Or they don't think law enforcement can help.

“The importance of reporting cybersecurity incidents is so that law enforcement knows what's going on, is aware of the victims, if – and when – the perpetrators are caught, they can be held accountable. These incidents can take a long time to solve because of where these perpetrators are from. The biggest perpetrators, I'd say about 90 percent of our problems come out of Eastern Europe, Russia, North Korea, China, and some countries in Africa. They're traceable, but the problem is cooperation with the U.S. government.”

Whether a company or a civic organization, Rob Cote of Security Vitals, a cyber security consulting company which began as a client of Oakland University's Macomb OU-Incubator, said it succinctly, “The reason they're getting picked on is because they're easy targets. For malicious actors, they're looking for cheap and easy money. They're no different than any other thief – it's no different in the cyberworld. They're looking for quick and easy marks. You have to make it a pain, uncomfortable and difficult for them to hack you in the first place. If it's hard, most of them are moving on to the next target.”

How can an individual or company stop themselves from being an easy target? Is it as simple as just buying the latest and newest generation anti-virus software?

That can be one step, Cote said, but a lot of companies say, “It's threetimes what the more traditional ones cost. ‘Why would I spend $40 if I could spend $10?’ But there's a reason for that. I have some companies who say 'we've never had a breach,' – and I say, 'How do you know?' The average breach or incident goes about 240 days before it's discovered. Most data breaches are discovered by accident.”

Cote and other cyber security consultants and advisors say there is basic computer hygiene that is neglected, or employees are not diligently taught.

First and foremost, they all advise everyone to pay attention to the emails you open.

“I think everyone has had threats, and continues to get threats,” acknowledged Gayle Sadler, director of Information Technology for Bloomfield Township. “We get phishing emails, which are emails which are trying to trick users into clicking onto malware. We have spam filters that help prevent users from clicking on malware, but we can't prevent all phishing emails because the threats are changing on a daily basis. So we scan all of our incoming emails.”

A different problem occurs increasingly, in all organizations and businesses, which Bloomfield Township and others do ransomware testing for – email impersonation.

Sadler said there has to be an effort on all sides, from hardware and software to personal training.

“There has to be a firewall that is properly configured to block for emails that we know are malicious emails,” she said. “We are very active with Homeland Security alerts. We do not allow users to run updates on their computers anymore, because it could be compromised; we only do it on request. We're updating (data) constantly – multiple times a day, blocking for IP addresses. It's complicated, and it's gotten much more complex, because the internet is on numerous devices. The cloud can't protect you from

the potential downtime, coupled with unforeseen expenses for restoration, recovery, and implementation of new security processes and controls can be overwhelming.

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every threat. If you're not making sure that you're backing up your data, so you don't have an air gap, you can have a problem. It's important not to keep your data and backup in the same place or both somewhere that they can be breached in the same compromise.

You can't have your backup on the same network as your data.

“That's why people end up paying – because they can't rebuild their network,” she noted.

Sadler pointed out that in Bloomfield Township, they have 13 different departments, and numerous different threats aimed at them. “We have to be vigilant. You need two-step verification. And it's always important to hover over the email address.”

Dwight Leven from Birmingham Public Schools said it is a scenario that has become more common and come to the forefront, “and one we struggle in. When staff came back to school in the fall, all staff members had to participate in a cybersecurity safety video, and we're being more proactive in sending alerts and emails. But a day does not go by where an email impersonating a principal or staff member is sent to someone.”

This is social engineering, where a recipient believes they have received an email from a trusted colleague, and unless a cursor is deliberately passed over the email address – where it would show that it is from a spam email that is phishing – and the recipient opens the email.

“Imagine you're a teacher at one of our schools,” Leven explained. “The email says I, your building principal, need a favor – can you do this for me. There's going to be engagement. The most common is 'Can you buy me a gift card?' They literally all start with, 'Hey, are you available right now?'”

Others encourage recipients to click on a link in the email, which opens the machine to the ransomware.

Leven said he has taken screen shots and broken down each step of what red flags staff should look for and be aware of.

Leven's counterpart at Bloomfield Hills Schools, David Shulkin, director of IT, lamented, “It's a scary thing for schools and municipalities. We don't have a budget to deal with it. It scares us tremendously. The sophistication is unbelievable – it can be so subtle. You get that classic email from HR – ‘don't forget to click and download’ and BOOM! They've hit the payload.

“We're very transportable for a hacker. It's easy to jump on our website, see who is head of IT, who is a vice principal, and duplicate an email, and then the recipient will assume it's a real email – and then we're in trouble.”

Bloomfield Hills Schools has some protection for some forms of ransomware, he said, “and we have major backups. Recovery would not be without pain, but we could do it fairly quickly. We think we could be back up and running within a day or so. But essential services, like phones and email, would be back within an hour or so.

That's our priority for safety and security.”

Shulkin said the district does backups of its critical systems multiple times a day. “We take snapshots of data,” he said. What that does, he said, “If four hours later, we got infected, we would only lose four hours of data. Other systems, we do daily backups.”

While they do not do a system cleanse, they do general maintenance and rebuild when necessary. “We're a virtualized environment for our data system,” he said.

The school district did have a limited attack about two years ago,

he said, where one laptop was infected with ransomware. “Because of the way we isolate our laptops, it didn't infect anything else,” Shulkin said. “But it's always a false sense of security. It could always happen – that click, and then the quick spread through the network.”

Hoffman of Michigan State Police said since late 2018, and for all of 2019, they have seen a significant increase in ransomware attacks on municipalities and other governmental bodies.

“Malicious actors target anyone,” Hoffman said. “Recently, they've been targeting governmental bodies. Historically they've been underfunded, so they've been more vulnerable, and they've been more willing to pay because so many have not been willing to lose their data.”

Security Vitals' Cote said there are no good statistics on how often targeted companies or municipalities are paying ransom.

“Many don't, or won't admit it if they're paying the ransom demand, because even if they paid, they don't always get the key (to unlock the ransomware),” Cote said. “If they don't get the key, they shut their business down.”

A document sent from Stu Sjouwerman at FireEye stated that the latest information from their ransomware recovery vendor, Coveware, is that ransomware attacks cost nearly tripled in 2019, to over $36,000 per attack.

“Many organizations still think ransomware is merely a nuisance, impacting only a few machines and requiring only restoring backups to address,” according to the document..

Instead, the average ransom payment increased 184 percent from first quarter 2019 to second quarter 2019; the average downtime of a ransomware attack is 9.6 days; 96 percent of organizations receive a working decryption tool when they do pay the ransom; on average, eight percent of decrypted data is lost.

While it sounds like a movie screenplay, dozens of ransomware attacks have actually happened close to home. Some have financially devastating consequences.

In April 2019, a Battle Creek medical practice was forced to shut its doors after cyberattackers wiped out its files after the firm, Brookside ENT and Hearing Center, refused to pay the ransom. Dr. William Scalf and Dr. John Bizon's practice was hit with ransomware on April 2, which locked up its files and presented them with a $6,500 ransom demand, in cryptocurrency.

They reported they did not believe their files would be released, so they refused to pay. As a result, the attackers wiped all the offices’ files – including appointment schedules, payment and patient information.

Scalf and Bizon closed their offices on April 30, 2019, and retired, after determining that rebuilding their practice's database from scratch would be too great an endeavor.

Anecdotally, a West Bloomfield internal medicine practice affiliated with Beaumont and Providence hospitals shared that they endured a ransomware attack this past May, closing them down for five days, locking up all physician laptops, medical records, appointment computers and other records, with the security firm hired by Providence Hospital to manage the practice's cybersecurity paying a ransom in the “millions,” one of the physicians shared offthe-record, in order to have the practice's files released and allow them to reopen to their patients. Neither the practice nor Providence Hospital would confirm the ransomware attack.

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One West Bloomfield physicians related, off-the-record, that she knows of individual physicians who are closing their practices, including two solo practitioners in Clarkston, because they could not afford the ransom demands.

Health care organizations around the world have repeatedly been targets of ransomware attacks because of their increasingly inherent vulnerabilities in their business models and systems. Wayne State University's McManaway explained that whether a single computer or for a large company which operates computerized machinery, whether MRIs or robotics or stamping machines, “they're designed to run for 20 years, and they're all computerized. But the computers running them are not meant to run for 20 years. In our current environment, best practices mean, we tend to have three-year life spans for computers. Here on Wayne State's campus, we try to refresh all the laptops and computers every three years, and that's the standard for most businesses and education, to keep up with all the updates, security patches, all the newest versions of operating systems. But, when you're talking about these large scale computer systems meant to operate for 20 years – they can no longer renew security updates because the manufacturers will stop providing updates, which we call the 'end of support date.' The end result is, you end up with a bunch of systems connected together that are vulnerable to ransomware attacks. Over the course of time, health care, manufacturing, other industries are getting better at addressing the issues.

“So, now, if I'm looking to deliver ransomware and I want to make some money, I need to find the next target – municipalities,” he postulated. “The public sector has many older machines, they haven't caught up with upgrading as much as areas like health care and manufacturing.

Further, a private organization does not have to hold to the same standards in openness and information sharing.

They don't have to have networks that are open to the public.”

McManaway said health care corporations are among public corporations that must publicly report their data breaches.

“We've all gotten the notices. 'We're sorry, we've had a data breach. We've taken the steps, we're working with such-andsuch company to take the right steps, and we'll provide free credit monitoring.' They're becoming more and more common, with public dumps of information, advising us to change our passwords and take advantage of monitoring for fraud. It's a good idea to do, it's just we're getting inundated with them.”

An unwillingness to confirm or speak publicly about ransomware attacks is pervasive in all areas of business and municipal government, from medical practices such as this, to local governments, with Birmingham City Manager Joe Valentine acknowledging the city of Birmingham did experience a ransomware attack in the past – but would offer nothing further.

“There is a sensitivity with providing information on security protocols of this nature,” Valentine said. As for the attack, “the structure of our network did not allow it to impact our operation given our internal security protocols.”

Carol Schwanger, Royal Oak City Manager, said Royal Oak has made preparations for a ransomware attack by keeping computers, servers and network devices at recommended software and firmware patch levels, as well as having a recovery strategy in place that minimizes potential data loss.

If they have ever been the victim of a cyber attack, or what their policy is, “We do not share that information,” Schwanger said.

Kevin Krawjewski, information systems director for the city of Rochester Hills, responded to an inquiry that, “The city does not divulge information about our network security methodology or practices. Doing so would reveal clues that could be used to attack us. You will probably find this to be the case with most organizations you may contact. I can tell you we are insured and take extensive precautions to protect our digital assets.”

Dwight Levens of Birmingham Schools, said, “Legend has it the district did get hit before I was here, about three years ago, but supposedly it only hit one computer.” He said even he has had difficulty getting confirmation or information on the ransomware incursion.

But Josh Freeman, board and capital projects manager, Genesee County Board of Commissioners, has taken another tack, recognizing the importance of sharing information and knowledge, acknowledging the cyberattack that shut them down on April 2, 2019.

“We came in one morning and staff was having issues with email,” Freeman recalled, “and as IT was working to check it out, they realized we had been hacked. There was no big glaring image. Someone just locked down our computers, and wouldn't give us the key until we paid.”

Unlike some bulletins of scary glaring images on computer screens, Freeman said there was nothing like that on Genesee's screens. He said eventually IT discovered notices that it was the Evil Locker 2.0 ransomware, and “they demanded five bitcoins per server – and we have about 83 servers.”

As of this writing, a bitcoin, a cybercurrency, is worth over $8,562 each, meaning Genesee County Board of Commissioners would have had to pay almost $710,698 to retrieve their own information and data back.

“So that was not something the county was willing to do,” Freeman said.

They also reached out to Michigan State Police and the FBI. “The FBI and MSP advised us not to pay.”

As a result, Freeman said, “We were locked out for two weeks where we couldn't do anything. The overall event lasted a monthand-a-half.”

But in the end, they only ended up losing about four days worth of data that they weren't able to recover from any of their computers.

“We had paper data, so we were able to rework and recover,” a majority of that work product.

No doubt about it, it was an extremely difficult and painful episode for the county, staff – and the public.

“It was frustrating for staff, but especially for the public, because they were trying to conduct business, whether to pay their taxes, to get a birth certificate or a marriage license, record a deed – how does the public interact with county government,” Freeman recalled.

He noted the county's court system was affected as well.

“They were able to continue in an old school way, but it was the clerk's office that was hit the worse, with a three- to four-hour wait, which was burdensome, and a backlog,” he said.

The county did have cyberinsurance, with a deductible only at $15,000, but after getting back up and running, the total costs for having vendors come in to rebuild, having staff and private vendors

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from other counties come in to work on the system, Freeman said the total costs were just under a half-million dollars.

“It was a pretty big deal,” Freeman acknowledged. “I'm not the advice guy – but don't click on links.

“Genesee went through a period where IT wasn't always a priority,” he recalled. “As we went through rebuild and recovery, it's been slow, and this shows it was an absolute priority. But it was a cheap lesson when you see what is going on around the country.”

Freeman said the board of commissioners has agreed to spend almost $2 million on upgrades to their system, from phones to payment options to the court systems. “Everything is interfaced and online, and it has to be protected.”

A half-million dollar lesson may be a moderate priced price tag compared to some ransomware quotations that FireEye's Goode noted.

“I track financially motivated actors, and they try to extort you,” she said. She said the largest publicly announced extortion of a municipal ransomware event “was just over $5 million – and they did not pay,” in New Bedford, Massachusetts. “I'm not sure if they were able to restore everything, but they were in the process.”

Goode said the latest hacking her company is identifying ransomware that “is sophisticated advertising on Russian language sites.”

They've also identified Iranian bad actors, “which have targeted hospitals with SamSam ransomware.”

Two Iranian nationals were indicted in the United States in October 2018, for their alleged involvement with SamSam attacks. The FBI estimated the group received $6 million in ransom payments and caused over $30 million in losses to victims, including an attack to the city of Atlanta in March 2018, and an attack to the Colorado Department of Transportation, which resulted in cleanup costs of $1.5 million.

“We haven't seen any (attacks) that we have confirmed have originated in the United States – it's not impossible that there are none, but with the FBI's ability to prosecute here, it's less likely,” Goode said.

Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills Schools and Birmingham Public Schools all publicly confirmed they have cyberinsurance to protect them in the event of ransomware attacks – and they all emphatically advise others to do the same.

“I don't want to say how much the district has – but yes, absolutely. A district should have at least $1 million in baseline insurance,” Levens of Birmingham said. “I would advise anyone and everyone to do this. A hacker would generate so much traffic to the district it would just shut us down.”

Sadler, of Bloomfield Township, said they have a cyber risk policy through their insurance company. “We wanted a partner for our cyber risk,” she said.

Ken Korotkin, president of Korotkin Insurance Group in Southfield, said companies and municipalities definitely need insurance for cybersecurity.

“Thieves are brilliant and can tie up your system so you can't use your computers unless you pay $500,000 or so,” Korotkin said.

“Insurance companies, such as Travelers, Chubb and boutique companies are providing it. It's not cheap – but it would be quite an expense for a city to deal with. People are unaware and think it will not happen to them. You would be surprised at the people who have

been targeted – executives, bankers, all kinds of people – and once they're hit, and they pay, the money is gone. Once it's gone, it's gone.

The money is wired and it's transferred out of the country as fast as it can be. The banks are not responsible.”

Ken LaBelle is a cyber liability broker with Burns + Wilcox, an independent insurance wholesale brokerage and managing underwriter in Farmington Hills. He said he currently writes about 300 policies for businesses a year, and on average sees about 15 ransomware attacks a year on policies take effect.

“That's just the accounts that take effect,” he pointed out. “How many phishing attempts? I don't know. It's in the hundreds. The attempts don't stop to get them to fall for it.

He said the importance of cyber risk insurance is enormous, pointing out the report of the city of Atlanta, where the ransom was for about a half-million dollars, “but reports of losses were greater than $10 million.

“The tricky thing is it's hard to state the losses,” LaBelle said. “It could be in upgrades, in recreating files, and the rebound to have to rebuild the system. There is the lost money to taxes, to issues caused to patrons and citizens. It's hard to determine the true quantifiable costs and to quantify true damages. How many deals did it quash for someone who didn't pay their taxes, who couldn't pull their files, so someone couldn't buy their first home? It affects more than the actual municipality. It's the same for a business. It's reputational harm.

“If you're a municipality, even if you back up, it's going to take you a while to get back up and running. Some municipalities and corporations have 60, 70 programs to reinstall and then to put back all of your data, all of your records,” he said. “If you store health records, they are very strict on how you have to respond to breaches – there's HIPAA, others. You have to look at the marketplace of ransomware to know the strands of ransomware to see what their tendencies are, if their åœtendencies of software are to only encrypt, it may satisfy regulators; if not, then you have a whole other set of regulations. All of these can be very expensive, depending on the situation – and these are on top of the ransomware invasion.

“When it's a smaller business, it can be taken care of quickly – or they just shut down because they can't get back up and running,” he noted.

Another issue, LaBelle pointed out, is if a business or municipality is running their systems with old software, and if there is a ransomware attack, data is lost because the software has not been updated.

“Having insurance is the number one thing I stress,” LaBelle said.

“If you have a breach, there are companies who rebuild your data, restore your data, do forensics to determine, or try to determine who did this – they're always from out of the country – insurance will pay the ransom.

“We differ from law enforcement about paying. If you don't pay, you have hundreds of thousands of losses,” he said. “If they're not making money in ransomware, they'll find other ways to steal. We can only respond.”

LaBelle said he has seen happy results arise.

“We do have happy situations – where companies backup to an offsite resource, and if they have a ransomware attack, they have internal IT that can wipe out their systems and restore it from backups very quickly,” he said. “That's the best case scenario.”

Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills Schools and Birmingham Public Schools all confirmed they have cyberinsurance to protect them in the event of ransomware attacks.

FACES

Barbara Heller efore the winter chill sets in, there will be a new sculpture in front of the Baldwin Public Library in downtown Birmingham. James MillerMelburg’s “Michigan Spring,” which was exhibited at Grand Rapid’s Art Prize in 2014, was donated to the city of Birmingham by his family after his death last year. Barbara Heller, the chair of the Birmingham Public Arts Board, couldn’t be more excited about this newest addition to the city’s art collection.

By day, Heller serves as the Director and Conservator-Special Projects at the Detroit Institute of Arts, her employer for more than 40 years.

Working as both the painting conservator and chief conservator, she has worked on large-scale projects like the 1988 cleaning and restoration of Diego Rivera’s famous “Detroit Industry” frescoes. For the past decade, however, her work has focused on the bigger picture of museum preservation – where will the museum store the 90 percent of its artwork that is not on view, and what kind of lighting and wall paint is environmentally safe to be around centuries of historical artifacts.

“Anything and everything we do in a museum can affect the collection,” she notes, citing big events like Fash Bash and the annual gala as times when the artwork can be most vulnerable.

This commitment to the arts is palpable in Heller’s extracurricular involvements as well, having volunteered as a juror for arts competitions at The Community House, the Michigan Great Artist Competition, the Strand Theater, and the Concours d’Elegance among others. She has also served on the boards of the Michigan Legacy Art Park and the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum. In October, she was honored as a recipient of the Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Award.

B

She has been a part of the Birmingham Public Arts Board since its inception. “I love to volunteer and give back to the community. … I know a lot about sculpture – I have the technical side, I know about the longterm preservation and what kind of mounts and pads the sculptures need.

And I also have the aesthetic side.”

Heller has made an inventory of all of the art that belongs to Birmingham, including many inside buildings and the library that she says “people don’t realize belong to the citizens of the city.”

Then there are projects they’ve started, like the biannual “In Stitches” event, where community members “yarn bomb” trees, parking meters, bicycle racks and benches with handmade knit and crocheted objects. “Art takes many different forms,” says Heller. “It engages people. To watch children stop in Shain Park and laugh and engage, I think that’s a really beautiful thing.”

The project that has most excited Heller this year was when they turned the electrical box outside of the Birmingham Theater into a giant popcorn box. There are plans to decorate at least two other boxes as well, adding a creative and visual element to the cityscape.

“It makes art accessible, it makes it fun, and it gives people a placemaker.”

When it comes to public art, Heller says location is a primary consideration. “Does it look proper? Does it fit the ambiance? You have to have the right piece in the right place.”

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City alerts water users over lead testing

By Lisa Brody

ive Birmingham homes showed levels above the new state standard – 15 parts per billion – for the lead service pipes which bring water to homes, Birmingham officials announced on Monday, October 7, triggering a public advisory and public education campaign for residents.

Since 1992, the city has regularly tested for lead and copper. Out of 8,870 total water customers, approximately 550 houses with lead pipes connect to the city's water main, city manager Joe Valentine said. During that time, he said, the city's results have never exceeded the state standard. However, in 2018, the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (MSDWA) was changed to include more stringent procedures for testing and analysis for lead and copper. The new regulations are intended to have a more proactive approach in monitoring each community’s lead and copper levels.

The new state lead standard is 15 parts per billion (ppb). The state requires cities whose testing exceeds the new standard to provide a public education campaign advising homeowners of actions they can take to mitigate any lead that may come from their pipes. As a result of these changes, Birmingham and other Michigan cities expected that exclusively testing homes with lead service pipes would have lead levels that now exceed new state standards.

In September, Valentine said that Birmingham, in accordance with MSDWA, tested 32 of the 550 homes, and five of the homes tested at 17 ppb.

“As a proactive measure, the city is alerting all of its water customers, whether their house has lead service pipes or not, on practical steps they can take to reduce the risk to lead exposure, particularly for those whose houses have lead service pipes,” Valentine said. “While the action level exceedance is not a health-based standard nor a violation of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, we do want the public to be aware of this change, our results and what it means to them. The intent is not to scare the public, but let them know the city is proactively working to test and address known lead service leads in the city and work with property owners who want to improve water quality in their homes.”

At the Birmingham City Commission meeting on Monday, October 7, Valentine explained that Birmingham is the first community in Michigan to complete the lead and copper testing. All abatement must be completed by 2041.

“Birmingham has many old homes, and when they were built, they were done with products that leached lead,” he said. “It's expected that when we're done with all of the testing, about 500-600 homes out of about 9,000 residences in Birmingham may have lead service leads. The source of the water has not changed, and the water has not changed. It's just a proactive action by the state.”

In addition to the water lead service line into homes, galvanized piping, copper pipes, and faucets may have soldering with lead. “Those are really the only ways to get lead,” Valentine said.

If you have concerns about possible lead in your water line, the city has advice on its website at bhamgov.org/leadtesting. Among the advice is additional flushing may be advised if your home has been vacant or if you have a longer service line.

Other advice includes: • Run your water to flush out lead-containing water.

• If you do not have a lead service line, run the water for 30 seconds to two minutes, or until it becomes cold or reaches a steady temperature.

If you do have a lead service line, run the water for at least five minutes to flush water from the plumbing of your home and the lead service line.

• Consider using a filter to reduce lead in water. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recommends that any household with an infant, young child, or pregnant woman use a certified lead filter to remove lead from their drinking water.

• Use cold water for drinking, cooking or preparing baby formula.

• Do not boil your water.

• Clean your faucet aerator to remove trapped debris.

• Check whether your home has a lead service line. You can contact the city’s engineering department at (248) 530-1840 for this information.

• Anyone with health-related questions can contact the Oakland County Nurse on Call at (800) 848-5533 or noc@oakgov.com.

F

Township restructuring public safety efforts

By Kevin Elliott

Bloomfield Township public safety administrators on Monday, September 23, presented plans to the board of trustees for restructuring some police and fire operations, as more than a dozen positions are expected to remain unfilled in the face of budget cuts related to retiree benefits mandates.

"I appreciate the opportunity to come up here and speak to you about the restructuring of the police department and our strategy moving forward after the SAD election," said Bloomfield Township Police Chief Phil Langmeyer. "Our mission statement is 'To preserve the peace and protect our community with fairness, integrity, pride and respect.' I think we do that. That is what we do every day... and we will continue to do that, even with the restructuring plan that we have."

Bloomfield Township voters on August 6 rejected a proposed 2.3-mill special assessment district (SAD) dedicated to police and fire operations. The proposed tax would have provided a long-term funding source for a nearly $64-million shortfall in other post employment benefits (OPEB) obligations that must be paid in advance, under state law that went into effect in 2018. The township is carrying about $165 million in total OPEB liabilities.

Previously, the township paid annual OPEB costs as they came due. Under the new law, the township must prefund at least 40 percent of those liabilities.

Faced with implementing sweeping budget cuts or increasing revenue, the township's governing body approved a special August 6 election to place the option before voters – with trustees Dave Buckley and Dani Walsh opposing the ballot proposal. Budget cuts, several of which were identified last year by financial advisors Plante Moran, are now being implemented.

In terms of staffing, which makes up the largest portion of the township's overall expenditures, Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said a hiring freeze implemented in 2018 has left the municipality with 14 fewer employees, including three police officers and four firefighters.

Additional public safety positions will be left vacant in the future as employees leave or retire. Forced layoffs haven't been proposed.

"We have not cut anybody. We are just restructuring the police department and moving some people around," Langmeyer said.

Langmeyer compared the police department's 2008 service and staffing numbers to 2018 figures, prior to discussing restructuring plans.

"It's a 10-year snapshot of the department, but it (2008) is also the last time we were at our fully budgeted strength of 70 officers," Langmeyer said. "When I was hired in here in the 1990s, were were budgeted for 70 officers. We are no longer there. We haven't been there since 2008."

Citing data from the department's annual reports, Langmeyer said the department went from 70 sworn officers and 24 civilian employees in 2008 to 64 sworn officers and 18 civilian employees in 2018, with 63 current sworn officers. Meanwhile, he said calls for service have increased from just more than 21,000 in 2008 to nearly 32,000 in 2018. As a result, he said response times have increased from an average of just over four minutes to about seven minutes. In 2019, the average response time was seven minutes and 49 seconds.

"That's a lot of calls for an officer to handle. The problem that we run into now is that these folks are busy," he said. "They don't have time for crime prevention, they don't have time for community service. ... they are going from call to call."

Langmeyer said the department has and will cut back on crime prevention duties, such as patrolling local subdivisions, home and business checks and other preventative measures.

"We are becoming more of a crime response organization, not a crime prevention organization," he said.

Langmeyer said as the department continues to incur staffing losses, sworn officers will be shifted to bolster the patrol division. The first shift will include eliminating the department's traffic investigation unit and moving four of those officers to road patrols. Traffic officers are responsible for crash investigations and control measures.

Future shifts will be implemented as retirements occur. Langmeyer said the officer assigned to the FBI's violent gang task force and an officer with the FBI's identity theft task force, both of which grant the department access to federal resources, would be called back. An officer assigned a special investigations unit headed by the Troy Police Department, would also

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be recalled, as well as the officer assigned to the Oakland County Sheriff's Narcotics Enforcement Team.

"You think drug crimes aren't a big deal here," Langmeyer said. "Folks, the opioid epidemic hits everywhere. It's a national problem. They are focused on opioids now – they don't have anything to do with marijuana – and the newcoming problem is methamphetamine.

Opioids are dwindling, and meth is vaulting into Oakland County with strength."

Without replacing officers, Langmeyer said he expects sworn officer levels to reach 58 under the current budgetary restraints.

Additionally, he said the department may have to cut some public service programs or begin charging more for participation. Those programs include women's self defense training, concealed carry licensing training, security seminars for businesses and places of worship, the Friends in Blue program and Honor Flight program, which works with local veterans.

Bloomfield Township Fire Chief Mike Morin said the fire department is currently staffed at 60 personnel, down four positions from its full staffing.

Morin said he anticipates two additional staff eliminations under the current budget restrictions. Current plans are to reduce staff at Fire Station number 4, resulting in one less fire apparatus available to respond to calls for service. The future elimination of two more staff could result in fewer staff at another fire station, ultimately increasing response times.

"If we drop eight more guys, we are going to be closing a station. There's no doubt about that," Morin said.

Additionally, Morin said the department is having trouble recruiting and retaining firefighters, as staff has left in recent years to work for competing departments able to offer higher wages and benefits.

"If you do these cuts on the backs of employees, it's going to get worse," he said. "That's the only way to solve a $3 million problem. It's not staff vehicles or the truck that I don't buy. It's the people that effect your bottom line."

DPW outlines budget change possibilities

By Kevin Elliott

Bloomfield Township Public Works officials on Wednesday, October 16, presented more than $1.9 million in potential annual budget cuts to staff and services designed to allow the township to fund post employment benefits (OPEB) obligations that are required by state law. downtownpublications.com

No bistros applications submitted for 2020

By Lisa Brody

or the third October in a row, the city of Birmingham did not receive even a single application for a bistro liquor license for 2020.

The deadline to apply for one of two available bistro liquor licenses for 2020 was October 1, 2019. There will be a second opportunity for a 2020 license since there were no applicants, with the deadline April 1, 2020.

For 2019, two applicants applied and came before the city commission for a 2019 bistro license, Pernoi, for the former Cafe Via location, and Brooklyn Pizza, which applied to expand into adjacent Birmingham Geek at 195 W. Maple Road. Both received commission approval to move forward to the planning board for full site plan and design review and special land use permit review.

Pernoi opened in August; Brooklyn Pizza will come before the city's planning board on October 23 for special land use, site plan and design approvals.

Per the city's ordinance, which was created in 2007, only two bistro applications can be approved each calendar year. The bistro ordinance was developed as an economic development tool to invigorate the downtown streets, create walkability and vitality, and to enhance the retail component of the city.

The city's bistro ordinance was designed to create small and intimate establishments in the city's downtown and entice operators to create unique dining operations in Birmingham as an economic incentive to drive walkable traffic to the city's retail community. The ordinance permits no more than 65 interior seats, with no more than 10 of those at a bar, large windows that open out to the street, outdoor dining, and restaurants where food is the focus, not the bar.

The bistro ordinance has since been expanded to include the city's Rail and Triangle districts, and recent efforts updated and improved the ordinance, including limiting outdoor dining to 65 seats; deciding that outdoor patios cannot have year round enclosures; and determining that railings or planters on outdoor dining platforms cannot be any higher than 42-inches tall; and rooftop dining would be permitted as an outdoor use if surrounding properties are not negatively impacted.

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Bloomfield Township voters on August 6 rejected a proposed 2.3-mil special assessment district (SAD) dedicated to police and fire operations that would provide a dedicated funding source for about two-thirds of OPEB and pension liabilities owed by the township.The township must fund about $64 million in OPEB liabilities over the next three decades under a new state law that requires municipalities prepay at least 40 percent of those costs. Township departments are now in the midst of presenting budget reduction proposals to help close the funding shortfall.

Bloomfield Township Public Works Director Tom Trice said while not all the potential cuts will have immediate or direct impacts on residents, the loss of staff and services will be felt across the township.

"We are already down five people, so everything takes longer to do," Trice said.

The proposed cuts are taken, in

part, from a series of potential cuts identified in December of 2018 by the township's consulting firm Plante Moran, which presented $6.4 to $7.4 million in cuts and revenue generating measures to fund pensions and benefits. Those recommendations included a reduction of $1.4 million from the township's general fund to the road division.

Outside of the general fund contribution, the road division receives about $2.687 million annually from a .6837 road millage, and about $712,000 annually through an agreement with the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), as well as about $150,000 in other revenues.

Moving forward, Trice said the road division would continue basic road surface work along local and subdivision roads, but would likely need to make cuts related to preservation and maintenance, as well as winter road maintenance, that could directly effect the public.

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Potential cuts identified include: • The elimination of all preservation, maintenance and patch paving as currently done by contractors, which includes asphalt, concrete, cape sealing, spray patching and other outside contracted road maintenance service for an estimated savings of $650,000.

This includes joint/crack sealing any new pavement, with $100,000 left in the account for emergency repairs.

An additional $85,000 could be reduced by eliminating in-house preservation maintenance patch paving.

Trice said the elimination of the paving programs would reduce engineering costs with associated projects, bringing overall engineering costs in the township down by about $40,000. However, he said an additional $25,000 would need to be budgeted for pothole patching materials, as roads would deteriorate at a faster rate with the reduction in paving preservation projects.

Reductions in state highway mowing could provide an estimated reduction of up to $200,000, depending on the level of grounds and landscaping maintenance the township wants to retain. Trice said the township has already cut the number of mowings along stateowned roads from 23 a year ago to 14. Additionally, the township could lower costs by removing flower beds and township signs, such as the large brick monument sign on Telegraph at 14 Mile Road. The removal of such signs and flower beds, along with reduced mowings, could reduce costs by about $200,000 per year; however, Trice said, removal of the signs and beds would require about $60,000 for removal.

• Elimination of maintenance for private roads and roads maintained in adjacent areas of West Bloomfield will provide an estimated reduction of $60,000. The roads total about three miles of roads in the township and about three miles in West Bloomfield that the township has maintained since the 1970s because township residents drive on them to get to main roads. Those roads include Wabeek north of Lone Pine; all roads that come off of Wabeek in the area to the east; and roads between Middlebelt and Wabeek north of Long Lake. The roads will be turned back to RCOC and property owners for the private roads for all maintenance.

• Retention ponds in subdivisions that have been maintained by the township that haven't been deeded 71

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MUNICIPAL to the township would no longer be maintained, which will result in about $10,000 in estimated reductions.

• The elimination of several programs and events under the DPW will provide an estimated budget reduction of about $150,000. Those cuts, which have already been implemented, include a Household Hazardous Waste disposal event; document shredding; drug disposal and Clean Sweep, which are utilized by about 3,000 households each year, or roughly 20 percent of township residents.

• Storm damage cleanup and tree removal services. By agreement, this is a service that is to be provided by the RCOC. Elimination of the service will provide an estimated reduction of $100,000, dependent on weather.

• Snow plowing and ice control reductions, which includes staff reductions totaling about $258,000, totaling about $370,000. Costs associated with snow and ice control include staff and overtime, equipment costs and materials.

"We have discussed leaving one to two inches of snow on the roadway

downtownpublications.com

and taking care of it during regular hours, only reducing overtime and increasing liability exposure.

Reducing our call out priorities as first responders to a shorter list or eliminating them altogether will reduce overtime and materials and increase liability exposure," Trice said. "We can look at alternative deicing materials but there is a cost in getting that set up and to put into operations. We could also look at a four-inch rule of snow prior to sending out the equipment like many other cities do. This will reduce overtime and materials and increase liability exposure. This means that four inches of snow would accumulate before sending equipment out on overtime.

"During regular hours, we would maintain streets immediately as we do now, however, if four inches of snow hasn't accumulated by the end of the regular day, we will stop operations and resume them the next day on regular hours. This will reduce the cost, but depends on weather to put a budget number on it."

The reductions in winter maintenance include the elimination

of three full-time labor position, two in roads and one in grounds. These positions typically clear parking lots at Township Hall and the Senior Center, then moves to clearing dead ends, cul-de-sacs and intersections in subdivisions.

"Without them, it will extend the hours needed to clear the streets, lots, sidewalks and puts more burden on the employees left to do the work," Trice said. "This creates a liability exposure around the campus as sidewalks and lots will be icy and snow covered more often and increase the liability exposure for slips, falls and injuries by residents and employees. There are also the staff required to fill in for plow route employees that are sick or on vacation."

Trice said unintended consequence in the cuts would be bus routes, which utilize local roads.

"With the type of reductions proposed, this may not be an option and the collection points would be pushed to the main roads," he said.

"Additional closing of schools due to weather and road conditions should be expected."

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The motor pool calls for the reduction of one mechanic position, which is currently vacant and will remain so until a final determination is made on other service related reductions. This position would also eliminate one snow plow operator.

The estimated budget reduction is $100,000.

Bloomfield Township DPW Superintendent Noah Mehalski said the biggest strain on the DPW and impact on the public would be felt on days where there are dual emergency situations, for instance, a water main break during a snow emergency. "It's not a matter of if it will happen, it's a matter of when," Trice said.

Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said the potential reductions will be part of an overall budget reduction strategy with action taken after all departments have presented options to the board. Trustees David Buckley and Dani Walsh, who both opposed the proposed SAD in August, were absent from the meeting.

"This community was sold a bill of goods, and we are dealing with it right now," Savoie said. "It's

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Second round of Maple work scheduled

By Lisa Brody

interesting that none of the 'No SAD' people are here cheering for what they have done. It's sobering."

Trustee Neal Barnett echoed Savoie's statements, noting that many of those who vocally opposed the SAD claimed the township wouldn't make cuts discussed at meetings prior to the election.

"It's very sad and it's very sobering ... it's unfortunate that they are cowards," Barnett said. "The people who go on to Nextdoor.com and spread lies, and they are misinformed and scare people who are also misinformed. This is what you get. You get cuts in a community that isn't going to be as safe... that's not scare tactics, that's reality, and the cowards aren't here."

Bloomfield Township receives clean audit Bloomfield Township on Wednesday, October 16, received a clean bill of health from auditors who presented findings to the board of trustees from its annual review of financial statements for the previous year.

Auditors UHY LLP reviewed the township's fiscal year 2018-2019 financial statements, which ended on March 21, 2019, giving the township an "unmodified" opinion, which is the highest possible rating that can be given and indicates no problems or issues with statements or the review, said Michael Santicchia, a partner at UHY who presented the findings to the board with UHY Principal Marlene Beach.

"Jason (Theis, Bloomfield Township finance director), and his team had everything well prepared and had everything ready for us when we asked for it," Santicchia said.

Santicchia said there were no disagreements between the township management and auditors during the course of the review, which could include how and when data is recorded. Further, he said certain amounts in the financial statements require management to make estimates and assumptions. As part of the audit procedures, auditors also evaluated the reasonableness of the estimates and found no issues.

Beach, who also is a certified fraud examiner, said she conducted fraud interviews with management and one board trustee, who was not identified, and didn't find any instances of fraud.

"We test certain expenditures to see if there was sufficient support, and everything we tested, we did find sufficient support for. Everything had good supporting documentation with it," Beach stated.

"And when we asked for it, we were given it quickly," Santicchia said.

Auditors noted that a change in the township's investment strategy resulted in an increase of around 57 percent in investment earnings, or about $370,000. Still, the largest increases in township revenue came from increased tax revenue and assessments, as well as an increase in state-shared revenue funds, with overall revenues up from about $79.7 million to $84.6 million. At the same time, total expenditures dropped from $93.9 million to about $89.05 million.

Beach noted that revenues have consistently exceeded expenditures despite carrying some fund balance to address pension and other post employment benefits (OPEB) liabilities.

She said OPEB and pension liabilities are the primary factors causing a negative net position in governmental activities. Those issues are part of the township's liability when looking at its longterm debt, or a full accrual basis, which indicates a budget deficit.

Beach said the township's modified accrual, or short-term financial statements for the specific fiscal year, don't account for longterm OPEB and pension debt, but rather the amounts due on an annual basis.

Trustee Michael Schostak pointed out the differences between the modified and full accrual amounts to show the township isn't short in balancing its budget on an annual basis. "When people hear 'deficit,' they think we are losing money," he said.

"We aren't losing money per se, because all that OPEB represents is a present value of future liabilities."

"That's correct," Beach said. "OPEB and pension liabilities – this isn't money that is due tomorrow. This is way out into the future. When we are looking at whether the township is making or losing money, you want to look at your fund balance statements, like the general fund, and look at the modified accrual because that's showing your revenues coming in and your expenditures, and what's happening for that year and the next year out. With the other (full accrual), your pension liabilities can change every year, and the OPEB is the same way."

Santicchia further said that under previous accounting rules, the township had carried OPEB liabilities, but the amounts were added as a footnote, while new rules require it to be included in the full accrual amount.

"You always had that liability, but we had to book it so you're more in comparison to what private companies have to do," he said..

he second phase of reconstruction in the downtown area of Birmingham slated for Maple Road between Southfield Road and Woodward Avenue, should begin sometime in March 2020, weather permitting, and last approximately four months, with streetscape designs unanimously approved by the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, September 23.

As in 2018, the roadway, underlying infrastructure and streetscape will be completely dug up and rebuilt. During the first phase, which rebuilt Old Woodward from Willits to Brown and the Maple Road intersection to Pierce Street, contractors discovered sewers and water pipes that were over 100 years old – some water mains were wooden, installed in the 1880s. In addition, sidewalks, crosswalks, lighting, planters, trees, handicap ramps, benches, chargers and other enhancements were added, as they will be in the second phase.

City engineer Paul O'Meara and representatives from planning consultant MKSK and design engineer Nowak & Fraus presented plans and designs to commissioners. The Southfield Road intersection will be reconstructed and realigned, and will have a crosswalk that will align with the city's other downtown crosswalks, 12-foot wide circular sidewalk surrounded by landscaping.

While it appeared that Maple had been redone from Old Woodward west to in front of Dick O'Dow's, in a memo O'Meara wrote that in the second phase design, the east edge of the parking spaces for this block, from Henrietta to Pierce Street, has been set as a two-lane street with parking, although an area begins to transition to a threelane section. “The remaining space from that point to where the Phase 1 improvements end (about five feet) becomes too narrow to be used as a vehicular parking space. It is recommended that this transition area be used as an opportunity for scooter parking,” O'Meara wrote.

Commissioner Mark Nickita noted that new trees in the planter in front of Paper Source were not aligned with the other trees all the way down Maple.

“As we rebuild those, I suggest we rebuild those,” he said. “This alley of trees, these trees will be the only ones out of alignment.”

On the east side of Maple, between Old Woodward and Woodward, a mid-block crosswalk will be added, aligning with the via on the southern side of the street, by Pernoi.

O'Meara said they were able to get the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to agree to narrower lanes between Peabody and Woodward, to 10 feet, and to allow for expanded sidewalk widths there, from nine feet to 13 feet, which allows for planter boxes that will be consistent with the design being used on the remainder of the project.

Due to ADA-requirements, more handicap parking spots are being added, for a total of four more, as the street is being rebuilt. By national requirements, for every 25 parking spots, one handicap spot must be included. O'Meara said ramps are being included.

Commissioner Rackeline Hoff asked how many parking spots the city is losing due to this phase of reconstruction, and it was answered that they are losing six spots, going from 72 to 66 parking spots.

O'Meara said the city had been awarded two grants for this phase of the reconstruction, one a grant for $352,000, awarded by the Oakland County Federal Aid Committee, to assist Birmingham in the cost of reconstructing this major road.

“As a street with high traffic counts, combined with the need for general safety improvements, this segment of Maple Road qualified for a grant estimated at covering 80 percent of the cost of resurfacing this street,” he said.

The second grant, for $249,700, awarded under the Highway Safety Improvement Program, will cover 80 percent of the cost of reconstructing the Southfield Road at Maple intersection.

“Together, these two grants will cover about $600,000 of the city’s costs in reconstructing Maple Road. As a result, the project will be bid and paid for through MDOT. The final construction plans will have to be reviewed and approved through MDOT, meaning that MDOT standards will have to be followed as a part of the design,” O'Meara said.

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Rail District eatery clears planning board Lincoln Yard, a full service restaurant proposed for Birmingham's Rail District, received approval from the city's planning board on Wednesday, September 25, and recommendation to go to the Birmingham City Commission for final approvals for special land use permit and final site plan and design review.

Acting board chair Bryan Williams voted against moving it forward, noting that the project requires an economic development liquor license in order to proceed, and the city commission has not yet set a public hearing date to consider an ordinance amendment to rezone properties in the area from the north side of Lincoln and Cole Street to qualify for economic development licenses. To receive an economic development liquor license, where a Class C liquor license can be brought in from another municipality, the property must be zoned as qualified for it, and have at least $10 million in investments or an increase of 500

percent in value. The city commission scheduled a public hearing to consider the ordinance amendment for their October 26 meeting.

Lincoln Yard, along with a smaller fast casual American restaurant, to be called “Little Yard,” is proposed for the former Birmingham Schools bus garage, located at 2159 E. Lincoln Road. Planner Brooks Cowan said they have their bank financing in place, and believe the operation will invigorate that area of the Rail District. They anticipate the restaurant will serve 75 percent food, and 25 percent alcohol.

A concern for the planning board was parking, with a shared parking plan with adjacent business Armstrong-White. Cowan said there are 59 spaces on site, with 32 in a shared parking agreement with Armstrong-White. In addition, there are nine public street spaces in front of the proposed restaurant. In addition, it was noted that across Lincoln there is public parking at the Birmingham Ice Rink/tennis facility.

“I like the project. I don't like the timing,” said Williams. “The city commission hasn't looked at

economic development licenses yet. I think it's presumptuous for us to recommend an area, much less to recommend a project, until the city commission lets us know what they want to do. That is the appropriate way to go, the way we have always gone, and I don't see any reason to deviate.”

“The project is for an economic development license because that's what it will take,” said Curt Catallo, owner of Union Joints. “Anyone else would knock down a cinderblock building and build a five-story building with a restaurant on the first floor. We like to repurpose and create places for everyone in the community.

Parking is vital – it's our life blood.

But I have to say, we'll have more spots than any place I can walk to after this meeting.”

“We're digging our own grave.

We're stopping a multi-million dollar restaurant over seven parking spaces,” said board member Robin Boyle.

“There are 2,483 parking spaces at any time in the Rail District,” Ecker said. “There is an abundance of parking at any time in the Rail

District, especially in the southern end.”

The planning board voted 5-1 to recommend approval to the city commission for both the final site plan and design review and special land use permit, with board chair Scott Clein absent and Williams dissenting.

City, residents settle speech rights lawsuit

By Lisa Brody

U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts approved a stipulated order between Clinton Baller, David Bloom and the city of Birmingham, Patty Bordman, both individually and in her capacity as mayor of Birmingham, and Timothy Currier, both individually and as attorney for the city, on Tuesday, October 1, without costs and without prejudice, in a lawsuit against the city alleging the free speech rights of the plaintiffs had been violated when the city stopped them from speaking at a July commission meeting.

A stipulated order is an agreement

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between two parties submitted to the judge for approval. It eliminates the need to go to court and have the judge make a decision about an issue.

The order provides that during “citizen participation” portions of city commission meetings, as defined in the commission's Rules of Procedures, the city will not stop the cable broadcast of commission meetings if a speaker engages in political advocacy and will allow speakers to engage in political advocacy. Per the stipulated order, the city may impose restrictions on speakers set forth in their Rules of Procedures section “Citizen Participation.”

Further, Judge Roberts stated that nothing in the order precludes the city from withdrawing from participating in the Birmingham Area Cable Board, or discontinuing the practice of broadcasting city commission meetings on the government access channel in the future.

The stipulated order followed a four-hour settlement conference.

Baller and Bloom had filed suit July 22, alleging their free speech rights had been violated by the city, as well as the state's Open Meeting's Act, when Bordman and Currier stopped them from speaking at the city's July 8 city commission meeting during public comment regarding the N. Old Woodward parking project and upcoming bond vote.

At the July 8 city commission meeting, Baller spoke out on a number of agenda items and attempted to tie in the bond vote to them, with both Currier and Bordman stopping him, asserting that the city's cable contract does not permit “advocating” for a political campaign.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Bloom noted in his suit that he was mid-sentence to “new parking deck on Old Woodward,” and was interrupted by Bordman with “You have to stop.”

Currier instructed Bloom his comments were out of order because a contract existing between the city and the Birmingham Area Cable Board “prohibits political speech.”

When Baller sought to speak next, regarding a city mailer on the vote, Currier said they “can't take any political question. Baller in his suit stated he “proceeded to express objection to the body's actions over approximately the next 15 seconds… (and) Bordman declared the meeting adjourned.”

Baller and Bloom alleged that since they were stopped or restricted from voicing their intended downtownpublications.com

Shift, Sidecar, Slice restaurants approved

By Lisa Brody

hree restaurants proposed for the former Mitchell's site in Birmingham received unanimous approval for a special land use permit and final site plan and design review from the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, October 7.

The three proposed restaurants, Sidecar, Shift and Slice, from Birmingham restaurateur Steve Simon, owner of Rojo Mexican and Sidecar, will open at 117 Willits, in the former Mitchell's Fish Market.

Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker explained that Mitchell's operated under a Class C liquor license, and Simon is proposing to split the location into three establishments, sharing a kitchen and operation in the back.

Shift, an American eatery, will be in the former bar area of Mitchell's, with food specialties from across the country and custom alcoholic drinks and a contemporary lounge ambiance; Sidecar would relocate from Merrill Street, featuring a full menu of slider options, sides and alcoholic beverages with a rustic pub feel; and Slice is designed as traditional pizza parlor atmosphere and full pizzeria menu with alcohol service.

Ecker said Shift does not plan any outdoor seating, and will have 48 seats inside along with 22 seats at the bar, for 70 total seats. Sidecar plans 76 seats inside, 14 at a bar, and 12 outdoor seats. Slice will be located along the curve, and have a new door created, with 95 indoor seats, 14 seats at the bar, and 56 outdoor seats.

“They are not proposing any changes to the building other than one window will become a door,” Ecker said, and the awnings will change from black to red. Access from one restaurant to another will be available from inside.

Simon said hours for Slice, planned as a family-friendly establishment, is proposed as 11 a.m. daily until 10 p.m. during the week, and 11 p.m.

Friday and Saturday. Sidecar, which will not open until their lease on Merrill Street ends later in 2020, is planned from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m., with outdoor dining closing at midnight. He said Shift will open at 4 p.m. and stay open until 2 a.m., and be closed on Sundays and Mondays.

He explained that his other current restaurant Rojo, will close when the lease expires on Merrill Street.

“I like this, especially on the outside, as it will really activate the street,” mayor pro tem Pierre Boutros said. “I'm in favor definitely of this.”

“Looking at where the entrance is to Slice, I'm a little concerned of the five-foot clearance. That could be a bottleneck,” commissioner Stuart Sherman said. “Let's give it a shot. If it's a problem, we'll fix it.”.

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comments at a form opened for use by the public, their First and Fourteenth Amendments were violated.

According to the Birmingham Area Cable Board contract, last updated January 2019, under “Public Access,” it states, “Residents of those communities (Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms and Franklin) may use the channel as a forum of free speech and express a diversity of viewpoints as outlined in the 1984 Federal Cable Act.” As for programming definitions and restrictions, it notes obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment and can't be broadcast at any time along with indecency; as for candidate and political programming, it states that access channels are not legally obligated to

adhere to the FCC's “equal opportunity” rule or the Fairness Doctrine.

The contract does not mention remarking on or advocating for or against city activity.

Liquor license for Daxton moves ahead A request for a liquor license for a new luxury boutique hotel already under construction at 298 S. Old Woodward at the corner of Brown Street, received unanimous support from the Birmingham Planning Board on Wednesday, September 25, and will now move to the city commission for final approvals.

Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker explained the applicant for

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the hotel, Daxton Hotel, Woodward Brown Ventures LLC/Aparium Hotel Group, was back for a special land use permit and final site plan and design review to operate a hotel with a liquor license.

“The applicant is requesting approval to use a new Class B – Hotel Resort Economic Development license under the new ordinance allowing a hotel or movie theater to operate with a liquor license. Woodward Brown Ventures, LLC/Aparium Hotel Group is owned by several entities controlled

by Mario Tricoci, Kevin Robinson and Howard Silverman,” Ecker said. “In addition to owning and operating the Daxton Hotel, all three are members of the LLC that owns/operates the Detroit Foundation Hotel and the Apparatus Room restaurant in downtown Detroit.”

She said the ordinance amendment allows transfers in of liquor licenses for hotels and movie theaters, which is how the Birmingham Theatre received its license. For a hotel, the requirement is they must have at least 100 rooms, which the Daxton does.

She indicated that all of the quota Class C licenses are in use or being held by property owners, so are not available to the applicant.

Interior design site plan changes indicated that the restaurant/bar will be in the corner of Woodward and Brown, with a private dining room along Brown Street, banquet facilities, and a wine room, rather than the earlier proposed wine bar accessed from the via.

Board members were disturbed about the change of the wine bar, which would have been open to the public and create accessibility to the hotel to activate the via, to a wine room only open to hotel guests or those using banquet facilities. Another room, fronting Old Woodward, became a storage room.

“The board does not want that space obscured as storage space, they want it activated,” Ecker noted.

Board member Bryan Williams was more pointed to the applicants. “We don't want Whole Foods facing Maple, we don't want Sav-On, now CVS, and we don't want Triple Nickel on big Woodward, with those pots and pans in the window,” he chastised Aaron Black, director of operations. “Those are different from what we anticipated, and in at least one instance what was presented.”

Board members still recommended approval of the special land use permit and final site plan to the city commission, 6-0, with board chair Scott Clein not in attendance.

81

MUNICIPAL Plans progress for Telegraph building Plans for a three-story, mixed-use office building proposed for a vacant parcel of land next to Evola Music, 2184 Telegraph Road, will go before the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees for final approval following a recommendation from the township's planning commission on Monday, September 16.

The proposed building, 2172 Telegraph, at the southwest corner of Telegraph and Bloomfield Place, will include site improvements and additional parking for Evola Music. The plan is essentially an update to a previous plan that was approved by the township board in 2016 for a standalone parking lot for the music store. The new plan, if approved, would provide additional shared parking and an access agreement between property owners Jim Evola, of JRTM Enterprises, and Kalabat Entity LLC. The project is to include 8,617 square feet of office space and 5,406 square feet of retail shopping. The exterior of the building will be a blend of brick, dark brown aluminum panels with cast stone accents, ornamental aluminum canopies and glazing.

Parking lot lighting will be low profile and may not exceed 20 feet in height, with all lighting to be directed downward.

A traffic study of the proposed site determined the project would have minimal, if any, impact on traffic operations on Telegraph.

The plan must next go before the design review board before the township's board of trustees for final consideration.

Planners okay tennis facility at Cranbrook An eight-court tennis facility with a viewing concourse and bathroom facility at 500 Lone Pine Road, at the Cranbrook Educational Community's campus, was approved on Tuesday, September 10, by the Bloomfield Hills Planning Commission.

The development, which will replace the site's current four-court facility, is based on the Hope College Tennis facility in Holland, Michigan, and will host high school competitive tennis tournaments. Plans for the outdoor courts include removing the existing four tennis courts and an unused, twostory building. The new facility will consist of eight outdoor courts with a 10-foot high elevated viewing concourse between the rows of tennis courts, as 84

DiMarco, Cranbrook's president, retires

By Lisa Brody

ominic DiMarco, Cranbrook Education Community President, announced on Tuesday, October 8, that he will retire from the position at the end of the academic year in June 2020.

DiMarco, who started at Cranbrook in 2008 as its chief operating office, became the education community's eighth president in 2012.

Prior to working at Cranbrook, DiMarco spent 35 years with Ford Motor Company, working in all aspects of their business, government affairs and finance.

During DiMarco's tenure, Cranbrook opened an exploreLab at Cranbrook Institute of Science and an Art Lab at Cranbrook Art Museum, launched Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. Free admission was implemented to Cranbrook Gardens and a partnership was started with MIT in Massachusetts at Cranbrook Schools. In addition, multiple major gifts were secured, capital projects were completed and a master plan was outlined that will continue to extend Cranbrook's legacy as a leading center for education, art and science.

“Cranbrook has been the most fulfilling time of my professional life and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust and special relationships that have developed with trustees, governors, parents, alumni and, of course, our faculty and staff during my time here,” DiMarco said in a statement to the community. “My first steps on campus were as a father at the front door of Brookside, and have resulted in a memorable journey that I will reflect upon for my lifetime.”

He continued, “There remains much to do and I am firmly committed to advancing the goals and objectives laid out for the year ahead. I am confident that our leadership team will ensure that our forward momentum continues during this transition. I look forward to supporting the next president of Cranbrook and the future of this great institution.”

He plans to shift his focus to family and personal considerations, notably in his garden, while continuing to reside in Bloomfield Hills.

Cranbrook Educational Community announced it is in the early stages of a national search for its next president. A search committee has been formed, and Cranbrook has retained Isaacson Miller to assist with identifying and recruiting candidates for DiMarco’s successor. The search is expected to conclude in the spring of 2020.

“Given Cranbrook’s international reputation, its legacy, strength and promise for the future, we are confident our opportunity will attract highly qualified and visionary applicants,” said Dr. Linda H. Gillum, Cranbrook Board of Trustees First Vice-Chair and co-chair of the President Search Committee along with Jamison Williams Faliski. “Dom has made an extraordinary contribution to all areas of Cranbrook and his retirement is well-earned. On behalf of chairman Mark Reuss and our fellow trustees, we congratulate him on beginning the final leg of his historic journey at Cranbrook.”

D

well as a 450-square-foot bathroom facility, according to Joe Tangari, with the city's planning consultant Giffels Webster who reviewed the site plans.

Tangari said the plans don't include any changes to drives and access points, nor to parking and traffic circulations.

"The applicant's plan indicates that most of the existing screening of the site will remain in place," he said in his review. "All vegetation in the setback is left intact, though the removal of the existing building will increase site lines to the tennis facility. New plantings are planned along the road and the

footprint of the removed building."

The plans received preliminary approval by the Planning Commission in August, but the applicant was advised to return at the September 10 meeting to address some existing concerns. Those concerns included providing color renderings of the entire site with views from the neighboring property owners' point of view; a parking study; a proposed landscape plan; building and construction materials samples; lighting specifics; and consideration of removing an existing chain link fence along Orchard Ridge.

DOWNTOWN

Neighboring residents had raised concerns about possible parking along Orchard Ridge and requested additional screening around the complex to block the view from the outside. Those concerns were addressed at the September 10 meeting, with a representative from Cranbrook and a resident agreeing on fencing and screening.

Another neighbor along Orchard Ridge said while they support Cranbrook, there was concern that the project would bring increased activity and possible light pollution.

Under the approved plan, lighting at the site will forgo traditional polemounted lights in favor of recessed lighting to the underside of the elevated concourse. Neighbors’ concerns regarding screening were also addressed, with Cranbrook representatives and neighbors agreeing to discuss additional screenings to alleviate concerns.

The planning commission on September 10 gave final approval of the site plan, as well as a natural features setback approval and grading approval.

May Art Birmingham fair location changes Due to the upcoming road reconstruction of W. Maple Road, Birmingham city commissioners approved a request from the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center to move Art Birmingham from Shain Park to S. Old Woodward next Mother's Day weekend.

Annie Van Gelderen, president and CEO of the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center (BBAC), and Karen Delhey, executive director of the Artisan Guild, came before the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, October 7, requesting approval to move the annual Art Birmingham art fair from its traditional home at Shain Park to S. Old Woodward from approximately Bowers Street to Landon on May 9 and 10. The move is due to planned reconstruction of W. Maple between Southfield and Woodward.

“I think this is a very good idea, but where do you think people will be parking?” asked commissioner Rackeline Hoff, noting that visitors to the art fair typically park at the city's parking garages, which are in close proximity to Shain Park.

“We'll have various valets at multiple locations that will use the parking structures,” Van Gelderen said.

“I think this is as good a solution as we're going to get,” said commissioner Carroll DeWeese.

11.19

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FACES Jessica Mindell dozen years ago, Jessica Mindell was newly-married and working in engineering when a vacation with her husband led her to a different way of looking at food, and ultimately, a new career.

"A little after getting married, we were on vacation and my husband was having some stomach pain," she said. "I thought cutting gluten would help the issue, and it helped with the pain.

After that, I started making him gluten free food, and he said there weren't many other things like it on the market."

Seeing a need, her husband suggested Jessica look at marketing her food to others. She began making her own batches of food for feedback from friends. Soon she was experimenting with different ingredients and working with a bakery in Chicago to come up with a gluten free granola product.

"This was before Michigan's cottage food law, so I wasn't allowed to cook the products for sale at home. We found a bakery and worked with a team to make the granola, and we packaged everything personally and drove it back home and put it in the cases. This was right when the economy tanked, in 2008. I was thinking, 'What am I doing.' It ended up being an amazing time to launch it."

Not only did Mindell's granola, now marketed under "Jessica's Natural Foods," fill a need in the food market â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it tasted delicious, which quickly became evident from the demand by local grocers.

"I went around to stores and gave them sample bags and asked them to try it," Mindell said. "Holiday Market in Royal Oak was the first one to order. They said they would take a case of each â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I barely had enough product."

In addition to having a limited supply of product available, Mindell was completely new to the business, and hadn't anticipated the immediate interest.

"I had to learn how to make invoices on the fly," she recalled. "I dropped them off the next day. We got into Market Square, Plum Market, Hiller's, and others. They have all been really great. We got into Whole Foods eight months later, and we're in Wegmans on the east coast, as well as a lot of independent and natural grocers."

Offerings have since expanded from two granola flavors to six.

Growing beyond granola, Jessica's now offers pre-packaged muffin mixes, each which are gluten free, non-GMO and have non-rice ingredients. The latest product was inspired by her daughter's avoidance of milk.

"She didn't like drinking milk, and my husband said he used to love strawberry milk, so we started making a homemade version," Mindell said.

With most strawberry flavorings containing loads of high fructose corn syrup and stain-producing and questionable food dyes, Mindell began making more natural versions. "We realized there wasn't that much out there," she said.

The organic strawberry syrup contains real strawberry puree and utilizes beet juice for coloring.

While Mindell said her own children enjoy her products, they aren't restricted to only gluten free food. Rather, she focuses on specific concerns and amounts.

"I was concerned with arsenic in rice, and someone on a gluten free diet could be eating that for several meals," she said. "It's easily five or six servings a day, so I wanted to give my kids, and others, some options."

Despite starting the new business with little experience, Mindell is now proud to be celebrating 10 years in business.

"It took some getting out of my comfort zone, but the stores were so supportive," she said. "I'm so grateful."

A

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

BIRMINGHAM

WINTERMARKT S H A I N PA R K

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That's right. By signing up to receive the email newsletters from Downtown, you will be automatically entered into a drawing for one of 10 $50 gift certificates we are giving away to The Morrie in Birmingham.

Anyone signing up for our newsletters by the end of December will automatically be entered into the drawing for the $50 gift cards. Winners will be notified by email at the end of the year.

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FACES LaNeice Galloway aNeice Galloway isn’t your typical high school senior. After all, she missed the first several weeks of the school year because she was in Los Angeles, appearing on NBC’s hit reality competition “America’s Got Talent.” But don’t worry. Galloway, who hopes to become a neurosurgeon, still received her classwork from her teachers at Groves High School while in California, spending three to four hours a day in a makeshift classroom before spending the rest of the day practicing with fellow members of the Detroit Youth Choir.

DYC, as the group is known, came in second place to singer and pianist Kodi Lee, but to metro Detroit, the talented singers and dancers, who ranged in age from seven to 18, emerged victorious.

“We knew they embraced us,” Galloway says of fans throughout the state, “but we didn’t know how much they embraced us until we got home.”

Galloway joined DYC last year, after the choir director, Anthony White, accompanied her on piano when she was singing at her church. She says she was skeptical about auditioning at first – she had been singing in her church choir since the age of four, but hadn’t participated in other vocal groups.

“Most of my life is DYC now,” says Galloway without regret. “It’s a really big commitment. You have to get good grades in school...there’s a lot of discipline.” She describes the choir members as a “big family.”

“There’s a lot of love between us. You see these people all the time, you bond, you do everything together. We move in one unit. I know that they always have my back no matter what. Some choirs just go home, but we do everything together.”

The journey to appear on AGT began last winter. The group participated in live auditions at the TCF Center (formerly Cobo Hall), before going to California in March for the taped auditions. It was then that they received the coveted “golden buzzer,” automatically advancing them to the next round. In August, they returned to LA for the live shows. They thought they would be there for a week, but ultimately stayed for over a month. Galloway jokes that “luckily, I overpacked.”

She describes making friends with fellow contestants, but also about how awkward it was to stay at the same hotels and eat breakfast in the same rooms as DYC’s rivals.

“Even though it was a competition, we made friends with everyone. We loved the judges, the producers,” a fact that may come as a surprise to those who remember show creator and judge Simon Cowell from his snarky “American Idol” days. They learned a lot from them as well, working with choreographers and vocal producers to hone the final routines before they aired.

Now that they’re back home, the rigorous pace continues.

Notably, the choir is preparing to perform and serve as grand marshals for America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, among other appearances. A favorite moment of Galloway’s since the show ended was their appearance on fellow reality TV alum’s “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

Local companies have taken note of these talented students and singers as well, with Ford Motor Company Fund providing $1,000 scholarships to each of the participating students, and a $1 million endowment from local foundations.

“We made an impact to our city and the people really loved us.”

L

Story: Hillary Brody Anchill

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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Birmingham/Bloomfield 220: American. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.646.2220.

5th Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2262 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9607.

Adachi: Asian. Lunch & Dinner daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 325 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.540.5900.

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.865.9300.

Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42805 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.499.6867.

Beau's: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple, Bloomfield Hills, 48301.

248.626.2630.

Bella Piatti: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110.

Beverly Hills Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. No reservations. 31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, 48025. 248.642.2355.

Beyond Juice: Contemporary. Breakfast & Lunch daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

No reservations. 270 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.594.7078.

Big Rock Chophouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 245 South Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.7774.

Bill's: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Daily. Reservations, lunch only.

Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.646.9000.

Birmingham Sushi Cafe: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

377 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.8880.

Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Sunday brunch. Liquor.

Reservations. 34244 Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984.

Bloomfield Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 71 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.645.6879.

Brooklyn Pizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 111 Henrietta Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.258.6690.

Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily.

Liquor. Call ahead. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000.

China Village: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 1655 Opdyke, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.758.1221.

Churchill's Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555.

Cityscape Deli: Deli. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Beer.

877 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield

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Commonwealth: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.9766.

Dick O’Dow’s: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 160 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.642.1135.

Eddie Merlot's: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095.

Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.258.9939.

Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations.

Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420.

Embers Deli & Restaurant: Deli.

Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 3598 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.645.1033.

Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.0134.

Forest: European. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham 48009.

248.258.9400.

Greek Island Coney Restaurant: Greek.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 221 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.1222.

Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American.

Dinner, Tuesday-Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday and Sunday. No Reservations.

Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham.

248.712.4050.

Honey Tree Grille: Greek/American.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3633 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield, MI 48301. 248.203.9111.

Hunter House Hamburgers: American.

Breakfast, Monday-Saturday; Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 35075 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.7121.

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009.

248.594.4369.

IHOP: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2187 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. 248.333.7522.

Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner daily; Sunday brunch.

Reservations. Liquor. 39475 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.792.9609.

Kaku Sushi and Poke': Asian. Lunch & Dinner. Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. No Liquor. 869 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.480.4785, and 126 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009.

248.885.8631.

Kerby’s Koney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2160 N. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.333.1166.

La Marsa: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner daily. Reservations. 43259 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, 48302.

248.858.5800.

La Strada Italian Kitchen & Bar: Italian.

Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 243 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.480.0492.

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6646 Telegraph at Maple Bloomfield Plaza 248.932.0800 | stevesdeli.com

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The Places To Eat for Downtown is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The listings include nearly all dining establishments with seating in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.

St. Dunstan’s is located at 400 Lone Pine Road in Bloomfield Hills.

1-844-DUNSTAN (1-844-386-7826)

DOWNTOWN

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METRO INTELLIGENCER Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Dana Casadei who can be reached at DanaCasadei@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.

Leila opens in Detroit Before landing on 1249 Griswold Street, Detroit, where Leila opened its doors in late October, co-owner Samy Eid and his father Sameer Eid said they had been looking for a spot in Detroit for years before finding the right fit. “It has a lot of character, a lot of history,” Samy said. “It’s got everything we were looking for and more.” Leila – named after Eid’s mother – is a homecoming of sorts for Eid and his family, who also own Birmingham’s iconic Middle Eastern restaurant Phoenicia, whose original location was about four miles down from Leila. For Eid, Leila is like the younger, more wild sibling of Phoenicia, and is more casual than the Birmingham spot. While Leila’s menu is heavily based on the food served at Phoenicia, and includes their slow-roasted baby back ribs, Leila encourages guests to share dishes with their focus on Lebanese mezze, much like the way his family dines on Sundays. Items include kebabs, done on their charcoal grill, mashawi, and over 20 different appetizers. As for the space itself, the first floor houses the main dining area with a grand staircase that leads to the lower level, where there’s a private dining/lounge space. Hours are still being finalized on the lower level.

Changes at La Strada As of October, La Strada Dolci e Caffé is now La Strada Italian Kitchen & Bar. The name change is one of many at Zharko Palushaj’s Birmingham hot-spot at 243 E. Merrill Street. A new menu now has multiple pasta, veal, fish, and poultry dishes, along with the addition of tableside cooking for first, second, third, and fourth courses. Options include caesar salad, pasta, an entree, and dessert. Palushaj also applied to change the restaurant’s hours, switching from opening early – La Strada was initially a European-style coffee shop – to around 10-11 a.m. and staying open until midnight. Finalization of hours may take a few weeks, as Palushaj was waiting to hear back from the city when we spoke. The biggest change, though, will probably have more effect on staff than customers. La Strada is officially now a tipless restaurant, and the front-of-house staff will now have annual salaries – ranging from $60,000 to $75,000 – just like the back-of-house employees. “For me, a great waiter or maître d’ is as important as the chef in the kitchen or the sous chef,” Palushaj said. “The bartender is as important as the pastry chef.” Palushaj will offer paid vacations, money towards health care, and a retirement plan as well. He isn’t the only one going full steam ahead on this trend, which Palushaj hopes he’ll see in more Michigan restaurants. Magnet — which recently opened at 4848 Grand River Avenue Detroit – has also gone the tipless route.

Pizza Pizza When it came time to create the name for restaurateur Jeremy Sasson’s new restaurant he decided to bring it back to his childhood. “It’s always been a family, childhood nickname, so I decided to throw it out there,” he said about Sauce, which he hopes to open by next March. “I felt it was kind of a fun, tongue-in-cheek way of playing a little bit into my adolescence, which certainly involved and evoked a lot of pizza.” Sauce, 4120 Second Avenue, Midtown Detroit (the former home of Will Leather Goods), will be more than just pizza though. Sasson described the upcoming menu as new age, progressively modern Italian. As for the space itself, the 1949 building – that recently received approval from Detroit’s Historic District Commission for its planned changes – will keep some of the building’s historic elements and also add a new addition to the south side of the building. As far as the interior goes, Sasson said they’re looking to mirror mid-century Palm Springs, taking guests back to that Slim Aarons’ cool, mid-century America. Sauce will also have Side Sauce, an indoor/outdoor space that will primarily be a walk-up for coffee with an evolving seasonal menu, with retail and market products sold inside.

BESA Throughout October at BESA – 600 Woodward Avenue, in downtown Detroit – diners probably noticed some changes to the dinner menu. Actually, all of the dinner menu has been transformed. The lunch menu is also changing, just at a slightly slower pace.“What we wanted to do was pick a few dishes here and there that we were going to start chipping away at and putting new food in place,” said Nicholas Geftos, BESA’s new executive chef. “There was already great food here and we’re going to continue to try to keep that.” New menu items include

Leo’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

154 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.9707.

Also 6527 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.646.8568.

Little Daddy’s Parthenon: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39500 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.647.3400.

Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily; Late Night, 9 p.m.-closing.

No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.6051.

Mad Hatter Cafe: Tea Room. Brunch, Lunch & Dinner. No reservations. Liquor.

185 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.540.0000 Mandaloun Bistro: Lebanese. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 30100 Telegraph Rd., Suite 130, Bingham Farms, 48025. 248.723.7960.

Market North End: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 474 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.712.4953.

MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.723.0800.

Nippon Sushi Bar: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2079 S. Telegraph, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9581.

Olga’s Kitchen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2075 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.451.0500.

Original Pancake House: American.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 33703 South Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.642.5775.

Panera Bread: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 100 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.7966.

Also 2125 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.253.9877.

Pernoi: Italian/Japanese. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 310 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009.

248.940.0000.

Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 588 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.3122.

Pita Cafe: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 239 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.6999.

Qdoba: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 795 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.988.8941. Also 42967 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304.

248.874.1876 Red Olive: Middle Eastern/American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42757 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48302.

248.481.7767.

Roadside B & G: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

1727 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7270.

Rojo Mexican Bistro: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 250 Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.6200.

Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer &

Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8977.

Sidecar Slider Bar: Burgers. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

280 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham 48009. 248.220.4167.

Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 5 or more. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4200.

Stacked Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Delivery available. No reservations. 233 North Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.5300.

Steve’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6646 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48301.

248.932.0800.

Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily.

Reservations, Lunch only. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.645.9123.

Sushi Hana: Japanese. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.333.3887.

Sy Thai Cafe: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9830.

Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American.

Dinner. Monday-Saturday. Sunday brunch. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.731.7066.

The Franklin Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 32760 Franklin Rd, Franklin, 48025. 248.865.6600.

The Gallery Restaurant: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 6683 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.851.0313.

The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302.

248.858.7688.

The Morrie: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009.

248.940.3260.

The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999.

Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Dinner, Wednesday-Friday.

Reservations. Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278.

Tomatoes Apizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner daily. Carryout. 34200 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009.

248.258.0500.

Touch of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 297 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009.

248.593.7881.

Townhouse: American. Brunch, Saturday, Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.5241.

Triple Nickel Restaurant and Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 555 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.480.4951.

Vinotecca: European. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009.

248.203.6600.

Village Coney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 653 S. Adams.

Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7964.

Whistle Stop Diner: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; No reservations. 501 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.566.3566.

Zao Jun: Asian. Lunch Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.949.9999.

Royal Oak/Ferndale Ale Mary's: American. Weekend Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 316 South Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1917.

Anita’s Kitchen: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 22651 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.548.0680.

Assaggi Bistro: Italian. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 330 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.584.3499.

Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 711 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067.

Bistro 82: French. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 401 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.0082.

The Blue Nile: Ethiopian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 545 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.547.6699.

Cafe Muse: French. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.4749.

Cork Wine Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 23810 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge, 48069.

248.544.2675.

Due Venti: Italian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

220 S. Main St., Clawson, 48017.

248.288.0220.

The Fly Trap: Diner. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 22950 Woodward Ave., 48220. 248.399.5150.

GreenSpace Cafe: Vegan. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. No reservations.

Liquor. 215. W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.206.7510.

Howe’s Bayou: Cajun. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 22949 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145.

Inyo Restaurant Lounge: Asian Fusion.

Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 22871 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220.

248.543.9500.

KouZina: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 121 N. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.629.6500.

Kruse & Muer on Woodward: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 28028 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.965.2101.

Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 410 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.591.5459.

Lockhart’s BBQ: Barbeque. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 202 E. Third St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.584.4227.

Oak City Grille: American. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 212 W. 6th St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.556.0947.

One-Eyed Betty: American. Weekend Breakfast. Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 175 W. Troy St., Ferndale, 48220. 248.808.6633.

Pronto!: American. Weekend Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 608 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.7900.

Public House: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 241 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.850.7420.

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

31542 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, 48073. 248.549.0300.

Ronin: Japanese. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 326 W. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.546.0888.

Royal Oak Brewery: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

215 E. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.1141.

Strada: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday Sunday. Liquor. No reservations. 376 N. Main Street. Royal Oak, 48067.

248.607.3127.

The Morrie: American. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 511 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.216.1112.

Toast, A Breakfast and Lunch Joint: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 23144 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.398.0444.

Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.541.1186.

Town Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.7300.

Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.

415 S, Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.4444.

Twisted Tavern: American. Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 22901 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220.

248.545,6750.

Vinsetta Garage: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

27799 Woodward Ave., Berkley, 48072.

248.548.7711.

Troy/Rochester Capital Grille: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2800 West Big Beaver Rd., Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300.

Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831.

Cantoro Italian Trattoria: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy 48083.

248.817.2424.

CK Diggs: American & Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.853.6600.

O’Connor’s Irish Public House: Irish.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 324 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537.

Kona Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48083.

248.619.9060.

Kruse & Muer on Main: American.

Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400.

Loccino Italian Grill and Bar: Italian.

Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily.

Liquor. Reservations. 5600 Crooks Road, Troy, 48098. 248.813.0700.

McCormick & Schmick’s: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. Somerset

Hamachi “Hot Pot” soup, beef carpaccio with homemade pimento cheese, and a kale salad with roasted sweet potatoes and cranberries, a dish that co-owner Mario Camaj really enjoys. The raw bar will now include daily east and west coast oysters, beef carpaccio, and stone crab, when in season. “What we’re trying to do...(is) keep in mind the fine dining aspect of things and creativity but make it a little more familiar and more approachable for our guests,” Camaj said. The duo have worked together before, at Birmingham’s Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro, with co-owner Gerti Begaj. Speaking of Tallulah, their popular lamb belly ragu is now on BESA’s menu for Detroit diners to enjoy, as well.

Fall, anniversary celebration Just shy of their one-year mark, Birmingham’s Hazel, Ravines and Downtown launched a new fall menu. Said menu – coming from co-owners Beth Hussey and Executive Chef Emmele Herrold — has additions like shrimp toast, cauliflower steak, smoked pork chop with corn pudding, and Aunt Bid’s Pot Roast. The main menu at HRD, as it is popularly known – located at 1 Peabody Street – isn’t the only one that underwent a makeover. So did their dessert menu, revamped by Pastry Chef Olivia Rinke. “We wanted to touch base on the good, hearty, old-school desserts that everyone loves,” said Rinke, who is partial to their chocolate silk pie. The gooey buttercake with a salted-caramel drizzle and peanut butter chocolate trifle have returned, along with new additions, like their vegan pops — in tahini, coconut, and raspberry — and the Wrecking Ball, homemade vanilla ice cream rolled in a sweet and salty mix, topped with Sanders Hot Fudge.

New take on every day In early 2020, Green Dot Stables owners Jacques and Christine Driscoll – along with managing partner Niko Dimitrijevic – will turn on the lights and fryers at a new joint located at 14447 E. Jefferson, Detroit. Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts will specialize in what it’s name suggests, coffee and donuts, along with fried chicken sandwiches. “We’re not breaking a mold of any sort but just trying to upgrade something that’s very traditional or bring it up to speed,” said Dimitrijevic, who grew up in Bloomfield Township with Jacques. The space itself is around 1,200-square-feet and has a menu focused on freshness and quality. It will include drip coffee which is all roasted in-house, cake and yeast doughnuts, and they were currently debating between maple glazed, hot chicken, or a bacon, egg and cheese fried chicken sandwich. Much like Green Dot Stables, the prices will be low, between $1 to $5, in hopes of being an affordable and approachable restaurant for all. Dimitrijevic – a glassblower by trade – is creating steel window treatments and pendant lights to look like 1950s doughnut droppers for the space.

French inspirations People really like the bacon at Savant, which opened in late September at 51 W. Forest Avenue, in Midtown Detroit. Like, really love it. “We have a review on Yelp that says we ruined every other bacon experience ever,” laughed Dana Taucher, general manager. The infamous bacon is also included on their just-launched brunch menu, which will be offered on Sundays, and has the fanciest avocado toast ever. The rest of the French-inspired menu from chef Jordan Whitmore and bartender Rebecca Wurster includes foie gras eclairs, ratatouille, imperial Wagyu steak-frites, and multiple vegan and vegetarian options, such as the vegan carpaccio salad with cashew cheese. The cocktails are no joke, either. Taucher said they’re more scientific than just a regular cocktail, and have different powders, dry ice, gels, foams, and flavored ice cubes. Inside the space there’s a walk-in gallery, and an alleyway next to the building that will be used as an art space. The duo also have plans to bring in local DJs and host pop-ups. “We’re the type of business where we want to sponsor other people,” Taucher said.

Dining deliveries A handful of restaurants from past columns have finally opened. There’s the plantfocused menu at Magnet, at 4848 Grand River in Detroit, from Top Young Hospitality, the team behind Takoi. Chef Eve Aronoff’s second location of Frita Batidos already has lines around the block for her signature Cuban-inspired street food and those award-winning burgers at 66 W. Columbia, Detroit. Three Cats – originally called Three Cats and a Cook – the collaboration between Leon & Lulu co-owner Mary Liz Curtin and restaurateur Matt Prentice, opened its doors at 116 W. 14 Mile in Clawson. The retail space and restaurant serves small plates of American cuisine with a Michigan focus. Also, Cantoro Trattoria Troy, 1695 E. Big Beaver Road in Troy, has closed its doors after a brief run.

Collection, 2850 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.637.6400.

The Meeting House: American. Weekend Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825.

Miguel’s Cantina: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 870 S. Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.453.5371.

Mon Jin Lau: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Rd, Troy, 48083.

248.689.2332.

Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 888 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845.

NM Café: American. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084.

248.816.3424.

Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Blvd, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.375.9200.

Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500.

Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Rd., Troy, 48085.

248.524.1944.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084.

248.816.8000.

Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037. 248.659.8267. Also 2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084.

248.614.5390.

Rochester Chop House: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424.

Silver Spoon: Italian. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Rd., Rochester, 48306.

248.652.4500.

Steelhouse Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1129 E. Long Lake Rd., Troy, 48085.

248.817.2980.

Too Ra Loo: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 139 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307.

248.453.5291.

West Bloomfield/Southfield Bacco: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 29410 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.356.6600.

Beans and Cornbread: Southern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

29508 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.208.1680.

Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 29110 Franklin Road, Southfield, 48034.

The Bombay Grille: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 29200 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, 48334. 248.626.2982.

The Fiddler: Russian. Sunday Brunch.

96

Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.851.8782.

Mene Sushi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine.

6239 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.538.7081.

Meriwether’s: Seafood. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 25485 Telegraph Rd, Southfield, 48034. 248.358.1310.

Nonna Maria’s: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323.

248.851.2500.

Pickles & Rye: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6724 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.737.3890.

Prime29 Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6545 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.7463.

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 6745 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.865.0500.

Shangri-La: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Orchard Mall Shopping Center, 6407 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.626.8585.

Sposita’s Ristorante: Italian. Friday Lunch. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 33210 W. Fourteen Mile Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.

538.8954.

Stage Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.855.6622.

Yotsuba: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 7365 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, 48322.

248.737.8282.

West Oakland Gravity Bar & Grill: Mediterranean.

Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday, Dinner. Reservations. Liquor.

340 N. Main Street, Milford, 48381.

248.684.4223.

It's A Matter of Taste: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2323 Union Lake Road, Commerce, 48390.

248.360.4150.

The Root Restaurant & Bar: American.

Lunch & Dinner, Monday - Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 340 Town Center Blvd., White Lake, 48390.

248.698.2400.

Volare Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

48992 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393.

248.960.7771.

North Oakland Clarkston Union: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346.

248.620.6100.

Holly Hotel: American. Afternoon Tea, Monday – Saturday, Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 110 Battle Alley, Holly, 48442.

248.634.5208.

Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346.

248.795.2077.

The Fed: American. Lunch and Dinner daily, Brunch, Saturday and Sunday.

Liquor. 15 S. Main Street, Clarkston,

48346. 248.297.5833 Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston. 48346. 248.620.8500.

Union Woodshop: BBQ. Dinner, Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday – Sunday.

No reservations. Liquor. 18 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.5660

Detroit Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2684 E. Jefferson, Detroit, 48207.

313.965.3111.

Cliff Bell’s: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2030 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.961.2543.

Craft Work: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 48214.

313.469.0976.

Cuisine: French. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 670 Lothrop Rd., Detroit, 48202.

313.872.5110.

The Detroit Seafood Market: Seafood.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 1435 Randolph St., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.4180.

El Barzon: Mexican. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 3710 Junction St., Detroit, 48210. 313.894.2070.

Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café: Cajun. Breakfast, daily. Sunday Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Saturday.

Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

400 Monroe Street, Detroit, 48226.

313.965.4600.

Giovanni’s Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 330 S. Oakwood Blvd., Detroit, 48217. 313.841.0122.

Green Dot Stables: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2200 W. Lafayette, Detroit, 48216.

313.962.5588.

Jefferson House: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd., Detroit, 48226. 313.782.4318.

Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday- Friday, Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.6837.

Johnny Noodle King: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2601 W. Fort St., Detroit, 48216.

313.309.7946.

Mario’s: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 4222 2nd Ave., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.1616.

Midtown Shangri-la: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 4710 Cass Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.974.7669.

Motor City Brewing Works: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Beer & Wine. 470 W. Canfield St., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.2700.

1917 American Bistro: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 19416 Livernois Ave., Detroit, 48221.

313.863.1917.

Prism: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 E. Lafayette St, Detroit, 48226.

313.309.2499.

Red Smoke Barbeque: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

Trappers Alley Shopping Center, 573 Monroe Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.962.2100.

DOWNTOWN

Selden Standard: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3921 Second Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.438.5055.

SheWolf Pastifico & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 438 Selden St, Detroit 48201.

313.315.3992.

Sinbad’s: Seafood. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

100 St Clair St., Detroit, 48214.

313.822.8000.

Slows Bar BQ: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2138 Michigan Ave, Detroit, 48216.

313.962.9828.

St. CeCe’s Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1426 Bagley Ave., Detroit, 48216.

313.962.2121.

Tap at MGM Grand: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 1777 Third Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1234.

Taqueria Nuestra Familia: Mexican.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 7620 Vernor Hwy., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.5668.

The Block: American. Sunday Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 3919 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.0892.

Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 519 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.964.4010.

Traffic Jam & Snug: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

511 W. Canfield, Detroit, 48201.

313.831.9470.

24grille: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, 1114 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226.

313.964.3821.

Union Street: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4145 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201.

313.831.3965.

Vince’s: Italian. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 1341 Springwells St., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.4857.

Vivio’s Food & Spirits: American.

Saturday Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2460 Market St., Detroit, 48207.

313.393.1711.

The Whitney: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & High Tea, Monday-Friday. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 4421 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.5700.

Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1646.

Wolfgang Puck Steak: Steak & Seafood.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226.

313.465.1411.

Wright & Co.: American. Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1500 Woodward Ave Second Floor, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.7711.

11.19

Join us for three intimate performances by many of Metro Detroitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renowned musicians.

Refreshments and cash bar available.

Second Annual

Tickets are $40 per person or $100 for the entire series.

All performances begin at 7:00pm with doors open at 6:30pm.

December 4

December 11

December 18

DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HORN QUARTET

BALDWIN ENSEMBLE

HARP AND VIOLIN DUO

featuring Andrew Wu, violin Jacqueline Hanson, viola Andrea Yun, cello

Christa Grix, harp Melody Wootton, violin

featuring Mark Abbott, Karl Pituch, Scott Strong, Johanna Yarbrough

To purchase tickets, go to communityhouse.com or call 248.644.5832

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FACES

Madeleine Yang loomfield Hills resident Madeleine Yang hadn't yet entered high school when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, turning the teen's world upside down and setting her on a quest to develop medical advances that will help others in the future.

"I was interested in early breast cancer diagnosis using patient blood," the Detroit Country Day School graduate and current Harvard University freshman said. "My mom was detected at stage 0, which is the earliest detection, but she had a mastectomy and it was extremely invasive. I thought it was really unfair. I wanted to find an easier way to detect it, and earlier."

Yang began emailing professors across the country in hopes of getting involved in medical research. While her goal of pursuing advances in cancer detection were her motivation, she instead became immersed in research involving nanoparticles that could be used to develop new and effective vaccines.

Earlier this year, Yang was awarded with a Davidson Fellows Scholarship for her work in developing a new method to create a universal influenza vaccine. Her project is titled, "Enabling M2-incorporated Influenza Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) as a Potential Universal Influenza Vaccine."

"It was about 2017 or 2018 when the flu hit Detroit really, really hard, and there were some concerns," she said. "The vaccine didn't work very well, and it's produced using chicken eggs, so it takes a very long time to make. The flu was responsible for about 80,000 deaths that year across the United States, and people had predicted it because it takes about six to nine months and hundreds of millions of eggs to develop. That gives time for the virus to mutate, so the vaccine isn't the same virus that is hitting people months later."

Yang's project instead utilizes ovarian cells from an armyworm instead of chicken eggs.

The process enables a universal vaccine to be created in a shorter time frame, and with lower production costs. Further, the vaccine can be produced on a mass scale.

"We already have a stock of virus-like particles we are using to inoculate mice, so it's already going into trials," she said. "It's a very long trial. FDA approval takes like 10 years."

Prior to entering Harvard, Yang was one of 20 students across the country to be recognized by the Nevada-based Davidson Institute for Talent Development with its Fellows scholarship. The program offers scholarships to students 18 or younger who have completed projects that have the potential to benefit society in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and music.

Yang hopes to focus on the drug design and delivery field, and work in academia and the technology industry to develop breakthrough research with real world solutions to help solve global health problems.

"To make an impact, you have to advance with research," she said. "I'm not sure what medicine will be 10 years down the line, but hopefully I'll be part of it."

Outside of school and research, Yang plays piano and violin, and enjoys sailing, which she participated in for three years. She also hopes to inspire other young women to enter the research field.

"There aren't a lot of young women in the field," she said. "It's about empowering other women. It's important that once you have an opportunity that someone opened for you, that you turn around and do it for others. That's the only way that this can get better."

B

Story: Kevin Elliott

GILLIAN L AZAR , REALTOR DENISE ZUCKERMAN , REALTOR

REALTOR

Gillian c. +1 248 613 3400 glazar@hallandhunter.com

c. +1 248 593 0518 gfisher@hallandhunter.com ginnyfisherhomes.com

Denise c. +1 248 535 8226

dzuckerman@hallandhunter.com

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Set in a charming, award-winning private enclave, this elegant home with beautiful custom detailing is true perfection. Westwood Commons Association offers large greenspace, nature preserve, walking trails, gazebo, children’s playhouse, croquet lawn & two parks. Winner of American Institute of Architects Award for “Best Place to Live.”

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$399,900

31101 WESTWOOD ROAD, FARMINGTON HILLS | 4BR/2.2BA | 3,253 SF

H A L L A N D H U N T E R . C O M | + 1 24 8 64 4 3 5 00 | 442 S . O L D W O O D W A R D B I R M I N G H A M

THE COMMUNITY HOUSE Sights and Sounds of The Season HOLIDAY YOUTH THEATRE The Community House Sara Smith Youth Theatre is proud to present Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr. running Saturday, November 9th and Sunday, November 10th. Dive Under the Sea, as we join Ariel and her aquatic friends in this childhood favorite. We invite you to come sea what all the fun is about.

Performance Dates: Saturday, November 9th 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. & Sunday, November 10th, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Ticket prices are: Children’s Floor Seating: $10pp; General Admission: $20pp; Reserved Seating: $30pp, Group Tickets (10 min.): $15 pp. Tickets can be purchased by calling 248.644.5832 or visiting communityhouse.asapconnected.com.

HOLIDAY ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES – SAVE THE DATES 2019 Holiday Concert Series – The Community House, in partnership with Detroit Public Television (DPTV) and WRCJ 90.9 FM is proud to present The Community House’s Second Annual Holiday Concert Series: Sounds of the Season. Our annual Holiday Concert Series will take place at The Community House in the Wallace Ballroom on December 4th, 11th and 18th. Featuring sounds of the season performed by extraordinary chief or visiting musicians from various world reknown orchestras and theaters including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Theatre, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music of the Scarab Club.

Bill Seklar

The 2019 Sugar Plum Tea Party brought to you by The Community House Dance Academy on Sunday, December 8th. Take a trip to the Land of Sweets. You and your little one will have the opportunity to dance alongside our Nutcracker performers, make custom holiday crafts, and enjoy scrumptious treats! Tickets are $20pp for children; $15pp for adults. Tickets on sale now. communityhouse.asapconnected.com Our 2019 Story Time with Santa brought to you by The Community House will take place on Saturday, December 14th. Delight in the magic of the season at one of The Community House’s Story Time with Santa events. Children will enjoy cookies, hot cocoa, crafts and some of Santa’s favorite stories read by Old Saint Nick, himself. Photos are welcome. Seatings occur at 10 a.m, 11:30 a.m., and 1 p.m. Space is limited to 25 children per seating – make sure to reserve your spots in advance. Tickets are $25 per child (includes 2 accompanying adults) and can be purchased either by visiting communityhouse.asapconnected.com or calling 248.644.5832.

The Community House Dance Academy will again host The Nutcracker on Sunday, December 15th in the Wallace Ballroom at The Community House. Two performances at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Spend the holidays with The Community House Dance Academy for this time honored classic. Tickets are $10pp Children’s Floor Seating; $15pp General Admission; $25pp Reserved Seating. Tickets available soon.

ANNOUNCING… The brand-new Rossiter Board Room is open for your holiday business. The Community House is delighted to announce the addition of this beautifully designed, state-of-the-art gathering space to our collection. When it comes to private meetings for business, community engagements, or just about any other occasion, the Rossiter Board Room will far exceed your expectations. When you add up amenities such as a carefully restored fireplace, state-of-the-art technology, concierge service, a customized menu, and many more luxurious offerings, you’ll see why our Rossiter Board Room is the perfect setting for your big ideas to flourish. Sit by the cozy fireplace and let your mind wander.

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS Volunteers have been involved in the everyday life of The Community House for 96 years. They give the “House” a face, a voice, helping hands, and a heart. Our extraordinary volunteers link us to the many neighborhoods, towns and cities that make up the broad range of communities we serve and most of all, they are our best ambassadors.

The Community House and The Community House Foundation invite you to consider joining our esteemed volunteer team, and by doing so, you can be assured that your precious donation of time and talent will be greatly appreciate and will positively impact the lives of those we serve. Help is needed.

For more information about volunteering at The Community House, please visit our website at communityhouse.com to download a Volunteer Application or call Kathie Ninneman at 248.594.6403.

For reservations, tickets or more information about TCH Fall or holiday classes, gathering space and events, please go to communityhouse.com or call 248.644.5832.

William D. Seklar is President & CEO of The Community House and The Community House Foundation in Birmingham.

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Join the many homeowners who have relied on Lynn’s committed service. Contact Lynn today!

Lynn Wiand VP | Mortgage Loan Officer NMLS #394920 T: 248.228.4805 Lynn.Wiand@ChemicalBank.com ChemicaBank.com/LynnWiand A Division of TCF National Bank

DOWNTOWN

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P U T T I N G C L I E N T S F I RS T W I T H E XC E P T I O N A L S E RV I C E A N D E X T R AO R D I N A RY R E S U LT S

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1760 CUMMINGS AVE | BERKLEY

AUDREY A. MORAN Real Estate Specialist audrey@audreyamoran.com 248.721.1044

275 S Old Woodward Ave, Birmingham, MI 48009

SOCIETY NOTEBOOK/GIGI NICHOLS

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Hillel Day School EEC Dedication

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An estimated 200 teachers, supporters and parents gathered at the Hillel Day School Early Childhood Center in Farmington Hills for a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting to acknowledge a multi-million dollar gift from The William Davidson Foundation and the Samuel and Jean Frankel Jewish Heritage Foundation. The funds made it possible for a major expansion which nearly doubled the size of the existing facility and transformed the setting to suit the needs of today’s learners with bright, flexible spaces. 1. Board Director, William Davidson Foundation, Ralph Gerson of Bloomfield and Manny Menchel of Royal Oak. 2. Alan Kaufman and Ellen Folbe of Bloomfield.

3. Amy Sapeika of Bloomfield, Shirley Cetner of Bloomfield and Rivka Schuchman of W. Bloomfield.

4. Sammy and Marla Young of Bloomfield. 5. Ilana, Eden, Ruby and Lily Liss of Birmingham.

6. Arthur Horwitz of W. Bloomfield and President & CEO William Davidson Foundation Darin McKeever of Birmingham. 7. Azaryah Cohen of Oak Park and Eli Saulson of Franklin. 8. Gabe Schuchman of Bloomfield and Eric Bronstein of Huntington Woods.

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WOT Girls on Track

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The M1 Concourse in Pontiac provided the perfect venue for Women of Tomorrow to host “Girls on Track.” The Diamonds and Denim themed fundraiser was chaired by Melissa and Bill Kozyra.

Approximately 275 guests attended the event which included a silent auction, strolling dinner and a thrilling opportunity take a ride on the racetrack. The evening raised over $280,000. The Women of Tomorrow in metro Detroit reaches over 1,200 young women in 48 public high schools with a graduation rate of 97 percent. 1. Jody Nicholson of Canton, Dawn Gedert of Clarkston and Susan Conway of Bloomfield. 2. Julie Fox of Bloomfield and Mary Kosch of Dearborn. 3. Ardis and Alison Greene of Bloomfield and Katie Valenti of Bloomfield. 4. Steve and Becki Cole of W. Bloomfield and Tom Cunnington of Birmingham. 5. Sharon Ricketts of Clarkston and Gail Migliazzo of Bloomfield. 6. Tom Shugars of Pleasant Ridge, Derrick Gray of Detroit, Lisa Morelli of Troy, Wright Lassiter of Bloomfield and Sieglinde Espenshude of Farmington Hills. 7. Co-chairs Melissa Kozyra and Bill Kozyra of Rochester. 8. Samantha Phillips of Rochester Hills, Brad Oleshansky of Birmingham and Jessica Jimenez of Rochester Hills.

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CARE Night Preview Party In advance of the CARE Night Gala, David and Kappy Trott hosted a Thank You Party at their home in Birmingham for sponsors, board members and donors. Over 60 people attended the party. Executive Director Blythe Spitsbergen took the opportunity to thank the guests and to talk briefly about CARE House – an organization that has been a leading community resource in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect in Oakland County. This year’s Gala honors the survivors of child abuse.

1. Executive Director Blythe Spitsbergen of Farmington, Pam Audette of Chesterfield, Steve Guy of Clarkston. 2. Jerry and Pat Wagner of Bloomfield. 3. Dana Selis of Birmingham, Renee McLeod of Birmingham and Jerry Volas of Birmingham. 4. Julie Dawson of Birmingham and Diane Bert of Bloomfield. 6. Vince Giovanni and Suzanne Russell of Bloomfield. 7. David and Kappy Trott of

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Birmingham. 8. Lyle Brous of Waterford, Dan Stall of Birmingham and Tamara Myles of W. Bloomfield.

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Ted Lindsay Foundation Celebrity Golf Outing

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This year’s Ted Lindsay Foundation Celebrity Golf Outing hosted 190 golfers and an additional 90 people for dinner at the Detroit Golf Club. Remarks were made by Red Wings alum Joe Kocur, current Red Wings player Dylan Larkin, as well as Red Wings coach, Jeff Blashill. Courage Awards were presented to the Clarke Family, Kara, Brent, Adam and Noah, and Nick Thielen. Funds raised for the event totaled $170,000 and will support research and educational programs focusing on the cause and management of Autism Spectrum Disorders. 1. Rob Hentkowski of and Kathy Powell of Macomb Twp. 2. Dick Powell of Bloomfield and Sharon Taylor-Fiore of Rochester Hills. 3. Craig Wolanin of Rochester and Jim Galloway of Washington Twp. 4. Red Wings player Dylan Larkin of Waterford and Lynn Lindsay LaPaugh of Rochester Hills. 5. Nicole Smith of W. Bloomfield and Chet Czaplicka of Northville. 6. Red Wings Coach Jeff Blashill of Plymouth, and Red Wings alumni Dino Ciccarelli and John Ogrodnik of Farmington Hills. 7. Casey Baker of Novi, Red Wings alum Mickey Redmond of Franklin and Carl Rose of Orchard Lake. 8. Jeff Scott of Canton, Jim Cummings of Birmingham, Jud Scott of Brighton and Jim Gallagher of Northville.

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GigiNichols@downtownpublications.com 248.515.6105

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Wine & Dine in the D

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The Ninth Annual Wine & Dine in the D was held at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit and featured an evening of gourmet food, fine wine and jazz music. The fundraiser benefited Cure Multiple Myeloma Corp (CMMC) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Prior to start of the festivities, several of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most prominent medical experts led a panel discussion on multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer. Nearly $200,000 was raised for the cause. 1. David and Elizabeth Barash of W. Bloomfield. 2. Mark Amato of Shelby Twp., Pete Easson of Milford and Kelly DelCampo of Rochester Hills. 3. Jill Jasinski of Northville and Larry Harwood of W. Bloomfield 4. Drs. Howard and Barbara Belkin of Birmingham.

5. Event hosts Sid and Sharon Moss of Bloomfield. 6. Helaine Keller of Birmingham, Michele Weingarden of Boulder and Mark Keller of Birmingham. 7. Renee Tull of Birmingham, Jerry Norris and Marja Norris of Birmingham and Barbara Martin of Bloomfield. 8. Darrene Baer of Grosse Pointe and Phyllis Whitehead of Birmingham.

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Dichiera Society Thank You Party

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The DiChiera Society is an exclusive group of opera lovers who give gifts of $2,500 or more annually to support Michigan Opera Theatre's artistic and community efforts. Over 100 DiChiera Society supporters gathered at the home of Richard Sonenklar and Gregory Haynes in Bloomfield Hills for a special Thank You Party that showcased intimate performances by the current studio artists. Performers included Allen Michael Jones, Katherine DeYoung, Darren Drone, Avery Boettcher and Edward Graves. The party was chaired by Barbara Frankel and co-chaired by Dodie David. 1. Gene Bowen of Rochester Hills, Fern Espino and Tom Short of Plymouth and Ethan Davidson of Birmingham. 2. Dawn and Phil Minch of Oakland Twp. 3. Mado Lie of Grosse Pointe Park, Joanne Danto and Arnold Weingarden of Birmingham. 4. Chair Barbara Frankel of W. Bloomfield and Co-chair Dodie David of Marine City. 5. Hosts Richard Sonenklar and Gregory Haynes of Bloomfield. 6. Barbara Kratchman of Bloomfield and Toby Haberman of Birmingham. 7. Edward Klarman of Southfield, Michael Kratchman of Bloomfield and Barbara Klarman of Southfield. 8. Allen Michael Jones of Detroit and Jeremy Zeltzer of W. Bloomfield.

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The Community House Birmingham House Tour

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Rose and Brian Bolyard chaired The Community House’s 31st annual Birmingham House Tour.

Presented by Hall and Hunter Realtors, The House Tour offered attendees a unique opportunity to view some of the area’s most exceptional homes in a wide array of architectural and interior design styles. The House Tour is a signature fundraiser of The Community House Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is home to those seeking continuity between personal, professional, philanthropic and recreational pursuits. 1. Sara Marshall, Molly and Marianne Boukamp of Birmingham and Nancy Harrison of Bloomfield. 2. Michael Lahner and Meredith Carrel of Birmingham. 3. Linnea Watkinson and Tiffany Glime of Birmingham. 4. Kathie Ninneman of Bloomfield and Brad Wolf of Birmingham. 5. Co-chairs Brian and Rose Bolyard of Birmingham. 6. Rana Emmons, Connie Krandall and Pam Davis of Bloomfield. 7. Debbie Ligas of Troy, Mary Choate of Byron and Luanne Grabiel of Birmingham. 8. Patty Blair of Birmingham.

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Artworks Detroit Benefit for Matrix

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Eastern Market’s Wasserman Projects Art Gallery provided the venue for the 24th Annual Artworks Detroit benefiting Matrix Human Services. The event, hosted by Carmen & George N’namdi, Karen & Ed Ogul and Linda & David Whitaker, featured live and silent art auctions from renown local and national artists. Matrix currently provides assistance to more than 20,000 people annually by offering essential needs, education, and supportive services that defuse crisis, treat individuals and family problems, and prevent abuse and neglect. The evening raised $80,000. 1. Matrix CEO and President Brad Coulter and Anna Coulter of Birmingham.

2. Laurie Tennent and Gordon Cox of Bloomfield. 3. Honorary chairs Ed and Karen Ogul of Franklin. 4. Mary and Ryan Bourjaily of Bloomfield. 5. Gretchen Ruff of Bloomfield and Dale McClellan of W. Bloomfield. 6. Steven Rost of Royal Oak, Meighen Jackson of Pleasant Ridge and Veronica Bielat of Ferndale. 7. Ada Richardson of Detroit, Ruth Tyszka of Bloomfield and Katy Dobrowitsky of Birmingham. 8. Honorary chairs Linda and David Whitaker of Detroit.

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GigiNichols@downtownpublications.com 248.515.6105

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The Children’s Center Tour de Fork

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Over 350 people gathered at Eastern Market’s Shed 3 for “Tour de Fork,” a fundraiser for The Children’s Center. Attendees enjoyed an eclectic and rich sampling from dozens of metro Detroit chefs, along with beer, wine and craft cocktails. The event also included art activities, lawn games and food-themed raffle items. Proceeds from the evening benefited The Children’s Center, a not-for-profit social services agency serving vulnerable children and families in Detroit.

Nearly $120,000 was raised for the cause. 1. Michelle and Chris Harrison and Bruce and Janet Wyman of Grosse Pointe. 2. Rick Whitney of Grosse Pointe, Kevin Cooper of Troy and Eric and Patty Karsten of Brighton. 3. Abby Lyng of Royal Oak and Larry Lyng of Birmingham.

4. Fabiola and Thiago Podolsky of Troy. 5. Verita Winn of W. Bloomfield and Nikki Smith of Northville. 6. Laura Lyng of Birmingham, Abby Lyng of Royal Oak and Larry Lyng of Birmingham. 7. Mary Doyle and Laura Lyng of Birmingham. 8. Renee Godfrey of Northville and Tammy Zonker of Royal Oak.

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Hall & Hunter Estate Sale

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Now in its 14th year, the Hall & Hunter Estate Sale is an innovative way for the Birmingham real estate company to give back to the greater community. Each year, clients of Hall & Hunter donate furnishings and home accessories, which are collected and stored by Changing Places Moving Company in preparation for one big estate sale to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County. The evening prior to the sale, a private party was held for 90 sponsors and volunteers. An additional 500 people attended the sale. The donation to Habitat exceeded $25,000 in cash and in-kind merchandise. 1. Rosemary Ricelli of Birmingham and Michela Treharn of Troy. 2. Brad Wolf of Birmingham, Kathy Wolf of Birmingham, Bob Stewart of Royal Oak and Dennis Wolf of Birmingham. 3. Johnna and Bob Struck of Waterford. 4. Karen Pruess and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Oakland Tim Ruggles of Wolverine Lake. 5. Mark and Amy Webberly of Birmingham.

6. Carol Ordona of Bloomfield, Patty and Mike Moran of Bloomfield. 7. Co-chairs Gillian Lazar of Birmingham and Pam Gray of Lake Orion. 8. Ted Edginton of Bloomfield, Tiffany and Jason Glime of Birmingham.

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Cabaret 313 Onstage with Joshua Henry

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A sold-out crowd of 230 were treated to a very special performance at the Detroit Opera House coordinated by Cabaret 313. Guests were seated bistro-style on the theatre’s iconic stage with famed actor/singer Joshua Henry. Henry delighted the crowd with a repertoire of music from Broadway to Motown. As part of its mission, Cabaret 313 also fosters the growth of the art form through educational programming. The day following the performance, Henry taught a master class for the students of Mosaic Youth Theatre in Detroit. 1. Janice and Richard Cherkasky of Franklin, Ron Berris of Franklin and Marilyn Kent of W. Bloomfield. 2. Larry Bluth of Bloomfield and Ginny Beauregard of Bloomfield. 3. Sandy Duncan of Birmingham and Randy Lee of Northville.

4. President and CEO of MOT Wayne Brown of Detroit and President and Executive Director of Cabaret 313 Allan Nachman of Bloomfield. 5. Debbie and Bruce Kridler of Bloomfield.

6. Loree Wasserman of Birmingham, Joel and Shelley Tauber of Bloomfield. 7. Jean Dubin of Bloomfield and Loree Wasserman of Birmingham. 8. Sharon and Alan Hoffman of Birmingham.

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Detroit Crime Commission “Love” Tennis Day

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The Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac provided the perfect venue for the 4th Annual Detroit Crime Commission “Love” Tennis Day. Over 100 players competed in men’s and women’s doubles as well as mixed doubles. Participants also enjoyed lunch, silent auction, raffle and a wine tasting from Scout and Cellar. All funds raised from the event will benefit the Detroit Crime Commission’s Anti-Human Trafficking Initiative and the Detroit Crime Commission’s Witness Protection SafeGuard Program. Just over $20,000 was raised. 1. Ellis Stafford of Ypsilanti and Stephani Yates of Franklin. 2. Libby Shaw of Sylvan Lake, Anne Belleau-Mills of Birmingham and Gaylen Curtis of Sylvan Lake. 3. Helene Kroll, Jean Dubin, Andrea Jacobson and Helen Cleary of Bloomfield. 4. Marisa Marco of Beverly Hills and Heather Tallinger of Bloomfield. 5. Jennifer Newcombe of Royal Oak and Jo Hirlinger of Auburn Hills. 6. Gloria Colton of Bloomfield, Wendy Roth of W. Bloomfield and Carol Young of Bloomfield. 7. Joan Trute of Grosse Pointe Woods, Ilana Kutinsky, Jennie Fox and Sue Pflaum of Orchard Lake. 8. Renee Roth of Bloomfield, Amy Kanaros of Bloomfield and Marnie Anastasio of Farmington Hills.

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ENDNOTE

Our choices in the Birmingham election Residents in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills are being asked to choose candidates to fill seats on their city commissions in the November 5 election.

In Bloomfield Hills, there are five candidates to fill five open seats, so there is no contest. In Birmingham, eight candidates, including three incumbents, are seeking to fill four open seats.

Downtown newsmagazine invited all eight candidates in the Birmingham race to answer questions via a questionnaire which our editorial staff felt were important and relevant to the job of city commissioner. Responses are available in our October issue's Voter Guide as well as on our website, downtownpublications.com, so Birmingham residents can read and review as they make their determinations at the polls and via absentee ballots.

We offer our endorsements on this page, reached after careful deliberation, as one of the voices in the community. Our endorsements are based on candidate answers and our knowledge of the people seeking this office. We established criteria that we felt candidates should meet for our backing. For starters, we looked for depth of knowledge on the issues confronting the city at this point in time and the candidates' positions. A candidate's previous formal involvement in the city also played into our decision. Equally important, we looked at a person's ability to work collaboratively with six other commissioners while presenting their viewpoint, rather than acting just as a disrupter. There is a fine line between being assertive when attempting to sway the opinion of others and being simply combative and confrontational. Toxic personalities have no place on the commission. We also overlooked any candidates who seemed not to understand the role of a commissioner is to set policy and provide long-term guidance for the city, then let the professionals who make up the administration do their job without interference.

Lastly, long-term residency by any candidate does not mean you are qualified to be on the commission.

Three incumbents on the current city commission are seeking a second four-year term, and we give a wholehearted endorsement to PATTY BORDMAN and PIERRE BOUTROS. Without question, they deserve voters returning them to office. It takes time for new commissioners to learn the ropes, and each have found their way. While they do not always agree on every issue, they understand the importance of working respectfully and collaboratively as team players.

Bordman has come into her own this year as the city's mayor. She has her finger on the current master plan discussions and discussions being held on how to moderate prices for residential housing, along with the issues of parking in the downtown core and the concerns of the neighborhoods. She understands the functioning of city hall.

Unfortunately she has been made the target of unfair and insidious criticism fostered by an outlier faction in the community. We call BS. Her knowledge and skills are an asset for deciding the future of the city. She has done a good job and she must be returned to office.

Boutros is a personable local resident and businessman who, because of a paperwork snafu leftover from the previous election, was not able to be certified to have his name on the ballot – but he is eligible to run as a write-in candidate. Because of his love and dedication to the city, he is making an extra effort to make sure voters retain him. Boutros fully comprehends the incalculable value of pursuing public/private partnerships, the importance of finding a solution to the long-term parking issue in the city, or in determining the right way to achieve more affordable housing in the downtown core, that market forces – not “forcing markets” – must be considered. In order to return Boutros to the commission, voters must first fill in the box on the ballot next to the blank space, then write in his name.

For the third spot open on the commission, we were most impressed with THERESE LONGE, who has spent 15 years of service on the Birmingham Parks and Recreation board, and is the current chair.

Her long-term involvement and commitment to the city gives her an understanding of the issues the commission will face and she has the capacity to bring new ideas for consideration. We expect Longe's learning curve will be brief, and anticipate that through her years of city service she developed collaborative skills and the understanding of how to work as a team in the city's best interest.

Our last endorsement goes to CARROLL DEWEESE, albeit with some reservation. We usually wait for some challenger to raise questions about a sitting incumbent but we simply cannot totally ignore what we know about DeWeese. He talks a good game about his commitment to the city and his understanding of issues – the need for more affordable housing, alternate uses for parking, as well as changes that will be required in the zoning code, and is a strong advocate for seniors and senior services, which it is fair to say was his base of support in the last election. But commitment must be demonstrated better if he gets a second term, which includes putting the city as the prime concern rather than his personal activities schedule.

Further, of all the commissioners elected in the last election, he has shown the least growth after four years in the position, surprising after the years he spent with the city planning board.

We understand the logic of sticking with the devil you know best, but for those looking for an alternative, we are most comfortable with JAKE GERMAN. The city often seeks younger involvement to build the bench, so to speak, for the future, and we were impressed with German. While not yet as knowledgeable as some of the other candidates, he appears to be a quick understudy, with the right attitude and temperament for the job.

Voters won't go wrong opting for German.

BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS Forty-three percent of the Birmingham Schools operating budget comes from local taxes, which consists of millages assessed on homestead property (your principal residence) and non-homestead property, which is industrial, commercial and rental

property, along with second-home residences.

State law sets a limit of 14.24 mills on homestead property and the Headlee Tax Limitation constitutional amendment says that the millage amount each year cannot exceed the prior years' tax revenue amount, plus an increase equal to either five percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. The current millage levy in Birmingham Schools on primary residences is 7.1948 mills. The last time voters were asked to renew this part of the operating budget was in 2016, and the tax won't expire until 2021. Like in all school districts and government units, annual millage amounts get rolled back to keep in line with the state constitution limit on revenue increases from year-toyear.

On non-homestead property, the state caps the maximum tax at 18 mills. The current millage rate on non-homestead property is 17.5821 mills, thanks to rollbacks. Voters were last asked to approve this part of the operating budget tax in 2011, and it won't expire until June of 2022.

The ballot proposal facing voters this November would renew these two separate taxes as one proposal effective through 2028.

On non-homestead property, the district is asking voters to set a higher authorization limit of 21 mills, even though voter-approved Proposal A says only 18 mills can be levied on industrial, commercial, rental and second-home property each year. The district says this would allow it every year to continue to automatically circumvent Headlee.

Here's why Birmingham Public Schools, and other districts in past years, are taking this approach. The state school funding allotted to each district provides what is known as a per-pupil foundation amount each year. This state per-pupil amount assumes that the district is actually levying the full 18 mills of non-homestead tax. The state does not make up the difference between the local revenues that the district has the opportunity to collect, and the minimum foundation allowance. If the district does not collect all of the allowable tax at the full 18-mill rate, the district suffers a cut in funding. In the case of Birmingham Schools, this amounts to a loss of about $500,000 each year.

While we are not big fans of an ongoing override of the Headlee rollback, we also understand the impact of the quirk in the state per-pupil funding formula and assume taxpayers would rather accept this approach than suffer voter fatigue with the district returning more frequently to ask for an override at the ballot box.

So we are recommending that voters say YES to the Birmingham Schools millage proposal.

OAKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE Residents in Oakland County are being asked this election to authorize OCC to continue levying its .7545 mill for 10 years, in an operating millage renewal, from 2022 through 2031. It is a renewal of a 2010 operating millage which expires with the 2021 tax levy. The renewal deserves a YES vote.

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