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J. MARCH: PAGE 141 • SOCIAL LIGHTS: PAGE 144 • FRONT/BACK: PAGE 138

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Watering the golf courses in Oakland County Millions of gallons of water are pumped from underground sources and surface waterways in the county each year to maintain public and private golf courses. Here's how the state regulates water withdrawal.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

20

Readers of Downtown newsmagazine are being asked to send e-mails to state House and Senate members in support of a new package of bills that would bring transparency to the office of governor and to the state legislature in Lansing.

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL

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Our periodic gossip/news column about politics and government captures what's new in the races for county water resources commissioner, county treasurer, governor and other items of interest.

CRIME LOCATOR

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

MUNICIPAL

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Township purchasing policy proposal fails; Max Broock expands city footprint; iconic Peabody's restaurant may be sold; more real estate sales competition; Maple Road charter change rejected; Sundance Shoes comes to Birmingham; plus more.

FRONT/BACK

138

Katie Deska gives us the the latest on what’s happening in the front and the back of the house in metro Detroit area restaurants with a series of short takes on the latest news and gossip for the industry.

THE COVER An aerial view of the 18-hole Forest Lake golf course at the Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Township, on the shores of the 40-acre Forest Lake. Aerial photo 2016 Google Earth.

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Recreational pot drive Three competing petition drives would place legalization of marijuana for recreational use on the November 206 ballot for Michigan voters to decide.

105 Never-ending abortion fight It's been decades since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the abortion issue but Michigan remains a battleground in the ongoing fight.

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Matt Nosanchuk

AT THE TABLE

141

Don't set your expectations too high when headed to Kruse and Muer in downtown Rochester, which J. March found disappointing.

SOCIAL LIGHTS

144

Society reporter Sally Gerak provides the latest news from the society and nonprofit circuit as she covers recent major events.

ENDNOTE

154

Legislature needs to act to clarify medical marijuana issues; treasurer the cause of lengthy meetings, poor proposals in Bloomfield Township in an effort to mask his own failings.

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PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Allison Batdorff | Rachel Bechard | Hillary Brody Katie Deska | Kevin Elliott | Sally Gerak | Austen Hohendorf J. March | Kathleen Meisner | Bill Seklar PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Jean Lannen | Laurie Tennent Laurie Tennent Studio VIDEO PRODUCTION/CONTRIBUTOR Garrett Hohendorf Giant Slayer 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 downtown Birmingham.

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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FROM THE PUBLISHER sides of the political aisle. Add to that reports that Lieutenant Gov. Brian Calley and Attorney General Bill Schuette have backed similar efforts in the past.

his month I am hoping readers of this column will take the time to help to bring some pressure on state lawmakers who now have the opportunity to improve transparency in state government with a set of bills introduced in the last couple of weeks.

T

The package of bills introduced of late would do a few things. First, the FOIA would be extended to cover the office of governor.

Second, the proposed bills would create a Legislative Open Records Act. Exempt would be constituent correspondence, personnel files, confidential trade documents that business might share with lawmakers and working papers and communications relative to bill drafting, thereby catching some of the issues that opponents are likely to raise in the weeks ahead.

So at the end of this column you will find themail addresses of local Michigan House and Senate members which allows you to prod area lawmakers to get behind this new effort.

Here's the basic details.

In 1976, Michigan first adopted legislation known as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to codify how citizens – including the media – could request copies of government records in the state. The act laid out the procedures to follow and the exclusions of certain records that would not be subject to the new transparency legislation.

At the adoption of the FOIA, the office of the governor was exempted from being subject to FOIA requests, which in subsequent years has also exempted members of his administration. A later attorney general opinion would extend the same exemption to members of the legislature.

There have been a variety of minor changes to the legislation over the years, including in more recent legislative sessions, some worthwhile and others not. But the exclusion from the FOIA of the governor's office/administration and the legislature is never tackled. Little wonder.

Keep in mind that Michigan is only one of two states that statutorily exempts the governor's office from the FOIA. It's one of many reasons that our state ranked last in terms of ethics and transparency laws in a national study in 2015 conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity.

Now comes the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint and Gov. Rick Snyder has decided to voluntarily release 21,000 pages of his e-mails related to the Flint water crisis, although he had reportedly supported the concept of expanding the FOIA to include his office when he first ran for the governor's spot. Ironically, as he was releasing the flood of e-mails, he left it up to members of his administration to determine if they would follow his example, rather than ordering everyone to follow suit.

Capitalizing on the e-mail release, a bipartisan group of Michigan House and Senate members have introduced a 10-bill package of legislation that would address the lack of transparency in the administration and the legislature.

This is not the first time lawmakers have attempted to tackle the transparency issue. Generally in the past it was always the minority party – be it Democrats or Republicans – which has introduced such legislation. The party in power would just ignore it and any effort became more of a political stunt than a legitimate push to resolve the problem.

This time, however, there seems to be a more concerted effort on both

If approved by both legislative chambers, the new laws would take effect January of 2017.

Our readership for Downtown newsmagazine is an educated lot, and I would have to assume can appreciate the fact that less transparency in government translates into less public oversight. It's that simple.

Although you personally may never have, nor ever will, use the FOIA to seek out government records, as journalists we use this tool on a regular basis to search on behalf of our readers – over 100,000 of them – for records held by the government in order to bring you a solid Downtown newsmagazine.

If each of our reader households would take the time to send an e-mail to their own House and Senate members, together we could have some impact on the transparency issue.

Let them know that you support the FOIA legislation that has just been introduced and want them to support the push for more transparency in Lansing. Trust me, they will listen if enough of you get engaged on this issue. It's for your own benefit.

Michigan Senate Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills: Marty Knollenberg – senknollenberg@senate.michigan.gov Bloomfield Township, Oakland Township: Jim Marleau – jimmarleau@senate.michigan.gov Michigan House Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township: Mike McCready – mikemccready@house.mi.gov Rochester, Rochester Hills: Michael Webber – michaelwebber@house.mi.gov David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@downtownpublications.com

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INCOMING Baldwin Library project Unfortunately, the recent editorial in the March issue of Downtown titled “Don’t expect immediate library funding” had information that could easily be misunderstood by readers.

Quick to dismiss all the progress that has been made, the writer’s skepticism was misplaced about this effort. As a Baldwin Public Library Trustee, I’m hoping to provide clearer information on the proposed Adult Services project.

Over the past seven years, the library has deferred maintenance and reduced employees. In order to minimally bring needed updates to the building, a second building committee was formed. Those involved learned much from the failed millage in May 2014, and listened to what voters had to say. A more modest, incremental proposal has resulted. Many residents once vocally opposed to the bond plan are now very supportive of this scaleddown library improvement plan.

This revised Adult Services plan, which was developed after consulting with the Birmingham City Commission, retains the existing building, reduces the size of the physical collection, while increasing study and collaboration space. It addresses the most pressing functional concerns about the library, including ADA, while also improving aesthetics, including the installation of windows on the south side, which creates a more inviting atmosphere.

It is a cost-effective, prudent plan designed to deliver the best “bang for the buck” to businesses and residents.

Birmingham's City Commission gave unanimous approval to award architectural services RFP to Luckenbach Ziegelman Gardner for phase one drawings. The library will pay for those services. Next, the library must secure funding for the hard costs. The estimated cost of this first phase is $2.2 million The library has pledged to contribute significant funds out of its own fund balance and trust to cover 40 percent of the total project cost.

The next step is to secure funding for the remaining $1.3 million – a number considerably smaller than the $21.5 million proposed originally. We understand the trustees are committed to working with the city to balance the library’s building needs against those of other capital projects. These conversations are underway now, and the library will downtownpublications.com

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

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

continue to progress toward that end.

Detailed information about the plan can be viewed at: baldwinlib.org/renovation. Those interested in learning more about this proposed project are invited to attend library board and library building committee meetings, which are posted at baldwinlib.org/about/administration.

Library Director Doug Koschik and library board members are always eager to answer questions, as well as show stakeholders the current building and the much needed updates.

Sheila Brice Baldwin Library Board President

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Relationship with the earth I was so proud when I read the March issue of your publication.

Downtown’s focus on health and environment issues is outstanding.

Thank you for your watchful eye.

The excellent article about what crosses Oakland County (What’s below the surface?) is a keen insight into our long term relationship with the earth.

I have continued to monitor the Shell site at Maple and Lahser and have forwarded this e-mail to you to demonstrates the extraordinary difficulty of cleaning up toxic chemicals once they enter the ground. In order to remediate the four spills at the Shell station, they will be removing 4,625 tons of soil and 50,000 gallons of petroleum impacted ground water for just this small site. It is my understanding that the entire shopping center will fall under a restrictive deed once the work is completed. The injection of tons of BOS-200 will hopefully finish the job as best can be done.

I bring this to your attention to illustrate the extreme difficulty of “fixing” our human errors.

I am somewhat concerned that neither the county nor the township DOWNTOWN

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appears to have shown any administrative oversight or review of this project, leaving it all to the MDEQ. Michael Alberts Bloomfield Township

Possible problems I read with interest the two feature articles in the March issue of Downtown: “The lead threat” by Kevin Elliott and “What’s below the surface?” by Katie Deska.

We take it for granted that basic public services such as water, energy and sanitation provided for a fee are all safe and dependable. Our trust in public officials is sometimes betrayed, as in the recent case of lead poisoning of drinking water in Flint and in the case of the oil spill from a damaged pipe in 2010 in Marshall, MI. The articles help us to understand potential problems and be vigilant.

Hitoshi Shichi Bloomfield Township

Getting the lead out I’m honored to have been the subject of your new political feature, “Oakland Confidential.” You asked some tough questions and made some tough statements. Fair enough, that’s what you’re here for.

To the question “why am I running" for county commissioner, the answer isn’t because I “just got bored.” I think there’s an opportunity to bring fresh energy, commitment and experience to the job.

For example: in the same issue, your article “The local lead threat” discusses lead contamination problems. In the BirminghamBloomfield area, this doesn’t seem to be a major problem. However, we have large areas of the county with older homes and older pipes. After reading your article, I thought why not get the county to be pro-active?

Oakland has arrangements helping local governments with Main Street Oakland, fiscal management assistance, and road funding. Why not “Get the Lead Out” with a county-wide plan to assist local communities in identifying potential at-risk lead infrastructure and remediating problems.

So why am I running? I want a stronger, more active county commission, I want to repair our relations with Lansing, I want commissioners to stop taking raises while citizens are still hurting. On top of everything else, I want to start Getting the Lead Out. Oakland is a leader with countydowntownpublications.com

local cooperation. I want Oakland County to now show leadership on this issue, leveraging its abilities, partnering with local communities, and bringing a focus to getting the lead threat out of Oakland County.

I’ve got a history of tackling tough issues in Birmingham, Lansing and in Oakland County, and I’ll make this a priority.

And when it’s a reality, Downtown newsmagazine can take the credit, because I got the idea from you.

Chuck Moss Birmingham

Time will tell on Maple Thank you for coverage of the Maple Road lane issue leading up to the March 8 election.

Based on Oakland County election results published on its website, about twice the number of Birmingham residents voted “yes” on the charter amendment than the number of residents who signed the petition to get the issue on the ballot in the first place. The Neighborhood Organization appreciates this support.

Despite this favorable turnout by supporters, the charter amendment issue was defeated by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent (4,447 “no” votes and 2,820 “yes” votes). This may have been the result of more “no” votes from residents living farther from Maple Road than the “yes” votes from those living nearer to it based on our surveys. The recommendation by city officials and two local publications to vote “no” on the issue may also have been a factor influencing the vote.

While we are disappointed on the election outcome, our goal of giving all Birmingham residents the chance to vote on this issue was achieved and we support the majority decision by the electorate.

The Neighborhood Organization continues to have concerns regarding ongoing traffic congestion and the risk of a fatality accident we believe is inherent with a three-lane configuration. But we plan on no further charter amendment efforts to maintain four lanes for this road. It is now the responsibility of the Birmingham City Commission to analyze the three-lane test results and make the right, long-term decision for the benefit and safety of everyone using Maple Road. Time will tell.

Jim Mirro Neighborhood Representative

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OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL

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Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political/government news and gossip items, both on and off-the-record, compiled by staff members of Downtown. Possible items for this column can be sent to OaklandConfidential@DowntownPublications.com.

Good company: Steve Mitchell, one of Oakland’s ‘notables’ and president of Mitchell Research and Communications, a Michigan-based polling firm, says he was in good company in misjudging how the Democratic presidential primary ballot would turn out after Bernie Sanders scored what many considered an upset here in Michigan on March 8.

Mitchell’s firm, which has been doing local, state-wide and national polling for several decades with an office in East MITCHELL Lansing, was singled out by several national news outlets, including a Washington Post columnist, who labeled as “clearly shoddy” a survey by Mitchell Research the weekend prior to the vote. That survey had Hillary Clinton up by a 37-point advantage, which was far from accurate. His polling also came in for criticism from one outlet for only contacting homes with landlines when it is generally conceded that a growing number of homes, particularly those of younger voters, rely on cell phone service.

As Mitchell frames it, his survey results were off, right along with those for the Free Press, Detroit News, Wall Street Journal, WXYZ and a number of others making projections about the Sanders/Clinton contest that day. And Mitchell makes no bones about his polling methodology, an automated survey of voters with landlines because federal regulations prohibit robo-call surveys to cell phones, he says.

An improper voter model which predicted 18 percent of the vote would come from an electorate under 45 years of age, as opposed to the 45 percent in that age bracket that actually developed, is the basic fault, says Mitchell.

For the record, Mitchell Research’s Republican primary survey projections were only a couple of percentage points off.

As to why the research was called out by some national media outlets, Mitchell dismissively notes that he is not part of the “D.C. cocktail circuit.”

In this corner: Rumors have been swirling that former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) is now considering a go for the open attorney general seat in 2018. Whitmer, the former Michigan Senate Democratic leader, told Downtown Publications she is not looking at a possible AG run. However, “I am very seriously considering running for governor. It’s a huge state, and we have a lot of work to do,” she said. “I’m doing my due diligence.”

Whitmer is currently an adjunct professor at University of WHITMER Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and as a lawyer works in the Lansing office of Dickinson Wright, as well as raising two daughters.

She believes her timing is perfect, considering the current political climate. “I look at the state of Michigan that my kids are growing up in, and know we can do better. I look at the kids I’m teaching, and I see their enthusiasm.” Just one potential problem – fundraising, which she said she has not yet begun doing. “The problem of not being in office is I don’t have the ability to raise money and move it over,” she said, perhaps taking a veiled swipe at term-limited incumbent Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, assumed to be amassing quite a war chest for a gubernatorial run.

One more election: On the other side of the aisle, Oakland County political observers are wondering what Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson will do when her term, her second and final, is over in 2018. In a recent interview with Downtown, she denied she was thinking about her next step, but a close political friend of hers said Johnson told her, “I have one more election in me.” But will it be for the governor’s mansion or as Oakland County executive? “Brooks (Patterson) does a great job,” she told us, when we asked last November.

Johnson, a Republican from Groveland Township, served as an Oakland County commissioner from 1988 to 1998, at which time she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives and was re-elected in 2000 and 2002.

Term-limited, she next moved on to defeat incumbent Republican Oakland downtownpublications.com

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County Clerk “Doc” Caddell to take that office, the first female ever elected to that position. Johnson was on the statewide Dick DeVos gubernatorial ticket as lieutenant governor in 2006, which lost to Governor Jennifer Granholm. In 2010, she won the Republican party nomination to successfully run for the secretary of state office, to which she was then re-elected in 2014.

Another local county insider said Johnson is headed for a run for governor, even if it means going against fellow Republican Schuette and his money machine. This source acknowledged Johnson has always had a problem raising money, having amassed only a little over $400,000 in 2014, which will be compounded in the future as she is going through a divorce from husband Don Nanney. Republicans sources said to not count her out.

Clerk contentions: Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown (D) is watching the two Republicans – former county clerk Bill Bullard, who she beat in 2014, and Rochester Hills clerk Tina Barton – who are seeking to run for her office – and she said she is ready. In the case of Bullard, he has been asserting that Brown has not kept the clerk’s office as up-todate as when he ran it, from 2012-2014. Brown just laughed when she heard that, noting how quickly election returns came in on March 8 and other office improvement efforts.

“We started something unique in this county, a property records notification, to combat fraud, that is the first of its kind BROWN in the nation,” she said. With the previous system, Brown said, you would sign up annually with your name and get e-mails quarterly if anyone had signed up on the property with your name. “Now we have this identification search using any search term, done on a daily basis and notifying you on a timely basis.”

Welday vs. Nash: Political consultant and former chair of the Oakland County Republican Party Paul Welday is hoping to challenge current Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash for the post in this November’s general election, which puts to rest rumors that Republican John McCulloch will try to retake the post he lost in the 2012 election. Word now is that former Republican Water Resources Commissioner McCulloch, an attorney, CPA and OCC board treasurer, is considering running for county treasurer.

WELDAY Welday, who filed official paperwork to seek the position on March 10, will face off against Oak Park Republican Robert Buxbaum in the August primary election.

“There have been a lot of issues of significance surrounding water, not only in Oakland County, but across the state. Right here, we have issues in the management of that position. I think I can turn that around...we have real problems, even right here in Farmington Hills.” Welday is CEO and founding principal at Superior Capital Consulting. He worked as chief of staff for former Congressman Joe Knollenberg for nine years, and has been involved behind the scenes with several campaigns throughout his career. In 2008, Welday took 52.46 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 37th District state House of Representatives seat, but lost to Democrat Vicki Barnett in the general election. In 2010, Welday failed to gain the GOP nomination for the 9th District Congressional Representative seat, coming in behind Rocky Raczkowski in the August primary. Welday said he hopes to set aside politics and deliver the level of services the county is known for providing. “You enter the political waters with a little uncertainty this year, but we are focused on Oakland County,” he said.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Oakland County Commissioner and former state Rep. Eileen Kowall (R-White Lake) has been staying busy since leaving the legislature and being elected as county commissioner in 2014. In February 2015, Kowall became a registered lobbyist and has been working with Jeremiah Mankopf of MGS Consultants. While the firm boasts a list of about two dozen clients, including Lawrence Tech, Centria Health Care and other major entities, Kowall said she’s been keeping the work quiet as she eyes her husband Mike’s 15th District Michigan Senate term-limited seat, which expires in 2018. “People will use it to attack me,” KOWALL she said of the lobbying work. downtownpublications.com

T RADITION WITH A

hool y Day Sc r t n u o C nded troit well-rou tion, De a a v s o e n d n i ns. i v that pro bal citize istory of r h lo e g a d f a h o t le i n c W mi eratio . en acade next gen e h t • 1-4 p.m o is a prov t 7 1 n l o i i r t p a ay, A ts educ ts Sund r A liberal ar e h t e rat or Celeb Join us f

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FACES Matt Nosanchuk s the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement, former Birmingham resident Matt Nosanchuk is President Obama's liaison to the American Jewish community and international affairs. As such, the 1983 Cranbrook Schools' graduate works to engage not only those backing the president's policies, but those who disagree.

"Being in this role during the summer, when you had one of the mostly hotly contested issues in President Obama's presidency being discussed, I don't think there was a time when the community was so actively engaged and divided," he said of the administration's Iran nuclear agreement. "The level of activity in the spring and summer of 2015 was pretty unprecedented."

And while he said there is a vocal minority in the American Jewish community who opposed the deal, Nosanchuk said he had "zero cognitive dissonance" on the issue. The shared view on many issues is what led to Nosanchuk working for Obama when he was still a senator in 2008, when he helped lead the campaign's LGBT Policy Committee in Florida. In 2009, he was named a senior counselor to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. After three years, he moved to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before going to The White House in 2014.

"I did have the opportunity to work with Senator Obama and develop issues on LGBT issues, and then the Department of Justice for LGBT issues there, and those priorities, and make several of those a reality."

Nosanchuk said his father, a former judge in Windsor, Ontario, helped shape his commitment to public service. Moving with his mother, a psychologist, to Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood in the first grade, he learned about being in the American Jewish minority near his home. In elementary school at University of Liggett in Grosse Pointe Woods, Nosanchuk was again placed in the position of an outsider.

"When whites were moving out of Detroit in great numbers, that's when we moved in. The city was changing in a lot of many ways, and not for the better. At school, I was the only Jewish kid in my class, and experienced what it was like to be in a minority.

There were certain anti-Semitic attitudes that came to the fore. I was never invited to birthday parties at the Country Club of Detroit, which didn't accept Jews."

By the time Nosanchuk moved to Birmingham and started attending Cranbrook Schools, he had already developed compassion for the outsider.

"My desire to assist those who are being treated unequally took some root there," he said. "I think I can trace my desire to that time, and also later in my life when I came out as gay."

Now living in Silver Spring, Maryland with his son, who is getting prepared to attend college, Nosanchuk credits his experience at Cranbrook and members of Detroit's American Jewish community as some of the seeds of his success.

"I had a great experience at Cranbrook with fantastic teachers who inspired me to think critically and who challenged us to look beyond the walls of that incredibly beautiful campus and how we have a responsibility to take what we were so fortunate to learn and use it for good," he said.

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Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

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4762 S. Chipping Glenn Bloomfield hills $2,295,000 Stunning Hills of Lone Pine custom 2004 home. Gorgeous kitchen with Millennium cabinetry and top end appliances. 12 foot ceilings, brazilian cherry hardwood floors, 5 fireplaces. Incredible main level master suite includes his and her baths and closets. Four car attached heated garage with epoxy floor.

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Well maintained Quarton Lake colonial on a 105 foot wide lot. White eat-in kitchen with corian counters and Sub-zero ref. Gas fireplaces in LR and FR. Spacious master suite with 2 WIC’s and master bath.

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Wonderful 4 bedroom 3.1 bath home in desirable Birmingham Estates neighborhood. Beautiful newer kitchen with granite tops, center island and SS appls. Gorgeous 80 ft wide lot. Walking distance to town.

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A wonderful property peacefully tucked away at the end of a cul-desac on over an acre of beautiful grounds. The existing quad-level home is spacious with a nice floor plan. 4 bedrooms, 2.2 baths. Two fireplaces. Close proximity to downtown Franklin Village and ider mill.

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WATERING MILLIONS OF GALLONS FROM SURFACE,

BY KEVIN ELLIOTT

ore than 1.1 billion gallons. That's how much water golf course superintendents in Oakland County reported pumping out of rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater aquifers in 2014, according to records provided by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ) Water Use Reporting Program. With more than 60 golf courses in the area, Oakland County alone accounts for about 14 percent of all water withdrawals in the state for golf course irrigation – more than any other county in Michigan. In comparison, together, Macomb, Wayne, Kent, and Kalamazoo counties account for about 18 percent of water withdrawal.

Using water pumps capable of pulling more than 70 gallons per minute from wells or the shallow surface of ponds, lakes, streams or rivers, local golf courses pump millions of gallons each season to maintain their green areas. However, such large water withdrawals

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COURSES BELOW GROUND SOURCES FOR WITHDRAWALS

can have negative consequences on individual aquifers and waterbodies, as well as the watershed basin as a whole.

In extreme cases, large water withdrawals from ground wells have lowered the levels of neighboring aquifers or disrupted the water quality of nearby wells. In Ottawa County, on the western side of the state, groundwater withdrawals about three years ago were taking water from aquifers faster than it could be replaced, forcing salty brine at the bottom of the aquifer to be sucked into drinking water and irrigation wells.

Excessive withdrawals also may lower water levels to the point where sensitive ecosystems can no longer survive. High-quality, cold-water streams, such as the Paint Creek sub-watershed in the Clinton River Watershed, are especially sensitive to temperature changes that may be exacerbated by water withdrawals. Yet, competing interests and a lack of research continue to muddy the clear impact of water withdrawals in Oakland County and across the state.

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Scott Brown, executive director of the Michigan Lakes and Streams Association, said lawmakers need to take serious steps to protect the state's water resources. Brown, who serves on the state's Water Use Advisory Council, said those steps include providing funds to study the impacts of water withdrawals.

"You can't make generalities. Every instance – whether it's a surface or groundwater withdrawal – is completely different, depending on the quality and volume of groundwater, the aquifer, and precipitation, in terms of surface water," he said. "It's very tough to say 'x' withdrawal will have 'y' impact on a water resource. It's just very tough to do."

For instance, Brown said, a massive water withdrawal at one location may have almost no impact upon the ecosystem, while the same withdrawal may have dire consequences 15 miles in another direction. he Water Use Advisory Council was created by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2012 to advise the MDEQ, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Department of Agriculture on the state's water usage. Members appointed to the board included those representing industry, farming, conservation groups, water recreation and riparian property owners, as well as golf courses. In 2014, the council issued a report that included 69 recommendations, including nine that called for new staff support at MDEQ. "One of the important conclusions that the advisory council came up with was that every instance is going to have to be investigated," Brown said. "There isn't a lot of data available.

I think the other members of the council were very surprised on how little data there is. We have a long way to go in Michigan. Our Department of Environmental Quality and water resources managers don't have the data they need to make adequate and accurate forecasts for water withdrawals."

In addition to the lack of data on withdrawal impacts, Michigan lacks monitoring or control measures regarding water runoff at golf courses. In fact, the state's laws and regulations regarding water efficiency and conservation earned the state a "D" grade in a 2012 state scorecard conducted by the Alliance for Water Efficiency and Environmental Law Institute. Overall, the state scored just 3 points out of a possible 20. Points were given for having an assigned state agency in charge of drinking water conservation; conducting conservation activities as part of the water permitting process; and providing state funding for urban water conservation programs.

"The academics involved and state resources agencies have undergone a lot of budget restrictions. It's no surprise. We feel they haven't been given the adequate resources they need to protect our water resources," Brown said. "With this much water in Michigan, only 15 percent of our inland lakes have been assessed. The vast majority

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IN ADDITION TO THE LACK OF DATA ON WITHDRAWAL IMPACTS, MICHIGAN LACKS MONITORING OR CONTROL MEASURES REGARDING WATER RUNOFF AT GOLF COURSES. IN FACT, THE STATE'S LAWS AND REGULATIONS REGARDING WATER EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION EARNED THE STATE A "D" GRADE IN A 2012 STATE SCORECARD CONDUCTED BY THE ALLIANCE FOR WATER EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE.

haven't been surveyed for water quality or invasive species. We are way behind the curve for investigating such an important resource.

"It's scary. We need to open our eyes and recognize what a valuable resource we have here in Michigan, and we haven't invested properly in protecting it. If we don't start investing, knowing, preserving and protecting, we are vulnerable. The state legislature needs to step up and appropriate more dollars."

Under state law, property owners that meet certain withdrawal criteria must either report their withdrawal amounts or seek a permit authorizing large quantity withdrawals. Property owners who pump 100,000 gallons a day for 30 consecutive days or more, as well as property owners who have the capacity to pump 70-gallons per minute or more, must register with the state's Water Use Program. Property owners pumping at least 2 million gallons per day, or have the capacity to pump more than 1,389 gallons per minute, must acquire a permit from the MDEQ. The Water Use Program is responsible for registering large quantity withdrawals, collecting annual water use data, making determinations on the potential impacts of water resources as a result of a proposed withdrawal, and issuing water withdrawal permits.

Andrew LeBaron, an environmental quality analyst with the MDEQ's Water Use Program, said no golf courses in Oakland County withdraw enough water to require a permit.

"The permit criteria is fairly new," LeBaron said. "Before that, there wasn't a permit or threshold limitation on any water withdrawal." rior to 2006, there was very little oversight regarding water withdrawals in Michigan. The first laws passed went into effect in February of 2006, and prohibited new or increased water withdrawals that would cause an "adverse resource impact," or any withdrawal resulting in a specified percentage decrease in fish populations. Existing withdrawals weren't included in the law, unless they increased withdrawals over that pumped in previous years. Additional state laws were passed in 2008, further defining adverse resource impacts. As of July 2009, new or increased withdrawals were required to use the state's "water withdrawal assessment tool," which determines whether the withdrawal would be harmful or should be limited.

LeBaron said withdrawals existing prior to 2009 still have to report amounts to the program, but are essentially grandfathered into the system under the pre-existing, or baseline, amount.

"They can basically use up to that amount," he said.

While there are strict penalties for exceeding baseline or authorized amounts, figures received by the MDEQ are selfreported by property owners. To date, there haven't been any enforcement actions taken for exceeding withdrawal figures.

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"We don't see much in the way of selfreporting that exceed their limited numbers," LeBaron said. "There's not a lot of auditing that goes on, and the state doesn't have the resources to double check every one of those things. We haven't sought any fines on water users."

A key factor in creating the state's water use law was a Mecosta County court case in mid-Michigan involving the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation group and Nestle/Ice Mountain. The group started in late-2000, after citizens learned that Nestle//Ice Mountain was running a spring water mining and pumping operation in Mecosta, which was blamed for a drop in lake and stream levels. ction taken by the conservation group resulted in a 19-day trial that led to the temporary shutdown of the Ice Mountain plant in the village of Stanwood. The plant was allowed to continue under a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling, which found the water interests of Nestle/Ice Mountain had to be balanced with the interests of other property owners. In a 2009 out-of-court settlement, Nestle's new withdrawal permit was reduced by almost half, and the company agreed to lower its spring pumping to earlier in the spring in Mecosta, and to continue low pumping during summer months to protect the already stressed stream and lake.

Spring water diverted for consumption, however, is different than water withdrawals that returns water back to its original source.

Some golf courses, such as Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, is designed to capture any runoff from the course and reuse it in irrigation.

Oakland Hills Country Club Superintendent Steve Cook said about 200 of the 270 acres of the club are able to be irrigated. In 2014, the club pumped about 42.6 million gallons of groundwater for course irrigation, according to MDEQ records.

"We have one pond on the south side that takes drainage and well water. We have an underground water storage system, and a cistern on the north course," he said. "We aren't drawing water constantly."

The course has also been environmentally certified by the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, which is intended to organize the efforts of state agencies, Michigan State University, and environmental advocacy groups. The program was developed at MSU with support from industry, state departments, and the the Michigan Water Stewardship Program. It's based on 12 modules that must be completed for certification, including site evaluation, well head protection, fuel and pesticide storage and handling, irrigation, and other categories. The certification is a voluntary program that covers laws, regulations and best management practices for environmental stewardship.

Best practices includes taking measures which focus on knowing where and when to irrigate. Doing so can reduce runoff and

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Water draws by course State of Michigan groundwater and surface water annual gallons drawn by county golf courses.

• Copper Hills Golf & Country Club, Addison, 62,000,000 gallons (groundwater).

• Fieldstone Golf Club, Auburn Hills, 11,830,000 gallons (groundwater); 16,556,944 (surface water from onsite pond).

• Lincoln Hills Golf Course, Birmingham, 6,100,000 (groundwater).

• Springdale Golf Course, Birmingham, 2,165,000 (surface water from River Rouge).

• Birmingham Country Club, Bloomfield Twp., 10,859,100 (groundwater).

• Bloomfield Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Twp., 16,656,000 (groundwater).

• Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Twp., 42,680,041 (groundwater).

• Forest Lake Country Club, Bloomfield Twp., 23,500,000 (surface water from Forest Lake).

• Heathers Club of Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Hills, 1,200,000 (surface water from Heathers Lake).

• Stonycroft Hills Club, Bloomfield Hills, 3,136,000 (surface water from upper Rouge River).

• Wabeek Country Club, Bloomfield Twp., 12,986,300 (surface water from Haines Lake).

• Bay Pointe Golf Club, Commerce Twp., 5,466,700 (surface water from irrigation pond).

• Beacon Hill Golf Club, Commerce Twp., 27,903,603 (groundwater).

• Edgewood Country Club, Commerce Twp., 5,800,000 (groundwater) 13,250,000 (surface water from Lower Straits Lake).

• Hickory Hill Golf Club, Commerce Twp., 3,699,585 (groundwater).

• Franklin Hills Country Club, Farmington Hills, 15,359,352 (groundwater).

• Farmington Hills Golf Club, Farmington Hills, 16,275,829 (groundwater).

• Highland Hills Golf Club, Highland Twp., 14,045,928 (groundwater).

• Prestwick Village Golf Club, Highland Twp., 33,340,615 (groundwater).

• Fountains Golf Course, Independence Twp., 15,418,000 (surface water from Spring Lake).

• Cattails Golf Club, Lyon Twp., 2,650,000 (groundwater).

• Coyote Golf Club, Lyon Twp., 25,200,000 (groundwater).

• Lyon Oaks Golf Club, Lyon Twp., 27,047,000 (groundwater).

• Tanglewood Golf Club, Lyon Twp., 4,450,000 (groundwater).

• Kensington Metropark, Milford Twp., 14,589,000 (surface water from Kent Lake).

• Mystic Creek Golf Club, Milford Twp., 13,671,061 (groundwater).

• Links of Novi, Novi, 3,200,000 (groundwater).

• Blackheath Golf Club, Oakland Twp., 12,990,759 (groundwater).

• Stony Creek Metropark Golf Course, Oakland Twp., 8,400,000 (surface water from Stony Creek and pump house pond).

• The Westwynd Golf Course, Oakland Twp.,

chemical leaching, as well as conserve water.

Using low volume, automated sprinklers that water slowly can also prevent runoff and reduce wind evaporation.

"Technology has changed, and help how we cut down on water use," Cook said. "We have soil monitoring systems in the ground that read moisture content and water saturation, and give data on dew points and humidity. That has all decreased our rolling water usage over 10 years. We track actual usage every month, every year, and our rolling average has decreased by about 10 million gallons over 10 years, and we anticipate that to continue. Our policy is to look every day and every year to decrease water usage by 10 percent. In a super hot year, it's more difficult.

We also communicate to members that green isn't always good."

Cook said the club has also planted more native vegetation, which has helped to eliminate about 40 irrigation heads because the plants need less water.

"We are trying to do our small part, considering who we are and where we are," he said.

Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Township, waters about 80 acres of its 120acre property. The club withdrew about 23.5 million gallons of water from Forest Lake in 2014 for irrigation purposes.

"We are blessed by having our own water source, which would be Forest Lake," said course superintendent Ryan Moore. "It has a minimal effect to water levels. Most of what we use goes directly on the turf. We have become better at using less and less water. It's a craft." oore said the club pumps water as its needed, as it doesn't have a well system on the property to hold water. He said the course also has a bit older design in terms of capturing runoff, but soil moisture monitors are used to reduce overwatering and runoff.

“Runoff has a lot to do with irrigation design, and we are an older system, but have improved that," he said. "There are a lot of advancements, and now you can water to a percent of an inch. We have learned to turn the taps off."

Dr. Steven Grekin, president of the Forest Lake Association, said there is a positive relationship between the homeowners and the golf course. "It's my understanding that we send more water downstream than we are taking out," he said.

Howard Reeves with the U.S. Geological Survey said withdrawal rates are typically small compared to flow rates of a larger waterbody.

"Generally, irrigation rates are smaller than local flow rates. There's never no impact, but I would think it would be small," he said.

Forest Lake is one of many in the county that uses a weir to maintain a court-ordered lake level throughout the year. Such controls may play a part in disrupting flows in a watershed, according to a 2009 study headed

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by Lawrence Technological University Professor Don Carpenter.

The study set out to assess the biological impact of changing flows in the Clinton River Watershed, which accounts for 10 percent of all water withdrawals for golf course irrigation in the state. While his study didn't address golf course withdrawals specifically, he said interrupting the natural flow of the river and its tributaries can disrupt plant and animal life. His findings indicated that court-ordered lake levels across Oakland County are harming the overall health of the watershed.

He said more natural flows in the river would improve water quality, plant communities, fish spawning and endangered species, and species of concern found in the watershed.

"The biggest issue is not looking at the watershed as a whole. They look at one municipality, one golf course – not the watershed as a whole," he said.

A watershed is an area of land that separates water flowing to different rivers and/or lakes. Oakland County is the headwaters for five major watersheds or drainage areas, including the Rouge River Watershed in the south-central portion of the county; the Clinton River Watershed in the northeast part of the county; the Huron River Watershed in the southwest portion of the county; the Shiawassee River Watershed located in a small western portion of the county; and the Flint River Watershed in the northern part of the county.

In terms of water flow, the baseflow of a river refers to the amount of groundwater that discharges from an aquifer into the river.

Baseflow occurs throughout the year, but fluctuates seasonally depending on the level of the water table. The overall flow of a river can be impacted greatly by runoff during, or immediately after, precipitation or snowmelt events. Rivers that are dominated by runoff have low baseflow, and are typically "flashy," and tend to flood and dry quickly.

"We haven't seen too many problems related to golf courses," said Michigan Environmental Council Executive Director James Clift, who serves on the state's Water Advisory Council. "They could have tight water conditions in the late summer, but golf courses, in general, try to create ponds or holes in the spring when water is abundant and use that for irrigation later in the summer.”

Clift said larger, warmer rivers tend to be able to take more impact than cold water rivers and streams, which can't handle as much variation. ne of the high-quality, cold water streams in the county is in the Paint Creek sub watershed area of the Clinton River Watershed. More than 11 million gallons of water were withdrawn in 2014 from Paint Creek, according to the MDEQ. However, what impact the withdrawals had upon the creek is uncertain.

"We haven't looked at withdrawals much," said Matt Einheuser, a water ecologist with

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10,480,068 (groundwater).

• Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club, Oakland Twp., 22,500,000 (groundwater).

• Indianwood Golf & Country Club, Orion Twp., 27,149,000 (groundwater).

• Oakhurst Golf & Country Club, Orion Twp., 32,064,308 (surface water from No. 9 pond).

• Paint Creek Country Club, Orion Twp., 11,700,000 (surface water from Paint Creek).

• Boulder Pointe Golf Club, Oxford Twp., 49,000,000 (surface water from Lake Dewls).

• Oxford Hills Golf & Country Club, Oxford Twp., 19,824,266 (surface water from Bailey Lake).

• The Links at Crystal Lake, Pontiac, 6,598,421 (surface water from Crystal Lake).

• Great Oaks Country Club, Rochester, 13,123,223 (surface water from Sargeant Creek).

• Oakland University, Katke-Cousins Golf Course, Rochester, 70,522,740 (groundwater), 20,695,000 (surface water from Golf and learning pump station).

• Pine Trace Golf Club, Rochester Hills, 30,644,100, (surface water).

• Red Run Golf Club, Royal Oak, 27,750,000 (groundwater).

• Walnut Creek Country Club, South Lyon, 37,750,000 (groundwater).

• Plum Hollow Country Club, Southfield, 9,700,000 (surface water from Evans Creek).

• Heather Highlands Golf Course, Springfield Twp., 16,146,339 (surface water).

• Huron-Clinton Metropark, Indian Springs Golf Course, Springfield Twp., 3,072,631 (surface water from irrigation pond).

• Oakland County Parks, Springfield Oaks Golf Course, Springfield, 10,600,000 (groundwater).

• Shepherds Hollow Golf Club, Springfield Twp., 10,500,000 (groundwater) 15,700,000 (surface water from pond).

• Sanctuary Lake Golf Course, Troy, 16,440,563 (surface water from pond).

• Sylvan Glen Golf Course, Troy, 15,967,000 (surface water from Sylvan Glen Lake).

• Glen Oaks Golf Course, Waterford, 7,925,000 (groundwater), 5,450,000 (surface water from Pebble Creek pond/pumphouse).

• Pontiac Country Club, Waterford, 9,327,036 (surface water from Elizabeth Lake).

• Knollwood Country Club, West Bloomfield, 13,367,170 (groundwater).

• Orchard Lake Country Club, West Bloomfield, 24,000,000 (surface water from Orchard Lake and Upper Straits Lake).

• Pine Lake Country Club, West Bloomfield, 9,468,449 (surface water from Pine Lake).

• Shenandoah Country Club, West Bloomfield, 9,850,000 (groundwater).

• Tam O’Shanter Country Club, West Bloomfield, 26,743,390 (surface water from Harris Lake).

• Twin Beach Country Club, West Bloomfield, 9,327,000 (groundwater).

• Brentwood Golf & Country Club, White Lake, 28,193,838 (groundwater).

• Oakland County Parks, White Lake Oaks Golf Course, White Lake, 9,326,000 (surface water from Huron River pond).

the Clinton River Watershed Council. "If they get to a certain magnitude, they can have an effect because it takes a balance away from the groundwater inputs, and then you get more surface water input, and that could effect the temperatures and lower flows."

Still, Einheuser said there have been issues in the watershed.

"Historically, over the past couple of years, there have been times when levels are low and you lose habitat during those times," he said.

"It can have an effect on the ecology of the system – usually that means you have low flow, and then you have a rain. The Clinton River watershed is really flashy, where in a groundwater-fed system, it's pretty consistent." ally Petrella, with the Friends of the Rouge Watershed Council, said golf courses likely contribute to the issues in the watershed, but aren't the largest source of problems. Intense industrial use and urban stormwater runoff are large factors. "We have huge problems from runoff," she said.

Yet, some superintendents say irrigation may help improve water quality, as opposed to urban runoff that isn't filtered through grasses and other vegetation.

"It's retained on site, and it's all basically filtered through grasses before it's discharged," said John Gray, course superintendent at Stonycroft Hills Club in Bloomfield Hills, which used about 3.1 million gallons of water in 2014 from the Upper Rouge River. "Surface runoff is minimal here. It's contained to a drainage system that intercepts water before it reaches the creek."

Don Knop, course superintendent for Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester, said the course is built to receive runoff. The course withdrew about 13.1 million gallons of water from Sargent Creek in 2014.

"We have three ponds on the course that hold water. There are no wells. We have a stream that runs through the golf course, and all the road salt and silt from the road runoff is held and we use that for watering," he said. "We screen what we can, and we test quality on and off the property, and it never leaves worse. The course feeds into a trout stream, so we need to be on our toes all the time."

Kate Moore, executive director of the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association, said best practices recommended by the environmental stewardship program helped to reduce the impact of water withdrawals and runoff. Educating golfers themselves has further helped to alleviate the need for greener courses, she said.

"You hear 'brown is the new green,'" she said. "Overwatering and the desire for a perfect emerald green – consumers have become more aware of that, as well," she said. "You train the consumer and the operator to expect changes in course condition. Depending on where they are located and the weather, it's OK that it's not perfect all the time."

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Nanci J. Rands, Associate Broker Meredith Colburn, Associate Broker

BIRMINGHAM 911 Brookwood Street | $1,995,000 Tremendous 2000-built Kojaian home on one of Birmingham’s most beautiful streets. Handsome library with custom built-ins. Cooks kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances & stone countertops. Great room with 2-way fireplace to sunroom. Luxurious master suite. 3 car-garage.

6 Bedrooms 5 Full, 2 Half Baths 9,446 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216020136

Tremendous value! Extraordinary 2000-built soft contemporary on nearly 2 private acres. Jerusalem limestone and stucco exterior. Brazilian cherry wood floors. Sophisticated 1st floor master suite with spa-like bath. Poggenpohl kitchen. Finished walkout lower level. 4-car heated garage. Generator.

BU ILD SIT E

4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 5,638 Square Feet MLS# 216020139

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 4710 Ardmore Drive | $1,895,000

FRANKLIN VILLAGE 31600 Briarcliff Road | $895,000 Build Site 3.37 Acres MLS# 215106579

Fantastic opportunity to build the home of your dreams on this 3.37 acre site in the heart of Franklin Village.

Architectural plans available.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 675 Hillcrest Drive | $2,495,000 6 Bedrooms 7 Full, 1 Half Baths 6,758 Square Feet MLS# 215106570

Estate property on 3.73 acres off Vaughan Road.

Pool, spa, tennis and allsports courts. 1500 sq. ft. guest house. 3-car garage.

WEST BLOOMFIELD 4922 Panorama Circle | $570,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 3 Half Baths 4,203 Square Feet MLS# 215111358

Fabulous Herman Frankel contemporary. Open floor plan. Gourmet kitchen.

Spacious master suite.

Finished LL. 3-car garage.

For more information, visit RandsColburn.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Nanci J. Rands

Meredith Colburn

Associate Broker

Associate Broker

248.701.9000

248.762.5319

NRands@HallandHunter.com

MColburn@HallandHunter.com

METAMORA 3211 Wilder Road | $1,850,000

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 685 Hillcrest | $1,950,000 5 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 4,616 Square Feet MLS# 216003011

Renovated and expanded 2-acre Vaughan Road estate for under $2M! Outstanding 1st floor master suite with slate tile bath. Gourmet island kitchen opens to spacious family room with fireplace. Custom rock pool with waterfall and spa. 3-car garage.

BIRMINGHAM 111 Willits Street, Unit #307 | $749,500 2 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 1,537 Square Feet MLS# 215081486

3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 3 Half Baths 4,275 Square Feet MLS# 216005224

55-acre estate in Metamora Hunt Country! Light and nature blend in this 1994 home. Living and dining rooms overlook swimmable 2.5-acre pond. Gourmet kitchen. Master suite has Pewabic tile fireplace. Full daylight basement. May develop as equestrian facility.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 200 Woodwind | $1,295,000

BIRMINGHAM 679 Shepardbush Street | $1,245,000

Beautiful in-town Willits 4 Bedrooms unit with quiet balcony.

3 Full, 3 Half Baths Stone and wood floors.

7,601 Total Sq. Ft. Open kitchen. Spacious master suite. In-unit laundry. MLS# 216016342

Builder’s own Tringali design in desirable Chestnut Hills. Great living spaces plus walkout lower level.

Spectacular 2-story rec room.

4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 5,115 Square Feet MLS# 216001610

Impeccable, spacious 2003 built home in Poppleton Park area. 4 bedroom suites.

Elevator. Gourmet kitchen.

Superb master. 3-car garage.

The Real Difference in Real Estate

Lynn Baker & Deby Gannes 248.379.3000 LBaker@HallandHunter.com

248.379.3003 DGannes@HallandHunter.com

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP 1080 Collins Court | $1,998,000 6 Bedrooms 5 Full, 2 Half Baths 11,301 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216001932

Private sanctuary on 4.66 acres, backing to one acre pond with bridge to island.

Walkout LL. 6-8 car garage.

Total attention to detail!

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP 2312 Pond Vallee Drive | $1,595,000 5 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 7,442 Square Feet MLS# 216023510

WEST BLOOMFIELD 4711 Cove Road | $1,899,900

2.41 acre estate in luxurious gated community. Georgian Colonial offers elegant master suite and finished daylight lower level.

Garages with room for 6-7 cars.

5 Bedrooms 6 Full, 1 Half Baths 8,294 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215123335

For cottages to castles, we are your HOMETOWN real estate experts! v Regular personal contact with buyers/sellers

Gated 2.3 acres with 226’ lakefront & dock/beach on all-sports Walnut Lake. 1st floor master.

Walkout LL with spa/workout room, family room, BR/2 baths.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP 3102 Royal Berkshire Lane | $719,900 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 5,072 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216000438

Truly a designer showcase home! Better than new with fabulous master. Amazing patio & deck with built-in BBQ kitchen and firepit. Finished walkout LL.

v Listings advertised on 25 websites with 660+ links v Consistent advertising in 12 local magazines, newspapers and event venues FRANKLIN VILLAGE 25301 Franklin Park Drive | $649,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full Baths 3,814 Square Feet MLS# 216015074

Estate section on private, wooded 1.33 acres surrounded by multimillion dollar homes.

Panoramic views of nature.

Upper level balcony. Greenhouse.

v We consult with builders and architects on local trends v We close on 99% of seller/ buyer transactions! v 8 incredible support staff

WEST BLOOMFIELD 3332 Pine Estates Drive | $555,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,260 Square Feet MLS# 2160009974

Pine Lake access and dock at end of quiet street. Volume ceilings & lots of light. Updated kitchen and baths. 4th bedroom in finished LL. Bloomfield Hills schools.

Visit LynnandDeby.com or Like Us on Facebook at Lynn and Deby - Hall & Hunter Realtors 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Mark L. Bess

Sal Impastato

Realtor

Realtor

248.425.3778

248.763.2223

MBess@ HallandHunter.com

SImpastato@ HallandHunter.com

BIRMINGHAM 720 Kennesaw Street | $1,395,000 Exquisite Poppleton Park Tudor offers lovely first-floor master suite with high ceilings & fireplace. Close to downtown, this betterthan-new completely updated home offers old world detail blended with today’s current style and quality throughout. Foyer with open staircase, iron railing & leaded windows. Charming living room with French doors overlooking bubbling water feature.

Spacious dining room with plaster crown molding and bay window. New state-of-the-art kitchen opens to vaulted family room with limestone fireplace, custom wet bar & French doors overlooking private yard. Finished lower level rec room.

NE W

SO LD IN 3

PR ICE

DA YS !

4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,227 Square Feet MLS# 216016311

BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE 732 Covington Road | $677,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full, 2 Half Baths 2,709 Square Feet MLS# 216012346

Sophisticated Village Colonial offers style and amenities.

Stunning granite island kitchen opens to vaulted family room.

Finished LL with half bath.

BLOOMFIELD 745 Brookwood Walke | $574,900 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,487 Square Feet MLS# 216024798

Updated Colonial on hillside setting. Large library with cherry flooring. New kitchen.

LL with 12’ screen theater room & possible 5th bedroom.

ROYAL OAK 708 Hawthorn Avenue | $335,000 3 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 1,403 Square Feet MLS# 216018302

Completely rebuilt Craftsman Colonial steps from downtown.

Spacious living room & new maple/granite kitchen. Great 23’ x 12’ 3rd floor bonus room.

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Cheryl Riback Associate Broker, ABR, SRES

248.808.3112 CRiback@HallandHunter.com

NEW LISTING

BLOOMFIELD 3715 Durham Court | $1,599,000 5 Bedrooms 5 Full, 2 Half Baths 9,541 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216020743

Gorgeous updated home designed by DesRosiers Architects with high ceilings in the living/great room. Mesmerizing lakefront views on Wabeek Lake with a beautiful landscaped sandy beach and floating dock. Many recent upgrades, including new hot water heater, furnaces (5), newer windows (2014), new landscaping with LED and solar LED lighting and new steps leading to the beach. Magnificent high-end chef’s kitchen with granite counters, island, walk-in pantry, and breakfast nook overlooking lake.

Expansive wraparound deck. Walkout lower level features exercise area, and space for a sauna and kitchen. 3-car garage.

SOLD

BLOOMFIELD 1430 Inwoods Circle | $5,900,000 5 Bedrooms 5 Full, 3 Half Baths 13,884 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215075349

Prestigious Kirk in the Hills with panoramic views of lower Long Lake from all rooms. This stunning custom home is on the highest point of land on the lake. 1st floor master with incredible marble bath. Spectacular finished walkout lower level. Too many details to list!

BLOOMFIELD 4823 W. Wickford | $1,790,000 4 Bedrooms 5 Full, 3 Half Baths 11,951 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216001986

Tobocman-designed home in gated Hills of Lone Pine offers tranquil views of Minnow Lake and natural setting. Comfort and warmth of a personal retreat. First-floor master suite. Walkout LL offers kitchen, pool, gym, spa/steam room. 3-car garage.

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Adam Waechter Associate Broker

313.801.8018 akwhallandhunter@gmail.com

NEW PRICE

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 3635 Lahser Road | $1,199,000 5 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 5,414 Square Feet MLS# 215095800

BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE 1435 N. Cranbrook Road | $929,000

Open and elegant home on the 4th fairway of Bloomfield Hills Country Club. Vaulted ceilings and expansive windows for great views. First floor master and laundry. 5th bedroom could be a fantastic in-law suite, office or bonus/game room. New roof.

4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 4,150 Square Feet MLS# 216025520

Well-maintained Village Colonial on 1+ acre with 1st floor master suite and laundry. Abundance of natural light throughout. 3 fireplaces. Multi-functional lower level with 2 staircases offers a rec room with natural fireplace, and multiple bonus rooms.

FOR LEASE

TROY 4647 Riverchase Court | $779,000 5 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,929 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216020946

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 7 Manorwood | $749,000

4 Bedrooms Cul-de-sac parklike setting one of the best lots in the Oak 4 Full, 1 Half Baths River Sub. Remodeled kitchen. 4,946 Total Sq. Ft. Walkout LL with rec room, & MLS# 216023490 BR/bath. 3-car garage.

Gracious home on private drive with exceptional views & natural light. Huge living room with 12’ ceilings.1600 sq. ft. walkout LL. Elevator.

Contact me for your private showing

BLOOMFIELD 3833 LAKELAND Lane | $6,900/month 5 Bedrooms 5 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,308 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216003889

Island Lake living at its best!

Open contemporary in private location with 240’ of frontage & dock for fishing/sunbathing.

1st floor laundry. 2.5-car garage.

| AdamWaechter.com

442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Ginny Fisher Realtor

248.593.0518 GFisher@HallandHunter.com

NEW LISTING

NEW PRICE

BIRMINGHAM 682 Wallace Street | $1,250,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 3,457 Square Feet MLS# 216023734

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1772 Heron Ridge Drive | $1,599,000

Gorgeous Tringali-designed/Derocher-built home in the heart of Birmingham. Great style & impeccable detail, with 9’ ceilings & dramatic staircase. Island kitchen with gathering room. Spacious master suite. Finished lower level. Lovely rear garden and attached garage.

4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 7,385 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 216023366

Pristine executive retreat in private gated enclave on ravine setting. Renovated Millennium cherry kitchen opens to family room. Beautifully finished walkout lower level with possible 5th bedroom. Lower paver terraces and expansive decks. 4-car garage.

NEW PRICE

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 245 Chestnut Circle | $750,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 3,823 Square Feet MLS# 216023810

Elevated 3/4-acre site in desirable Chestnut Hills.

Paneled library. Expansive great room leads to lovely gardens. Spacious master.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1000 Bretton Lane | $699,900 4 Bedrooms 4 Full Baths 5,994 Total Sq Ft. MLS# 215125143

Almost 2 private, wooded acres! Vaulted great room has expansive windows for gorgeous views. Walkout LL with kitchen & poss. 5th BR.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1111 Kensington Road | $425,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,754 Square Feet MLS# 215107960

Wooded, private 1-acre setting with amazing views.

Eat-in kitchen. Master with deck access. Walkout LL. Also listed as vacant land.

For more information, visit GinnyFisherHomes.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

442 South Old Woodward Avenue Birmingham, Michigan 48009

248.644.3500

Lynda Schrenk Realtor

Amy Zimmer & Tiffany Glime 248.469.6430

248.760.6026

AZimmer@HallandHunter.com

248.930.5656

LSchrenk@HallandHunter.com

S

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TGlime@HallandHunter.com

BIRMINGHAM 825 Hazelwood Street | $999,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,977 Square Feet MLS# 215104539

Newer-built Victorian in sought-after neighborhood.

Sweeping front porch & professionally landscaped yard. Open floor plan. Gourmet kitchen opens to family room & patio. Master suite with fireplace. LL has gym, steam shower, dry sauna, bar and family room.

SALE PENDING

BIRMINGHAM 1793 Melbourne Street | $775,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,698 Square Feet MLS# 215124622

Completely renovated, like-new Smart Home one block to Quarton Elementary & playground. Gourmet kitchen with marble island opens to family room and informal dining room overlooking private fenced yard & patio. New roof, all new windows.

BIRMINGHAM | $629,000 1751 S. Bates St. | 1751Bates.epropertysites.com 5 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Bath 2,467 Square Feet MLS# 216001146

This custom brick home is an incredible opportunity to live in walking distance to downtown! Openconcept design. 2-story living room. Epicurean island kitchen. 1st floor bedroom. Upper laundry. Deck and covered porch. 2-car garage with guest house.

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

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04.16

FACES

Arn Tellem irmingham resident Arn Tellem moved to metro Detroit less than a year ago, after accepting a job as the Vice Chairman of Palace Sports Entertainment, owner of the Detroit Pistons. But the Philadelphia native feels right at home after spending more than 30 years in Los Angeles representing professional athletes.

Tellem, who previously was a sports agent, represented more than 500 pro baseball and basketball players, including former Piston Ben Wallace.

He spent nine years as vice chairman of the Los Angeles-based Wasserman Media Group and oversaw the Team Sports Division. His own agency, Tellem and Associates, was acquired in 1999 by SFX Entertainment, where he served as CEO until joining the Wasserman Group. Tellem was recognized by The Sporting News as the industry's top agent from 2003 to 2006.

"I felt at this state that I wanted to make an impact. I enjoyed representing athletes and helping them, but it's really helping them on an individual basis, in their personal life. I wanted to do something more, and have a broader and greater impact," he said. "To help a team and its business, and the platform it gives you in the community to do something good, was too good and interesting of an opportunity to turn down – if not now, when?"

Tellem began representing athletes in 1981, shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School.

"I went to law school to get into government service. My dream was to run a presidential campaign. I kind of fell into sports," he said. "The agent business was relatively young. I felt you were fighting for one's dignity. I believed and advocated for players rights and their ability to have a say in their career and have their voices heard."

B

The grandson of Jewish immigrants, as a boy Tellem grew up hearing stories about Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, one of the first Jewish sports stars of the 20th century.

"They came to this country with nothing. Sports was a way of being an American, and they were great sports fans," he said. "Sometimes I feel it was fate."

Since relocating to Detroit, Tellem has been working on behalf of Pistons owner Tom Gores to further outreach in local communities. Working with the Detroit Police Athletic League to support youth recreation basketball, Tellem said the Pistons are helping to build athletic and life skills. He has also helped the Pistons work with AmeriCorps, Mitch Albom Charities, and others. As for the player side, Tellem said he is here to assist coach Stan Van Gundy build a championship team, something he said the organization is well on its way to doing.

"I feel like I've lived here my whole life," he said. "It's going on seven months, but I feel connected to the community. That has been the best part. The people at the Palace are terrific, the community has been welcoming, warm and embracing. It's a wonderful place to live."

Of course, there is one item Tellem misses from his decades in southern California.

"We need to get some top sushi restaurants here. There's one on every block in LA, if not more. We need at least a few here," he said. "If we could bring SUGARFISH here, that would be like bringing in an NBA franchise player."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Courtesy of Palace Sports Entertainment

MARIJUANA PETITIONS TO LEGALIZE, AND WHAT THEY MEAN

BY KATIE DESKA

pproaching the eighth anniversary of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA), overwhelmingly approved by Michigan voters, the current political battle over cannabis centers not so much on whether or not the state should legalize recreational marijuana, but rather, it poses the question of when legalization will take effect, and who will control and profit from the million dollar industry.

Fighting to appear on Michigan’s November 2016 ballot are three initiatives, each outlining a distinctly different approach to legalized recreational marijuana. At press time, only MILegalize and Abrogate Prohibition Michigan, two of the three groups that come from opposing schools of thought, were reaching out for support from the public and actively circulating petitions.

A

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Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra Nancy Ambrose King, Oboe Overture to La finta giardiniera Symphony No. 29

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DOWNTOWN

04.16

The capital of the U.S., and four states – Oregon, Alaska, Washington, and Colorado – have already legalized marijuana for recreational use. Additionally, multiple cities around the country have passed ordinances decriminalizing the substance, effectively diluting the penalty of possession from a misdemeanor or felony, to a civil infraction.

Ann Arbor was the first city in Michigan to decriminalize it in 1972. More than 30 years later, following the 2008 passage of the MMMA, an additional 17 municipalities followed suit, each crafting their own ordinance that defines the amount of marijuana to be in the bracket of civil infraction. Seven cities within Oakland County did so, namely, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Berkley, Ferndale, Keego Harbor, Hazel Park, and Oak Park. Other areas in Michigan with decriminalization ordinances on the books include Detroit, Lansing, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Flint.

D

espite growing acceptance of studies illustrating the effects of marijuana as a medical treatment, and increasing social approval of recreational use, the federal government maintains its classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, a category defined by the drug enforcement agency as “the most dangerous class of drugs with a high potential for abuse and potentially severe psychological and/or physical dependence.” Heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote are listed next to cannabis. Comparatively, the second most dangerous category, Schedule II, includes cocaine, methamphetamine, Adderall, Ritalin, and Vicodin.

“I certainly think it (marijuana) ought to be rescheduled,” said former Attorney General Eric Holder in an interview with P.B.S., recorded last September and released in February. “You know, we treat marijuana in the same way that we treat heroin now, and that clearly is not appropriate. So at a minimum, I think congress needs to do that. Then, I think we need to look at what happens in Colorado and what happens in Washington,” referring to two states that have profited immensely from legalized marijuana.

“In June, recreational marijuana sales hit $50 million for the first time, then in July sales rose over $55 million. If you add in medical marijuana sales, the total comes to $96 million for July, also higher than June’s total of $85 million. The portion of these sales in July that is earmarked for school construction projects is $3 million,” wrote Debra Borchardt in Forbes Magazine last fall of Colorado sales.

Colorado voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012, the same year as Washington. “According to the Colorado Department of Revenue,” Borchardt’s article read, “the state has received nearly $70 million in tax revenue from marijuana from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015, easily beating the nearly $42 million in taxes on alcohol.”

The most publicized, and seemingly viable, legalization effort afoot in Michigan today is coordinated by the group known as MILegalize, led by Lansing-based attorney Jeffrey Hank, who projects the act will generate “hundreds of millions in new tax revenue. We’re likely to save the state $300 million per year, generating a couple hundred million in new tax revenue.”

MILegalize is petitioning for the Michigan Marijuana Legalization, Regulation, and Economic Stimulus Act, drafted by the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee, composed of a number of the state’s top medical marijuana lawyers. Approved for circulation by the Secretary of State last June, the ballot initiative, if passed, would go into effect on March 1, 2017.

Under the act, any individual, age 21 and up, would be permitted to grow up to 12 mature cannabis plants at home, and allowed to possess the amount of marijuana processed from 12 plants. “Under ours, there would be no possession limit under state law,” stated Nick Zettell, campaign manager for Oakland County MILegalize.

Section 11 of the act states, “Localities may adopt rules necessary to implement this act and may allow or prohibit the operation of marijuana establishments.” For commercial businesses, localities would be responsible for licensing of facilities for marijuana testing, product manufacturing, and retail. The structure of the licensing allows for an interwoven industry that gives, for example, a grower the ability to sell, and a processor to grow.

Required labeling includes the number of 10 mg servings of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in each product, which is the chemical primarily responsible for marijuana’s effect.

A hemp industry is permitted with guidance from the department of agriculture, but the act notes that “the department may not adopt rules based on the legal status of hemp under federal law, or which creates an unreasonably impractical burden upon a Michigan farmer.”

The act does not supersede the MMMA, but rather increases patient access to more palatable forms of the drug, including oils, extractions and/or “edibles,” food items infused with marijuana, which are currently prohibited under the MMMA. Supporters of medical marijuana, including some lawmakers, encourage legalization of alternative methods for medial marijuana ingestion, which currently must be smoked or otherwise inhaled.

The second, and more freewheeling, group currently petitioning is Abrogate Prohibition Michigan (APM), which advocates full repeal of cannabis prohibition, and proposes a constitutional amendment that would take effect this December, said APM spokesman Timothy Locke, who filed the petition with the Secretary of State at the end of last year.

The first line of the sweeping proposal, which permits a hemp industry, states, “the agricultural, personal, recreation, medicinal, commercial, and industrial use of cannabis in any form by any person shall be a lawful activity…Use by any person who is the ward of an adult, enrolled in K-12 school, a minor, shall be lawful activity requiring only parental or legal guardian authorization.”

E

ssentially, the amendment changes the state’s treatment of cannabis to that of a “tomato plant,” said Locke. The amendment prohibits any regulation to diminish use and makes it unlawful to tax or impose fines for cannabis in any form.

The third and mostly silent group, Michigan Cannabis Coalition, dropped out of the petition field months ago, though an inside source said a resurgence of the petitioning effort may be on the horizon, pending funding.

Composed of two Republican operatives, Matt Marsden and Dennis Darnoi, the group has received roughly 71 percent of funding from Revsix, the Pontiac-based data gathering company founded by Darnoi and Marsden a few years prior. MCC treasurer Lisa Farnum, who declined to comment to Downtown Publications, cut a check on behalf of MCC for $252,000 to pay for signature gathering services from Lee Albright’s firm, National Petition Management, out of Brighton, which put paid petitioners on the street for a stint in the late summer and early fall.

“There’s value for us in the data,” said Darnoi “Having a known universe of voters that support a particular topic, there’s great value in that. Look at Ben Carson, his list is valued at $4 million, all the data he collected, he can sell that. Usually campaigns rent lists.”

Noting the monetary value of the data collected in a campaign, Darnoi said the company “decided it was a worthwhile investment.

At the time, there was no other initiative in the field.”

A source close to MCC, who requested anonymity, said the group had two contingency plans, if donors pull through. They may hit the streets at the end of March and collect signatures for the next four

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months, or hold off until May and do one major signature gathering push.

MCC’s proposed act, like that of MILegalize, restricts recreational marijuana use to the 21-and-up crowd, though home growers can cultivate significantly less plants. Two mature plants are permitted under the act, “regardless of the number of residents living in a dwelling who are at least 21 year of age or older, no more than two flowering marijuana plants may be present at any given time in any one dwelling.” That said, local governments are given the authority to increase that number to four, or choose to impose ordinances that outlaw home growing all together.

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hile the act supported by MILegalize clearly defines an excise tax maximum, the Michigan Cannabis Control and Revenue Act, put forth by the MCC, mandates the state legislature to set the excise tax rate, which may be amended by a three-fourths vote of the legislature. A source close to MCC said an initial rate of 24 to 27 percent is expected. It would not be applied to medical marijuana.

The lion's share of regulatory and licensing decisions, from the amount of marijuana an individual may possess, to who is awarded a license to operate commercially, would lie with the Michigan Cannabis Control Board. The five-person appointed board is to be established before the first sales are permitted on January 1, 2018.

Three of five salaried board members are to be appointed by the governor, one by the Senate majority leader, and one by the speaker of the House. Notably, term-lengths are not clarified, but rather set by the board itself.

Felons are strictly prohibited from opening or working at a marijuana facility, and criteria for applicants seeking a license for a marijuana facility “shall include integrity, personal and business probity, financial ability, and ability to operate a marijuana facility,” states the language of the act, drafted by John Pirich, Michigan State University professor, and partner at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn.

MCC’s proposal also varies from that of MILegalize in the structure of the market. Whereas MILegalize allows for commingled growing and selling, MCC stipulates that a marijuana retail facility can only sell marijuana grown at an enclosed, licensed cultivation center. MCC’s act prohibits an individual from holding more than one license at once, though when an individual’s license expires, a different type of license can be applied for. Nothing grown at home may be sold.

Within the first year of sales, MCC hypothesizes the industry would generate $400 million, said a source close to the group.

It takes money, time and manpower to get a citizen-initiated proposal onto the ballot. “People petition because the issues they want enacted won’t go through the legislature,” said Lee Albright of National Petition Management, the group who was hired by MCC to gather signatures. “Any group who doesn’t try to get the issue through the legislature isn’t very smart because first, you see if the issue is something that will be picked up, and if that method is extinguished, then they have the initiative referendum process to try to get it on the ballot.”

MILegalize and MCC, which are proposing legislative initiatives, have until the first of June to collect and submit 252,523 valid signatures to be a contender for the November ballot. APM, vying for a constitution amendment in what many would consider an unorganized way, must collect an additional 61,131 signatures, for a whopping total of 315,654 by July 11.

Time is quickly running out, and each group seems to have a unique strategy for getting their proposal to the ballot.

“We have at least 100 petition sheets, 12 (signatures) a sheet. I’m going to say we have 1,500 signatures, but I don’t know,” said Locke of a mid-February estimate for APM, which kicked off signature gathering on January 13. “We need 22-and-a-half signatures every day, in every county, for 180 days. It sounds like a big number, and 315,000 is – it’s big, but very doable. We’re coming at this from a grounded, real grassroots effort. Everyone has something to offer.

We’re putting (rallies) out there and hoping people show up. The communication is out there, but there’s no rigid structure. We’re not paying anyone, we don’t anticipate paying anyone,” Locke said.

According to their February 2016 finance report, APM raised a svelte $1,818 in total, throughout the current election cycle.

In mid-March a source close to MCC said the group had 170,000 stale and void signatures, and about 15-20,000 active signatures, noting that “by mid-August, (MCC) got bogged down with the medical marijuana bills in Lansing. We knew that the medical marijuana bills would fail in the Senate, and we are banking on people who wanted that.” Indeed, the package of house bills aimed at further defining the MMMA and creating a more detailed structure has been sitting in the Senate judiciary committee since October. Whether or not supporters of more regulations for medical marijuana will contribute financially to MCC’s petition is yet to be determined. The group also has eyes on investors in other states, including Illinois, New York, Florida, and California. The February 2016 finance report states MCC raised $351,420, though the last direct contribution was made in October 2015, when Premiere Land Services donated $75,000. The Traverse City-based company specializes in leasing land for the development of oil, gas, wind, and solar energy, as well as servicing the telecom industry and conducting pipeline acquisition.

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ILegalize has not let up since they began fundraising in February 2015, four months before the petition was filed with the state. The March 8 primary marked a ‘The Great Petition Push’ for the group, who took advantage of a day that was swarming with registered voters throughout the state. “We’ve unified the cannabis community for the most part; we have widespread support,” said Hank, a lead player in the ballot initiative. “We’ve had over 600 people donate, and collected approaching 250,000 signatures. It’s a well-supported effort by a lot of people,” said Hank in mid-March.

The February quarterly finance report states MILegalize has raised over $610,000. Roughly 55 percent came from Kevin McCaffery, president of RKB Enterprises, Inc., based in Ann Arbor.

“He has no involvement in the industry” said Zettell. “He believes in us and was impressed with the initial fundraiser we had in Ann Arbor, and impressed with our board of directors (for the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee). He said he believes it should be legal in Michigan, and believes this is the way to do it.”

Other notable, albeit significantly smaller direct donations, came from Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) who gave $500, and introduced House Bill 4877 last fall, designed to regulate and legalize marijuana in Michigan; Dennis Schornack, former aide to Gov. Rick Snyder and former chairman of the International Joint Commission; and Mark Meadows, East Lansing city council member. Other contributions came from seasoned marijuana activist, Charles “Chuck” Ream, a retired teacher who also sits on the board for the group who drafted the ballot initiative; the Ann Arbor Cannabis Guild; the Kalamazoo branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML); and attorneys Matt Abel of Cannabis Counsel; Michael Komorn, president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association; Bruce Leach at Kirsch, Leach and Associates, which

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There were a handful of out of state contributions in the amount of $1,000 or less.

“Some of our absolute best and most dedicated volunteers are in Oakland County,” said Zettell. “There’s a number of venues in Oakland County that have been receptive, allowing us to table and collect signatures there. People are supportive in Oakland County probably because they’ve seen the court in Oakland County be so adversarial dealing with medical marijuana, and they’re fed up with that. There’s some prosecutors who have been unfavorable to medical marijuana.”

Looking at our neighbor, Ohio, it’s clear that voters have no interest in promoting a marijuana monopoly as a means to get legal bud. In the fall of 2015, Ohioans witnessed an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana reach the ballot, but fail to pass. The group, Responsible Ohio, put forth Issue 3, which would have permitted a legal marijuana industry, but would have restricted commercial growth of cannabis to just ten specific parcels of land.

R

egrouping after last year, marijuana activists have switched gears on the political front, and are narrowing their focus to medical marijuana. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana is expected to begin signature gathering in April. The committee was registered with the state by the national Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit based in Washington D.C. that has a track record for initiating and analyzing legalization efforts around the country.

Chris Lindsey, senior legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, discussed the issues facing the petition efforts in Michigan.

“There’s a couple interesting issues they (MILegalize) are dealing with. They’re trying to get clear guidance on whether the board of canvassers will allow them to capture the signatures caught outside the six-month window,” he said, referring to the rebuttal presumption found in the Michigan election code, MCL 168.472a.

The six-month window of time is counted backwards from the date the committee submits their signature-laden petition to the state. Unlike Florida, which allows citizens two years to collect the necessary number of signatures, only verified signatures that are collected 180 days prior to when the committee submits are considered valid in Michigan. Signatures collected outside the window are presumed to be stale and void, unless the group files a rebuttal and proves that the signatures captured outside the window were indeed signed by people who were, at the time they signed, registered to vote, and, who were also registered voters at some point during the six-month window.

Challenging the six-month window, as it stands, is no small feat.

“There’s been 14 statutory initiatives since 1908 that qualified and have been enacted (after filing a rebuttal), so one a decade,” said Hank, chairman of the 15-person board that drafted MILegalize’s ballot initiative. “There’s only a handful of attorneys who work in this area of law.”

Senate Bill 776, introduced on February 24, 2016, by Sen. David Robertson (R- Grand Blanc) would remove the rebuttal presumption from the law and close what some legislators consider to be a “loophole” in the law. “This is like having a belt and wearing suspenders,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall (R-White Lake). “It’s making sure what’s in front of the board of canvassers is valid.”

The legislature picked up the issue after attorney Hank, on behalf of MILegalize, filed an official request with the state board of canvassers to revisit the law, calling attention to the modernized practices of verifying signatures, which he said no longer

necessitate the 180-day window, because now there is a database that can be accessed for voter files, rather than relying on each local clerk to provide that information. At the end of November, Hank filed a formal request to the Board of Canvassers to reconsider the policy.

Introduced on February 10th by Sen. Dave Robertson, SB 776 would amend that section of the law, removing the clause that provides a possibility for any group to file a rebuttal. According to Fred Woodhams, spokesperson for the Secretary of State, the original language set forth that the bill would take effect on January 1, 2017.

However, when SB 776 was up for discussion on the senate floor on March 10, Kowall made a motion, approved by a two-thirds vote, that the bill would take effect immediately upon passage. The bill was sent to the House of Representatives on March 10, where it was referred to the elections committee.

“It’s what the majority wanted, to take effect, based on what’s going on right now, that’s what I would presume,” said Kowall. “I believe once the House of Representatives agrees to it, and they may do it next week, it could be on the governor’s desk a week from today (March 11). It’s due to the marijuana issue – its controversial.

It’s been that way since the '20s. It’s a very controversial subject, and people don’t like talking about it. It’s a bipartisan thing. There’s some people that agree and some that don’t, and that has nothing to do with politics. That’s just personal beliefs.”

Finding this political maneuver unjust, Sen. Steve Bieda (DWarren) spoke to the floor. “Everyone in this room knows that it’s extremely challenging to overcome a rebuttal presumption, but it is possible. And that possibility, however slim, gives people a slightly better chance to get their issue on the ballot… Let’s be honest here – a “yes” votes isn’t to clarify existing law; it’s to halt policy changes that would make it easier to use signatures collected beyond the 180-day window… It’s time to make it easier, not harder for voter issues to hit the ballot.”

H

ank will not back down. “(Citizens) have four years to petition (for ballot initiatives.) The four-year period is set by the Michigan Constitution and can’t be changed without a vote of the people. The state just treats the signatures different because if the signatures are within the 180-day window they’re assumed to be valid, but if outside that window, most will still be valid per the constitution’s four-year statue. If they’re outside 180 days, they’re presumed invalid because sometimes the person died, someone moved and changed voter registration (to another state), or, they’re (gathered) outside the fouryear petition period. So what the Senate is doing with SB 776, eliminates the additional three-and-a-half years that any campaign out there have to petition, which (the legislature) couldn’t do because its in conflict with Article Two, Section Nine of the constitution.”

Fellow naysayer to SB 776 is Sen. Coleman Young, Jr. (D-Detroit) who, at the end of February, introduced Senate Bill 813, referred to in its language as the “non-medical marijuana code.” The proposed act is written to legalize, regulate, and tax recreational marijuana.

“In the interest of allowing law enforcement to focus on violent and property crimes, generating revenue for education and other public purposes, and individual freedom,” SB 813 states, “the legislature finds and declares that the use of marijuana should be legal for individuals 21 years of age and older and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.”

Since it’s introduction, the bill remains stagnant in the Senate judiciary committee – its only hope of moving forward rests with the committee chairman, and former Eaton County Sheriff, Rick

Jones (R-Grand Ledge), who has the ability to give the bill a nudge and put it on the agenda of committee. “I don’t think you’ll see any movement in that (SB 813) at all,” said Sen. Kowall. The bill is tiebarred with a Senate joint resolution (SJR O ’16) to amend the 1963 state constitution to decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana.

Under SB 813, anyone 21 and older may possess up to one ounce, or five plants. The excise tax, which would be adjusted by the state treasurer annually to reflect the change in the consumer price index, is established as $50 per ounce of marijuana bud, $25 for each ounce of immature plant, and $15 per ounce of leaf. Of the tax revenue, 50 percent goes to the state general fund; 30 percent to the Department of Education; ten percent to the Department of Health and Human Services, earmarked for alcohol/drug abuse treatment programs; and another ten percent to the department of community health, designated for educating the public on the risks associated with marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco.

Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), who contributed to the MILegalize campaign, also sponsored a bill outlining a plan to legalize and regulate marijuana. He introduced House Bill 4877 on September 17, the same day it was referred to the judiciary committee, where it hasn’t moved since.

T

he bill would decriminalize and regulate marijuana cultivation, production, testing, sale, possession, and use for non-medical purposes; would license cultivation facilities, retail stores and distributors who would sell to retail stores. A person 21 and up could possess up to one ounce of marijuana, and 12 plants that measure 12 inches in either height and diameter. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA)

The status of medical marijuana in Michigan

By Katie Deska

espite repeated requests by Supreme Court justices and local governments for the Michigan legislature to enact clearer laws regulating the state’s medical marijuana industry, the public awaits progress.

Lack of clarity isn’t merely a problem for patients, caregivers or growers, but for the legal system itself. The Michigan Supreme Court has spent countless hours adjudicating a total of eight cases involving medical marijuana since the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) was passed in 2008.

In early 2013, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that dispensaries are not authorized under the MMMA, therefore patients must work with a specific caregiver, to whom they’re registered, to receive their medical marijuana. Later that year, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that MMMA prohibits medical marijuana to be sold in edible form, or other non-smokeable forms, despite desperate pleas from adult patients and parents of child patients, who cannot tolerate a dose of medical marijuana to be administered by smoking.

In another ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously decided in February 2014 that municipalities are barred from creating any local ordinance that prohibits medical marijuana, forcing Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, among other municipalities, which had prohibited

D

would begin accepting and processing applications on the first day of 2017.

For the first year, the excise tax, collected by the Department of the Treasury, would be set at 5 percent, with an increase of 1 percent every following January 1, until it reaches 10 percent. The bill outlines criteria to be considered by LARA in determining approval of licenses, including prior experience producing or distributing marijuana in the municipality where the applicant seeks license and consistent compliance with state statutes. Half of the license fee would go to the locality where the marijuana establishment exists.

Notably, Irwin’s proposed bill stipulates that LARA may not require a retail facility to track the information of it’s consumers, “other than information typically required in a financial transaction at a retail liquor store.” Like other proposals, HB 4877 gives local government the right to adopt an ordinance that prohibits the operation of marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and/or retail facilities. However, prohibiting any of the above would require a vote of the people at a general election.

On the other side of the aisle stands Rep. Mike Webber, (R-Rochester, Rochester Hills). “I’m not supportive of (legalization). I think it’s something that will go to a ballot initiative, and, looking at the polling, it would suggest it would pass,” said Webber. “Really, it’s how much money the group can raise to pay people to get it on the ballot.”

If more than one initiative for legalized marijuana were to reach the ballot, and election day voters pass more than one, it would come down to a numbers game.

“If they’re considered to be conflicting, the one that would go into effect is the one that receive the most votes,” said Woodhams of the Secretary of State's office. “If MILegalize got the most votes, then MCC (if their initiative made the ballot) would not go into effect even if approved by voters, per the state constitution.”

medical marijuana use, to revise their ordinances. The ruling came as a result of three cases involving attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), including Robert Lott vs. City of Birmingham. The ruling also made clear that municipalities may not “use federal law as an excuse to disregard the MMMA.” Currently sitting stagnant in committee in the Michigan Senate is a package of three bills, approved by the House in October, that outlines increased regulations pertaining to the monitoring and patient accessibility of medical marijuana. The next stage rests in the hands of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge), who selects which bills are discussed.

Sponsored by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R-Alto), House Bill 4210 amends the MMMA to allow for other forms of marijuana to be permitted for patients, including “edibles,” like brownies, or other marijuana-infused products.

“I know there’s validity to stopping seizures with kids. I’ve seen the results of medical marijuana, talked to a lot of doctors who are firmly convinced there’s a use for it,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall (R-White Lake). “But the purity, the security, has to be tightened up.”

House Bill 4827, which would create the Marijuana Tracking Act, sponsored by Rep. Klint Kesto (R-Commerce Township), would create a seed-to-sale tracking system and may help address the purity issue. Kowall compared the bill’s proposed structure to what is used in Colorado. “In Denver, they track it from seed to

sale, and the minute they put the seed in the ground, it’s given a number. They put a post into a planter, a plastic stake with a number on it, and as the plant starts to grow, they put a zip-tie around the plant itself, so it can’t come off,” Kowall said. “That plant goes to one entity that processes it. Once it's processed, the number follows that right through to use, so if something happens, it can track it back to where it came from, to who handled it.”

Tie-barred with HB 4827 is Rep. Mike Callton’s (R-Nashville) House Bill 4209, which would create the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act. Establishing a three-tiered system, the act would permit distinct, nonoverlapping licenses for retailers, growers and distributors. Under HB 4209, an entity may only possess a license for a single segment of the industry at any given time. This act would create three classes of grow licenses, allowing for up to 500 plants, 1,000 plants, or 1,500 plants.

“The language is ‘up to,’ meaning the ceiling,” said Mike Webber (R-Rochester), who co-sponsored HB 4209. “I think the intent is to provide the state a framework for going forward, and anticipating future growth in the industry, rather than what’s current. I’m not supportive of legalization, but if that passes on the ballot, I think these bills do provide a framework for the taxing component. I would hope that the Senate would look at the legislation in terms of providing framework. I think it’s really time,” said Rep. Webber. “It was enacted by the people in 2008, and here we are still in 2016 without a framework in place. But, ultimately, it’s up to the Senate.”

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I N T E G R AT E D PA R T N E R S H I P S NYTIMES.COM VIDEO INTEGRATION NYTIMES.COM HERO CAROUSEL IN REAL ESTATE: FIND A HOME NYTIMES.COM SPONSORED PROPERTY IN REAL ESTATE SEARCH SALES NYTIMES.COM MOBILE IN-STREAM FEATURED PROPERTY NYTIMES.COM CROSS-PLATFORM REAL ESTATE SLIDESHOW SPONSORSHIP NYTIMES.COM INTERNATIONAL HOME PAGE REAL ESTATE MODULE NYTIMES.COM PROPERTY LISTINGS NYTIMES.COM MOBILE FLEX FRAME WSJ.COM EXCLUSIVE FRIDAY REAL ESTATE OWNERSHIP WSJ.COM IPAD MANSION EXCLUSIVE SPONSORSHIP WSJ.COM CUSTOM VIDEO SERIES “HOUSE GUEST” WSJDN.COM GLOBAL NETWORK VIDEO MANSIONGLOBAL.COM EXCLUSIVE FRIDAY HOMEPAGE OWNERSHIP MANSIONGLOBAL.COM LIFESTYLE SEARCH OWNERSHIP MANSIONGLOBAL.COM HOMEPAGE FEATURED PROPERTIES MODULE MANSIONGLOBAL.COM HOMEPAGE HERO UNIT FT CO-BRANDED PROPERTY PRINT PROMOTION 18X 1/4 PAGE FT.COM DISTINCTIVE LIVING CO-BRANDED BANNERS FT.COM LAUNCH LISTINGS SPONSORSHIP BLOOMBERG.COM LIVE TV AND VOD PRE-ROLL VIDEO BLOOMBERG.COM HIGH NET & LUXURY CONSUMER INDIVIDUAL AUDIENCE TARGETING AD.COM EXCLUSIVE HOMEPAGE TAKEOVER AD.COM E-NEWSLETTER INTEGRATION AD.COM EXCLUSIVE SPONSORSHIP OF CELEBRITY HOMES FOR SALE AD.COM OWNERSHIP OF REAL ESTATE INDEX PAGE AD.COM OWNERSHIP OF REAL ESTATE SUBCHANNEL AD.COM NATIVE SLIDESHOW DWELL.COM CUSTOM SPONSORED POSTS W/PROPERTY SLIDESHOW DWELL.COM NATIVE POSTS W/VIDEO + SOCIAL PROMOTION DWELL.COM SPONSORED COLLABORATIVE COLLECTION (5 ARTICLES) DWELL.COM FIXED SEARCH TERM SPONSORSHIP DWELL.COM SOCIAL PROMOTION (2X FB, 2X TWITTER) DWELL.COM PINTEREST BOARD COLLABORATION DWELL.COM LISTINGS PAGE DWELL.COM REAL ESTATE PARTNER EXCLUSIVITY JAMESEDITION.COM CUSTOM PROPERTY LISTINGS LUXURYESTATE.COM LISTINGS LUXURYESTATE.COM EDITORIAL PROPGOLUXURY LISTINGS PROPGOLUXURY EDITORIAL NEWS FEATURE ELLE DÉCOR PROPERTY GALLERIES DESTINATION (LISTINGS) ELLE DÉCOR CROSS PLATFORM CONTENT ROADBLOCK ELLE DÉCOR CUSTOM HERO UNIT ELLE DÉCOR NATIVE TOUT ELLE DÉCOR CONTENT IGNITION ELLE DÉCOR HOMEPAGE SPONSORSHIP ELLE DÉCOR CUSTOM MARQUEE ELLE DÉCOR CELEBRITY HOMES SPONSORSHIP

SOCIAL MEDIA WALL STREET JOURNAL DWELL ELLE DÉCOR SCMP (NANZAO.COM/NANZAOCHINAN.COM)

eGallery SIR Touch Gallery INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANT SALES BRAND PUBLIC RELATIONS

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Global Exposure THE NEW YORK TIMES

Our 2015 advertising program with The

New York Times is a continuation of years prior and is structured to fetch nearly 300 million media impressions through branding and listing exposure elements, utilizing local ownership advertising opportunities and fixed positioning on various New York Times channels. This long-term plan features exclusivity and dominance in both print and digital marketing opportunities, designed to attract a diverse worldwide audience to more than

and maximize our reach

40 million unique

NYT monthly readers.

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Global Exposure THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Our continuous collaboration with

The Wall Street Journal offers an array of opportunities to showcase the homes represented by our network to the global audience that turns to this media icon for their daily source of insights into both micro and macro financial and economic landscapes. Designed to deliver 170 million impressions, this marketing strategy is comprised of a worldwide, multi-faceted program providing our brand with

and dominance

Wall

Network D exclusivity throughout The Street Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Digital

websites.

5

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - Global Exposure ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST Every day, Architectural Digest inspires millions of affluent home enthusiasts to redesign and refresh their lives through a multi-platform presence that includes print and digital connections. Our alignment with AD will deliver an anticipated 14 million media impressions and encompasses an integrated online partnership through a commanding presence on

NEW FOR 2013

architecturaldigest.com. Recently redesigned and re-engineered, architecturaldigest.com ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST Every day, Architectural Digest MRWTMVIW QMPPMSRW SJ EJžYIRX LSQI IRXLYWMEWXW

attracts toonredesign average moretheir than unique monthly consuming about 10 and refresh lives900,000 through a multi-platform presencevisitors, that includes print and digital connections.

Our alignment with AD will deliver an anticipated 8 million media impressions and encompasses an pages per visit and the perfect environment to uniquely showcase the Recently homesredesigned we integrated onlineispartnership through a commanding presence on architecturaldigest.com.

O and re-engineered, architecturaldigest.com attracts on average more than 900,000 unique represent. monthly visitors, consuming about 10 pages per visit and is the perfect environment to uniquely showcase the homes we represent.

8

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

5

6.2

5324

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $2,250,000 Build your dream home or renovate existing home! Located on Bloomfield Hills Country Club Golf Course between holes 5 & 6. 216013746

5

4.1

4178

2

2.1

2641

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $999,000

Bloomfield Hills $385,000

Private enclave of custom designed site condos in the city overlooking private treed lot. 216021646

Sophisticated Tobocman designed Townhome located in the heart of the city.

215108688

Ronni Keating

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

4

4.2

5169

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $2,449,000 This show-stopping Colonial sits on idyllic grounds that back to the prestigious Bloomfield Hills Golf & Country Club. 216002132

6

6.2

6302

4

3.2

3139

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Birmingham $1,849,000

Bloomfield Hills $799,000

Stunning Colonial in prime Birmingham will enchant you with its beautiful brick and stone faรงade, lovely lush grounds, private outdoor spaces, and impeccable details inside and out. 216013036

Raised Ranch nestled in a private, wooded setting. Finished lower level walkout with guest suite and full kitchen. 216016505

Dan Gutfreund

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

5

4.2

7100

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Lake Angelus Frontage $2,695,000 Spectacular views from every room in this truly unique property reminiscent of the older Estates on the East Coast. 215108844

6

5.2

5380

3

4.1

5200

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Metamora $1,549,900

Metamora $1,499,900

Fabulous 18 acre private Estate in the Heart of the Metamora Hunt Area.

216023486

"Laughin Fox Farm" Absolutely stunning home situated on an equally stunning private piece of property with almost 24 acres. 215105389

Lee Embrey

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

6

7.3

6983

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $2,499,000 Magnificent Bloomfield Hills Estate sits on almost 2 acres and is located in the well coveted Cranbrook Educational Community. 216014891

5

6.2

6514

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $2,395,000 Exquisite remodeled Estate by Young and Young with the finest construction, technology and amenities of today with the charm and character of yesterday. 216017321

John & Bridget Apap

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

NEAR COMPLETION

FRONT ELEVATION

BACK ELEVATION

4

5.3

5300

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Quarton Lake Frontage $4,995,000 Your very own private, new construction, luxury resort, nestled on the only remaining lot in Quarton Lake with views of the waterfall, lake, park and river. 215012288

RECENTLY REDUCED

4

4.1

3500

4

3.2

5276

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Birmingham $1,649,000

Troy $999,500

Exquisite in town Tudor freshly completed and move-in ready.

216011400

Beach Forest Classic beautiful Colonial with attention to detail.

216024255 Co-listor Pat Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill

Christine Drinkwater

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

7

6

7000

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Williamstown $3,750,000 Luxury Equestrian Estate with over 200 rolling acres and newly built 11,000 sq ft arena. 216020309

4

3.1

5448

3

2.1

2439

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Lake St. Clair Frontage $949,900

Birmingham $585,000

Lakefront living at its finest! Enjoy the million dollar view of Lake St. Clair waterfront plus boat slip for your private yacht. 215128542

Charming Colonial with great curb appeal located in Quarton Lake.

215109162

Donna Barlow

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

6

5.2

5356

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Grosse Pointe Shores Village $1,300,000 Designed for today's living just a few steps to Lake St. Clair. 216008636

4

3.3

4356

5

4.2

4417

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $1,289,000

Bloomfield Hills $1,249,900

Newer Nantucket style Colonial on large and secluded lot at the end of cul-de-sac. 216012321

Outstanding dream home built and designed with the utmost quality and attention to detail. 216013970

Mia Bardy

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

New York, New York | Proper ty ID: JDJNXS © MMXV Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliate LLC.

cinematic views iconic penthouse oversize windows artful views outdoor terraces living in the sky concierge YOUR SEARCH...RE-DEFINED. immerse yourself in sir.com

5

7.1

11,200

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Plymouth $1,999,900 Private retreat tucked back with circular drive on 3.3 beautiful acres with ozone purified indoor pool w/power cover, Spa, Dry Sauna and Exercise Room. 216004864

Michelle Yurich

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

5

4.1

5535

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Lake Huron Frontage $1,900,000 Log Home Living Magazine said..."It is one of the most impressive lodges on the Great Lakes." This 5 acre property is made up of three lots that can be sold individually as residential or commercial property. 216006867

Candice Cuyler

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

5

5.3

8245

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Walnut Lake Frontage $3,900,000 Panoramic easterly views of all sports Walnut Lake with luxury living on 1.76 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. 215054013 Presented by Maria Constante

5

6

6000

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

North Branch $2,900,000 An Exquisite European Country Estate on 38 acres with a 3 acre pond stocked for fishing. 216013742 Presented by Mia Bardy, Kathy Manoogian & Silvia Stan

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

4

4.2

4715

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Birmingham $1,799,000 La Marco Homes designed and built with innovative "European Transitional" interior designs. 215131674 Presented by Courtney Monigold

3

3.1

3000

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Birmingham $1,500,000 Luxury newer Townhome with superb downtown location. 216015272 Presented by Justyna Slabosz

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

3

4

4000

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Lake St. Helen Frontage $1,739,000 Ultra custom log cabin boasts the most exquisite views. Located on 85 1/2 acres and close to Forest Dunes Golf Course. 215129739 Presented by Jennifer Valenti

4

3.1

2762

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

White Horse Lake Frontage $1,350,000 Stunning with spectacular lake views from almost every room located on a private lot surrounded by trees. 216018434 Presented by Dylan Tent

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

5

4.1

5108

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Milford $1,200,000 Live the lifestyle of an enchanted dream in this estate serenely nestled on 7 private acres, minutes from the quaint Village of Milford. 216019746 Presented by Michelle Payne

5

4.1

4076

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield $990,000 One acre storybook setting overlooking Island Lake In The Hills Of The Kirk. Completely renovated. 216016497 Presented by Dovile Satkeviciute & Lila Casenave

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

VACANT LAND Bloomfield Hills $1,000,000 Build your Dream Home on this private and serene 3.82 acres in the gated community of Barrington Park. 216011378 Presented by Kathy Lyons

6

3.3

6924

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Grass Lake $899,000 Wonderful retreat with unlimited potential, 98.5 acres of mixed hardwoods, rolling hills, 2 large ponds stocked for fishing, farmland along with 2 barns with horse stables and fencing. 215102935 Presented by Brian Dimmer

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

6

3.2

4266

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Hills $850,000 Beautiful and meticulously maintained two story contemporary home located on a generous .84 acre lot with views of Wabeek Lake. 215116735 Presented by Elena Drelichman

4

4.2

4000

4

3.1

2991

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Troy $849,000

Bloomfield $525,000

Exquisite new construction home by Sebring Building Co. Available for immediate occupancy in the Bloomfield Hills School District. 216024700 Presented by Courtney Monigold

Beautifully updated Colonial in a premiere location within Bloomfield Hills School District.

215130645 Presented by Nusrat Hassain

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

I NV E ST ME NT

YOUR HOME IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET FOR MORE REASONS THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. Historically, real estate has provided homeowners with their greatest return on investments, an appreciation in value that has been at times both short and long term. It is difficult to put a price on something of such significance, whether it is primary, secondary or vacation home. At the Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International RealtyÂŽ brand, we firmly believe in the inherent value of home and helping our clients realize their investment goals by offering unrivalled accesss to qualified people and distinctive properties around the world.

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009 | signaturesothebys.com

LIFE HAPPENS. HA HAVE AVE A VE A PLAN. P You're Y ou're making a large large investment. investment. Why Why not invest invest in something to to protect protect it?

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Air Conditioning w/Ductwork

Repair: $390 Replacement: $2,885

Repair: $306 Replacement: $2,141

Water Heater

Main Electrical Panel

ON ON ON

Repair: $92 Replacement: $761

ON

Heating w/Ductwork

Repair: $311 Replacement: $605

Dishwasher

Built-in Microwave

Repair: $127 Replacement: $515

Repair: $97 Replacement: $429

Ranges/ Ovens/ /Cooktops

Garbage Disposal

D-B-GONE FOO

Repair: $47 Replacement: $182

Repair: $114 Replacement: $782

For information, ormation, please call For more more inf 800 735 735 4663 4663 or visit ahshome.com. ahshome.com. † As reported reported in the national national surv survey ey A S Study tudy o off Homeo Homeowners’ Appliance System Service Experiences, es, Decision Analy Analyst st (20 (2011 3) and rreprinted e Experienc eprinted wners’ Applianc e and Home S Sy ystem Servic with their written written permis permission. sion. Further rreproduction eproduction is e expressly xpressly pr prohibited.

Remember, an n AHS AHS Home Home P Protection rotection P Plan lan c covers overs tthe he rrepair epair o orr rreplacement ohibited. R ememberr, a eplacement of many many system system and applianc appliance e br breakdowns, eakdowns, but not nec necessarily essarily the entire entire system system or applianc appliance. e. Please rrefer efer tto oy your our c contract ontract ffor or details.

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35 466 3. ©2014 ©201 4 American Home Shield C Corporation orporation and its lic licensed ensed subsidiaries. All rights rreserved. eserved.

131308

3

2.1

2408

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Birmingham $549,900 Impeccable condition with charm and quality custom features. 216008708 Presented by Sue Lozano

3

2.1

3363

4

4.1

3870

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bingham Farms Village $529,900

Dearborn $485,000

Prime real estate in Bingham Farms on over 2 acres on a very private, wooded lot. 216022087 Presented by Kay Hartwell

The "Golden Triangle" meets true 1930's Hollywood Glam. Many of the original 1930's touches have been preserved and styled to appeal to today's modern lifestyle. 216015525 Presented by Julie Dean

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

4

2.1

2813

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield $499,900 Beautiful newer traditional Colonial within walking distance to historic downtown Franklin. 215113404 Presented by Wendi Miller

4

2.1

2264

4

2.1

2995

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield Village $474,900

Troy $429,900

Spectacular renovated Colonial on a huge lot perfect for entertaining.

Presented by Alex Chapman

Charming family home nestled in a great neighborhood with private, wooded, & picturesque backyard. 216022250 Presented by Tania Marougi

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

3

3.1

2458

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Ann Arbor $350,000 Nestled in a private cul-de-sac in the much sought after Foxfire community. Walking distance to restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores and shopping. 216023389 Presented by Brandon Curry

5

3

2906

4

2.1

2500

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

West Bloomfield $345,000

South Lyon $345,000

Loaded with upgrades and filled with outstanding amenities located on a picturesque street with over 1/2 acre. 216020109 Presented by Susan Johnson

Stunning newer colonial located on a cul-de-sac in beautiful Hunters Creek Subdivision, only a 15 minute walk to the quaint Downtown South Lyon! 216018741 Presented by Silvia Stan

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

3

2.1

1938

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Bloomfield $304,900 Light & bright Ranch on half acre with great curb appeal in sought after Eastover Estates has plenty to offer. Bloomfield Hills schools. 216009375 Presented by Ann Greenberg

4

2.1

2386

3

2.1

2265

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

BEDS

BATHS

SQ. FT.

Grand Blanc $274,390

Clinton Township $259,000

Magnificent Woodfield Golf Community home with open floor plan perfect for entertaining.

215131363 Presented by Tony Ray

Fantastic, spacious Ranch in Saddle Lane Subdivision! Close to shopping, schools, and freeways.

216023392 Presented by Audrey Faust

signaturesothebys.com

248.644.7000

near or far

A Full Service Relocation Department with Distinguished Connections Helping our clients navigate the world of real estate is what sets us apart.

We are unmatched in our ability to connect buyers and sellers globally.

As a primary real estate brokerage for Cartus Relocation, a global leader in the relocation industry, Signature Sotheby's International Realty participates in servicing relocation buyers coming into our area and sellers moving out of the area every day.

This is our world.

Because a homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appeal extends far beyond what is near.

EXPERIENCE A WORLD OF CONNECTIONS With 825 offices in 61 countries, we are all encompassing. From the enchanting beauty of France to the age-old country that is Thailand.

Our locations may be abounding, but our unique-ness remains perfectly constant.

Susan Bailey susan.bailey@sothebysrealty.com f nf s@s bsc800.458.7356 m m m24 . 2.44 . 740.

415 S. Old38Woodward E M Ave. RoBirmingham, o Bi dm gMichigan hm 48009 c i gai4808098

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Lara J. Forte Loan Officer NMLS # 1169665 T: 248-912-9031 C: 248-284-5178

John & Bridget Apap Fine Homes Specialists - Top 1% Nationally

Cell 248.225.9858 japap@signaturesothebys.com

41820 Six Mile Road Northville MI 48168

LForte@mbmortgage.com

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

Featured Listings

200 Woodland Villa Court Birmingham | $2,100,000 | Stunning Woodland Villa enclave with private terrace

1031 Ardmoor Drive

1099 N Cranbrook Road

Bloomfield Hills | $1,599,000 | Magnificent stone exterior with large back yard

Bloomfield Village | $1,599,000 | Exquisite home renovated by David Force Bldg. Co.

1100 Birmingham Boulevard

1224 Birmingham Boulevard

Birmingham | $1,399,000 | Exquisite Newer Construction in the Heart of Downtown

Birmingham | $1,049,000 | Beautifully updated home with private yard

John & Bridget Apap Fine Homes Specialists - Top 1% Nationally Ken Mascia

Cell 248.225.9858 japap@signaturesothebys.com

NMLS #135323 Prime Capital Mortgage Corp.

36400 Woodward Ave, Suite 122 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 kmascia@primecapitalmortgage.com

248-644-1200 248-644-1201 (f)

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

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1721 Stanley Boulevard

6595 Crest Top Drive

220 N Glengarry Road

Birmingham | $999,900

West Bloomfield

Bloomfield Village | $799,000 ct

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6976 Woodbank Drive

700 Emmons Avenue

151 N Glengarry Road

Bloomfield Hills | $599,000

Birmingham | $549,000

Bloomfield Village | $539,900

Call us for a Complimentary Market Analysis

4750 Jacob Road

1258 Ruffner Avenue

4581 Northridge Court

Manchester | $795,500

Birmingham | $724,000

West Bloomfield | $525,000

495 Bird Avenue

1331 Tulberry Circle

2033 Eagle Pointe

Birmingham | $465,000

Rochester | $429,000

Bloomfield Hills | $249,000

John & Bridget Apap

Lynn Wiand Senior Mortgage Lender NMLS ID 39420

lwiand@talmerbank.com Office 248-244-4805 Cell 248.228.4805

Fine Homes Specialists - Top 1% Nationally

Cell 248.225.9858 japap@signaturesothebys.com

2301 W. Big Beaver Rd, Suite 525 Troy, MI 48084

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

Extraordinary Homes

1291 Suffield New Construction Quarton Lake - $2,295,000 5400 sf, 5 bedrooms 6.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level

Vinewood

1025 N. Glenhurst

2609 Covington Place

New Construction

New Construction Quarton Lake - $2,495,000 - 5,400 sf, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, 4 car garage, finished lower level

Bloomfield Village - $1,699,000 4,200 sf, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level

Quarton Lake - $2,950,000 - 5900 sf, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level, oversized lot

New Construction

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395 Berwyn

Winthrop

Redding

New Construction

New Construction

New Construction

Birmingham - $1,299,000 - 4216 sf, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, 2 car garage, finished lower level

Quarton Lake - $1,195,000 - 3,600 sf, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, finished lower level

1st Floor Master

NEAR COMPLETION

118 Waterfall - Quarton Lake Frontage - Offered at $4,995,000 Imagine owning your very own private, new construction, luxury resort, nestled on the only remaining lot in Quarton Lake with views of the waterfall, lake, park & river. Beyond the electric gated entrance with camera and alarm system, sits this exceptional private estate. Generous open floor plan. Stunning great room perfect for entertaining shares a dual sided fireplace with elegant study. Cooks kitchen with top of the line stainless steel appliances, rich exotic wood cabinetry, walk-in pantry and command center. Master suite features a fireplace and its own private patio, spacious spa like master bath with freestanding tub, walk-in shower and beautiful custom closet/dressing areas. Approximately 8000 sq ft of finished living space, walkout lower level with climate controlled wine room, full bar area and spa/sauna. Handcrafted mill work, impeccable materials and gorgeous architectural details throughout. Luxurious Infinity Pool.

Rochester Hills $1,999,000 Frank Lloyd Wright inspired masterpiece designed by Young & Young and meticulously crafted and constructed by Joseph P. Craig Custom Homes.

3800 Sq Ft 4 BR, 4.2 BA 3 Car Attached Garage

All Star

Birmingham $1,799,000 Extraordinary New Construction Ready December 2015 4100 Sq Ft 4 BR 4.2 BA 3 Car Attached Garage

Birmingham $1,649,000 Exquisite New Construction in town Tudor 3500 Sq Ft 4 BR, 4.1 BA 2 Car Detached Garage

Troy $999,500 Luxurious Colonial on Corner Lot 5276 Sq Ft 4 BR 3.2 BA 3 Car Attached Garage co-listor Pat O'Neill

Troy $284,900 Detached Condo in desirable Manor Homes of Troy 1725 Sq Ft 3 BR, 3 BA 2 Car Attached Garage

Marketing a home requires unique skills, knowledge and resources that Signature Sotheby's International Realty offers its clients. I would welcome the opportunity to offer you a confidential marketing analysis.

Christine Drinkwater

Associate Broker

248-318-4745

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

cdrinkwater@signaturesothebys.com

SIGNATURE SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

Welcomes Alex Chapman

“Your Realtor For Life” Honored and privileged to be a part of our flourishing real estate industry. Ranked in the Top 5% of Realtors in Metro Detroit and honored by Hour Magazine and Detroit Business.

Growing up in Grosse Pointe and now residing in Bloomfield Hills for the past 6 years has provided me impeccable knowledge of the various neighborhoods southeast Michigan has to offer.

Allow me to show you what a local expert with global exposure can do for you.

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FACES Brad Galli orn in 1989, WXYZ sports reporter Brad Galli witnessed Detroit sports teams during a prime time in history.

“I grew up in a special era when the Red Wings were playing their best hockey in over 40 years, the Pistons were winning their first championship in 20 years, and the Tigers were playing the best baseball in a generation,” he said.

Galli joined ABC news affiliate WXYZ as an intern 2011, and now anchors Sports on 7 Action News at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. He covers national, collegiate and local teams and received an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2014 for excellence in sports reporting. He had been nominated in 2013 and 2012, the year after he graduated Marquette University with a degree in broadcast communications, and experience as the college television sports director.

“Nowadays, you’ve got to be able to do everything. I know how to write, talk, shoot my own video, edit the video, and post stories to the website,” said Galli, who was mentored by WXYZ’s former sports anchors Don Shane and Tom Leyden.

A graduate of Brother Rice in Bloomfield Township, Galli’s interest in broadcasting became apparent when he got the chance to make school announcements over the loudspeaker as a student. Although it was a rotating position, Galli said, “Mrs. Trebolvi, she finally gave in and said, ‘I’ll put you on everyday, and I’ll just give you a co-anchor.’”

Less than a decade later, Galli would conduct one of his most memorable interviews – with friend and fellow Warrior, DJ LeMahieu, who plays second base for the Colorado Rockies major league team, and was selected for the 2015 All-Star game.

“He’s one of my best friends, we stood in each others’ weddings, and he was Mr. Baseball at Brother Rice,” said Galli, who proposed to his high school sweetheart, Claire, in 2013 on the football field of his alma mater.

“I will say I love covering all the professional sports teams in town, and all the college teams, but there’s nothing like going to a high school football environment on Friday night, when everyone is there and the city practically shuts down. I get to go to my own high school, but going to so many different communities is awesome.”

Growing up, Galli was always into sports, but he said, there was one problem, “I wasn’t athletic at all.” Being behind the microphone, rather than wearing the jersey, gave Galli an ‘in’ to his dream career. “I love sports, but I love telling stories and meeting people more than anything. I think that sports gives you a great avenue for that, it really unites people, like when the Tigers are playing and everyone is watching.”

Proud to root for the city’s teams, and honored to go behind the scenes with top players, including former Red Wing Steve Yzerman, Galli said, “One of the coolest parts about this job is that I grew up in the city that I get to work in. There’s a lot to be said for making a difference in the place where the people who raised you are still living.”

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UNENDING BATTLE THE LEGISLATIVE FIGHT OVER ABORTION RIGHTS

BY LISA BRODY

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egardless of your personal stance, the statistics bear out that one in three women in the United States of childbearing age currently have had, or will have, an abortion. These are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, lovers, aunts, grandmothers, friends, and even, ourselves â&#x20AC;&#x201C; women opting to terminate a pregnancy for any myriad of reasons. Since 1973, with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, it has been a legal decision to make. Yet since that momentous ruling was made, it has been under attack by pro-life factions both nationally and regionally.

Michigan has been a battleground state, especially since the mid-1990s, with repeated efforts by state legislators to curtail access to abortion, asserting they are protecting the infant in the womb and working to make it safer for women getting the procedures. On the other side have been lawmakers and women seeking to have their voices heard above the din, some working with Planned Parenthood, to make sure a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy is her right, and not the government's.

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The battle between pro-choice and pro-life factions over the last 43 years has been ongoing since at least Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that determined, by a 7-2 vote, that the right to privacy under the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution extended to a women's decision to terminate a pregnancy. However, the court ruled, that must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting women's health, and protecting the potentiality of human life. Those are the two tenets which prolife activists have focused on in their efforts to overturn Roe, and stop abortions from happening across the country.

On both the national and state level, the Roe ruling set up political battles which continue to this day, with 12 Michigan state legislative bills currently on Right to Life's pending state legislation agenda, from House Bill 4241, the Heartbeat Awareness Act, which would mandate a woman to hear a fetal heartbeat before having an abortion; to House Bill 4146, Late-Term Abortion Hospital Requirement, requiring all abortions after 19 weeks gestation to be performed in a hospital with a neonatal unit; and Senate Bill 287 and House Bill 5065, the Prenatally Diagnosed Conditions Act, which would create a database of “medically accurate information about prenatally diagnosed conditions, links to support groups, and information about intervention services,” to prevent women with fetuses with genetic abnormalities, including fatal abnormalities, from aborting. As Right to Life stated in a fact sheet, “This bill is an attempt to help avoid 'search and destroy' abortions,” noting that women carrying babies with Downs Syndrome, in particular, have an increased rate of termination.

“No one plans to have an abortion. Yet, one in three Americans have had an abortion in their lifetime. That's mothers, sisters,

political and cultural movement,” Russell-Kraft wrote, while noting that not all religious groups agree with these interpretations of the morality of abortion. A 2014 Pew Research Center study showed that adults' perception of the legality of abortion vary by their religious affiliation. Eighty-two percent of those who identified as Buddhist, and 73 percent of those who identified as Jewish, favored the legality of abortion, versus only 18 percent of those who identified as Jehovah's Witness, 27 percent of Mormons, and 33 percent of evangelical Protestants.

In the United States, Connecticut passed the first law in 1831 banning pharmacies from selling miscarriage-inducing drugs to women, and by 1900, abortion was illegal in every state. Doctors conformed, with the American Medical Association banning abortion in 1857, targeting midwives, who they asserted performed abortions, and campaigning to drive midwives out of business.

Despite bans and laws prohibiting abortions, it is known that women have always sought ways to terminate pregnancies, resorting to “potions,” herbs, black market pills, knitting needles and hangers. As access is being denied to more women throughout the country, Carpentier said women are going back to illegal means. “We know that is happening in Texas,” she said, referring to Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt, a Texas law currently before the Supreme Court, which is requiring abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. Since the Texas law took effect, several abortion clinics closed, thereby limiting access for women.

“Our Texas offices are hearing from women who are calling and saying, 'Can I put this in my vagina or take this pill?' that they are ordering from some black market place on the Internet, and they're ending up in the ER,” Carpentier said. “I think Texas should be a

The battle between pro-choice and pro-life factions over the last 43 years has been ongoing since at least Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that determined that the right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution extended to a women's decision to terminate a pregnancy. daughters, cousins, friends, who don't talk about it, but have had them. No one goes into a heterosexual relationship with the idea they're going to have an abortion,” said Lori Carpentier, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan.

Women choosing to end unwanted pregnancies are not a new phenomena. The first record of an induced abortion is from an ancient Egypt medical text from 5,000 years ago, in which an abortion procedure was described. There are references to abortions in ancient Greek and Chinese art and literature from the same period. A gynecological text from 100 A.D., written by Soranus, a Greek physician and writer, recorded several ways in which doctors could help women miscarry, as well as ways in which women could self-induce abortions, both for physical and mental health reasons.

Abortion was not always illegal. There are records from around the year 1400, in Islamic society, where doctors commented on methods for utilizing miscarriage as a method for both birth control and abortion. The Roman Catholic Church did not officially condemn abortion at any stage of pregnancy until 1896, when it officially condemned it at all stages of pregnancy. Before then, its position was that abortion before the ensoulment of the fetus, which occurred at 30 days after conception, was not a sin.

At the time of Roe v. Wade, Catholics were officially the only religious group opposed to abortion; according to Stephanie Russell-Kraft in The Atlantic, it wasn't until the late 1970s that evangelical Christians began to oppose abortion in all cases, as Catholic groups sought out allies in other religious communities to bolster their arguments and frame them in a secular context. “Over the course of 30 years, those alliances formed into a veritable

cautionary tale – it's scary the measures women will go to to terminate a pregnancy.”

Years ago, Carpentier said, women anecdotally used black cohosh, a flowering plant native to North American which can be used for menstrual cramps and menopause symptoms, but also as a labor inducement. “Today, they take pills, which often claim to be a derivative of 486 (ru 486, or Mifeprex, a pill which medically induces abortion),” she said. “Some (pills) do nothing –that's the best case scenario. Others do real damage. There are lots of stories of women ending up in ERs without knowing what they took.”

In a New York Times story in March, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz used Google search data to track U.S. Internet interest in selfinduced abortions over time, drawing a direct correlation to spikes in searches for “how to self-abort” and “how to have a miscarriage” to times and places where there have been legal restrictions placed on abortion.

Carpentier said Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, whose parent organization nationally receives about $450 million from Congress despite Republican efforts to defund it, as well as private donations, is also seeing the ramifications of less access to abortion because of more restrictive laws in Ohio.

“We are seeing that women are using our resources from Ohio, and our numbers have almost quadrupled (of women from Ohio) in the last 16 months since Ohio has beefed up those laws on abortion care.”

Ed Rivet, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, countered. “We heard a lot of that rhetoric in the 1980s and 1990s – it's going to cause women to die; it's going to force women into the back alleys. That was the rhetoric of the day. None of it proved

true. Everything we've said and seen has been true. Women are getting less abortions.”

Yet, statistics show that each year around the world, 68,000 women die as the result of unsafe abortions.

The fact that women are getting less abortions in the state of Michigan can be traced to legislative efforts by Rivet at Right to Life, Operation Rescue, and Republican legislators who supported their repeated efforts to enact bills systematically curtailing access to clinics, forcing women to wait 24 hours to obtain an abortion, to have payments for poor women halted, enact parental consent, to prevent riders in insurance from paying for abortions. According to its 2014 Annual Report, Right to Life of Michigan received almost all of its $1.3 million in revenue from donations. The DeVos family, notably Richard “Dick” Devos, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate, is a large contributor to Republican legislators, and has funded several religious right groups, including Right to Life of Michigan.

Rivet, who traces his efforts with Right to Life to 1988, said the first big effort in the state was over Medicaid funding. “We wanted to put it before voters with a ballot proposal referendum, which the voters approved 57 percent to 43 percent,” he said. The petition was passed in June 1987 by the state House to put it on the ballot, and in November 1988, it was affirmatively passed, becoming law to prohibit using public funds to provide an abortion to a woman receiving welfare funds unless the abortion would save the life of the mother.

“That was significant for us from a policy point-of-view, as from the impact on abortions themselves,” Rivet said. “Prior to that, women could come in and get abortions with their Medicaid cards.

The state was paying for about half of all abortions – about 48,000

the consequence of their action. It was signed into effect by Gov. John Engler, “because of the 24-hour waiting period,” Rivet said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the state, with a court battle lasting five years. The law, initially Public Act 133 of 1993, became Public Act 345 of 2000, to be provided on the Internet by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

“We know it had an effect on some women,” he said. “There was a decrease for a period of time.”

Rivet says a part of the equation is that for younger women who have to wait 24 hours to have an abortion and have to see an ultrasound of their fetus, it's changed the discourse. “You cannot tell a teenager today, when their identity began prenatally, they identify themselves with their first photo in their photo albums as an ultrasound – so they see their unborn child as a child,” he said.

“It's hard to tell them they're not killing a baby. Their identity began as a fetus. They're the first generation to consider that, and that's a pivotal cultural change.”

The Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization working to advance reproductive health through research, stated that between 1992 and 1996, the number of abortions fell 12 percent; between 1996 and 2000, the abortion rate fell 5 percent. During both periods, the number of providers continued to fall.

Legislatively, Right to Life of Michigan continued its efforts to restrict abortion access as new state legislators came into office with both the Granholm and Snyder administrations. From 2000 to 2011, proposed legislation either stalled in committees, or did not successfully pass from one chamber to the other, or was vetoed by the governor.

In 2001-2002, Senate Bill 1253 was proposed, which would have

The fact that women are getting less abortions in the state of Michigan can be traced to legislative efforts by Right to Life, Operation Rescue, and Republican legislators who supported repeated efforts to enact bills systematically curtailing access to clinics, forcing women to wait 24 hours, and other measures. abortions annually. We said that subsidizing in essence free abortions was disincentive for not taking preventive measures. It turned out to be true.”

He said at that time, their efforts were not about trying to stop abortions, but just not having Medicaid pay for them.

In 1990, their efforts focused on pushing for a parental consent law, where women under the age of 18 would be required to get their parents' consent in order to get an abortion. “We had to get around the veto of Gov. Blanchard,” Rivet said, who said to Right to Life, it was a very simple issue. “Parents were entitled to be involved in a medical decision with their daughter.”

They succeeded – “and the data shows for girls below 18, there was a 75 percent decrease in abortions.”

Does that mean less young women were getting pregnant out of fear of telling their parents they would need an abortion?

Rivet believes abstinence “became fairly fashionable among some teens. Contraceptive use and education, I believe, is up, and are factors. There have also been a spate of movies, 'Juno', 'Waitress', they're stories about single women confronting unplanned pregnancies. They are reflecting a different perspective about unplanned pregnancy which is a dramatic cultural change which teenagers are seeking.”

Another legislative push, which took a greater effort, was the Informed Consent Law of 1993, where women considering abortion must be given certain information about abortion, including photographs, abortion procedure risks, pregnancy risks, prenatal care, parenting information and adoption options. Included in the bill was that a woman considering an abortion must wait 24 hours after being given the information to consider the procedure and

prohibited the prepayment for abortion to physicians or clinics because abortion was viewed as a commercial enterprise. Also included in the bill was a provision to delay payment until after the 24-hour waiting period, as well as language insuring that a woman was voluntarily giving consent to the abortion, and was not being coerced. The bill died in committee.

In 2002, Act 687 of 2002 passed, known as the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which asserted the state's interest in protecting all individuals, and prescribing the same responsibilities and procedures in regard to a newborn, in essence prohibiting abortions at any stage of pregnancy. It prescribed severe criminal penalties on physicians providing abortions, including treatment for miscarriage, facing imprisonment up to life or fines up to $50,000. But the law was invalidated by Judge Arthur Tarnow of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, after the ACLU sued, saying the law endangered women's health, noting that “any law restricting a woman's right to choose previability of abortion must contain an adequate safeguard to protect the life and health of the pregnant woman.”

Kary Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, said at the time of the ruling, “The legislature should not be determining what is the best medical treatment for any given woman. Such decisions should be made by a woman in consultation with her doctor.”

At the end of 2002, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed House Bill 5971, which was co-sponsored by current state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake), and former Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township), both then state representatives, to prohibit prepayment for abortions to physicians

or clinics because abortion services are marketed like other commercial enterprises. Transactions had to be delayed until after a 24-hour waiting period, and women had to give voluntary consent.

In 2003, the effort to ban partial birth abortions began in earnest in Michigan, the same year it was enacted by Congress.

“That was a huge debate,” said Rivet.

The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is a United States law prohibiting a form of late-term abortion referred to as “partial birth.” It was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 in the case Gonzales v. Carhart.

“There's no such act in medicine as 'partial birth' – it's something the pro-life people made up,” said Planned Parenthood's Carpentier. The term was first coined by Douglas Johnson of the national Right to Life Committee to describe an abortion where a fetus is pulled out head first, through the mother's vagina, while it is still alive, and then killed while it is partially delivered.

According to medical literature, partial birth abortion is defined as intact dilation and extraction during the second trimester of pregnancy, approximately 15 to 26 weeks, prior to viability. The U.S. law does not refer to gestational age nor to fetal viability.

Year after year in Michigan, bills were introduced in both the state House and Senate to prohibit partial birth abortions, despite the existence of a federal law in place. In 2003-2004, House Bill 4603 passed, while Senate Bill 395 died in committee. Similar bills died in 2004-2005; 2005-2006; and 2006-2007. Numerous other bills to inhibit abortions were proposed but died in committees during those legislative years.

In the 2007-2008 legislative year, Senate Bill 776, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, a replica of a federal law upheld by the U.S.

“My experience, maybe because of my profession, was when I learned about partial birth abortions, it motivated me to be more active,” Rivet said. “It may be a small number, but it got them to be more activated. We don't believe in eugenics. Doctors, most – maybe none – did them (partial birth abortions). It wasn't a quantity issue. It was that Roe v. Wade legalized abortions for all nine months for the health of the fetus. Meaning for any reason, and people did not believe us. It wasn't until partial birth came along that people believed us.

“It took me 15 years. Four bills. Two court challenges. My first effort with a partial birth effort came in 1996. It had so many iterations. That was very, very significant because of the cultural iteration,” Rivet said.

To pro-choice advocates, though, House Bill 5711 of 2012, was the worst bill passed, according to Desiree Cooper, director of community and media relations for Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan. “At the time, it was the worst bill in the nation, but much worse have been passed nationally since.”

House Bill 5711 was an abortion omnibus bill which opponents said effectively banned abortion after 20 weeks, asserting that a fetus can feel pain after that point. The bill required additional regulatory requirements for facilities that perform abortions, including screening requirements aimed at making sure that no one is forcing women into having abortions, such as parents, spouses, or boyfriends. It mandated that women be given a questionnaire to inform them of the illegality of that coercion, and to have doctors determine if the woman had been coerced, or is a victim of domestic abuse before the abortion procedure could take place.

For abortion providers, it forced them to carry an extra $1

During the House debate on 5711, in June 2012, the discussion became particularly toxic. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, then a Democratic representative from West Bloomfield, said of the hearing, “The committee room was packed with people, and they wouldn't let a woman speak.”

Supreme Court, passed with the Senate voting 24-13, and the House voting 74-32, in favor. Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed the bill on June 13, 2008. A subsequent House bill, 4613, which asserted that the state “must preserve and protect the life of the mother and child”, with then-representatives Chuck Moss (RBirmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township) and Marty Knollenberg, current state senator (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills), both sponsors, died in committee.

Two House bills, tie-barred 5664 in 2008 and 4613 from 2007, with Moss and Knollenberg as sponsors, also both died in committee, which would have provided sentencing guidelines for the crime of performing partial birth abortion.

Then, in 2011, Right to Life and legislators succeeded in passing the Partial Birth Abortion Act, and Gov. Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 160 into law.

The bill outlaws the practice of partial birth abortion in Michigan, unless it is determined it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

While it mirrored the federal law, Rivet said it was necessary for the Michigan legislature to pass its own Partial Birth Abortion Law. “Federal laws can be repealed,” he said. “Federal laws are very hard to rely upon. Federal prosecutors are very busy. They are going after drug dealers, not going after an illegal abortion doctor.

Also, we wanted to make a statement that we don't do that here in Michigan.”

Rivet said that the ban activated a new base for Right to Life, acknowledging that 90 percent or so of abortions occur during the first trimester of a pregnancy.

million in liability insurance if they perform five or more abortions a month, or had ever been subject to two or more civil suits in the previous seven years. It also created a new regulation that stated that any clinic that provides six or more abortions in a month, or one that advertises abortion services, would have to be licensed as a freestanding surgical outpatient facility, meaning it would require a full surgical suite, even if they didn't perform full surgical abortions.

During the House debate on 5711, in June 2012, the discussion in the state House and Senate became particularly toxic. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, then a Democratic representative from West Bloomfield, said of the hearing, “The committee room was packed with people, and they wouldn't let a woman speak. With 10 minutes left, the committee chair called for a vote. What was the rush? There were still a lot of people who wanted to speak.”

Brown asserts she did not break any rules when she was called on the by the speaker for her vote, and stated, “'I'm flattered you're all so interested in my vagina, but no means no.' Behind me were all these Republican men, and there weren't any jaws on the floor.

It was all the next day, the last day before summer break...when the Democratic Floor Leader told me I was not allowed to speak. I did not think speaking about 'vagina' was any different than speaking about 'elbow.' We were talking about abortions. Where do they think it comes from?”

Former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), said, “Any time you take a stand as a woman, there's going to be backlash.”

In what was seen as limiting access to women, particularly rural women, noted Think Progress, “Under the omnibus bill,

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(OHJDQWO\ FKLF VRIW &RQWHPSRUDU\ FXVWRP built. Open, spacious great room, wall of ZLQGRZV Ã&#x20AC;RRGV URRP Z QDWXUDO OLJKW :HOO equipped cooks kitchen w/ breakfast spot VXUURXQGHG E\ ZLQGRZV WR HQMR\ WKH GHFN spacious rear yard.

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Beautiful Colonial in desirable Maple Creek. *UDQLWH NLWFKHQ Z QHZ 66 UHIULJHUDWRU )UHVKO\ SDLQWHG )LQLVKHG // Z KXJH UHF URRP EDU all purpose room & full bath. Hardwood t/o 1st Ã&#x20AC;RRU %HDXWLIXO ODQGVFDSHG ORW FDU JDUDJH 0DUF /HGHUPDQ

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DOWNTOWN

04.16

doctors would have to be physically present to perform a medication abortion, thus preventing a doctor from administering abortion-inducing medication by consulting via telephone or Internet.” Gov. Snyder signed the bill on December 28, 2012.

Rivet of Right to Life denies that the passage of this bill has decreased women's access to abortion. “We're not seeking to stop abortions through legislation,” he said. “It's no secret that Right to Life wants abortion to not exist, but we're not seeking it legislatively.”

Lynn Mills of Livonia, who works with Operation Rescue, a prolife Christian activist organization, said she works closely as a citizen activist providing on the ground investigative material to Rivet. “If I know an abortion doctor has done something wrong and violated laws, I want to pass that information on to (Right to Life) so they can craft laws, if they feel it's proper,” Mills said. “Right to Life did a wonderful job of making these clinics step up to the plate. There are still loose ends to tie up. We're never going to stop all of them. There is an underground abortion movement out here.”

“In Michigan, the nature of the legislature has changed because of gerrymandering,” Planned Parenthood's Carpentier said. “The Republicans are more emboldened, controlling the House, Senate, and governor's mansion. In a couple of instances, Snyder has denied them their goals. They thought Snyder wouldn't be a stop gap. He has proven to protect a woman's right to choose in a couple of instances, such as when he vetoed, after he had worked hard reworking the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance bill – it was his bill – when they tacked on the abortion rider. That's something, an abortion rider, it doesn't exist with insurance. And he vetoed that legislation even though it was his legislation.

“This governor has vetoed very little, so this was a big deal on

“I was one of the chairs of the stem cell research, and I saw the Right to Life lies on scientific research,” said Whitmer, now a University of Michigan lecturer and attorney in private practice.

“You know they'll do anything to accomplish their goals.”

Paige Comstock Cunningham, executive director of the BioEthics and Human Dignity Center in Illinois, said she is opposed to the use of fetal tissue in research “because the primary source is abortions.”

While acknowledging aborted fetuses is a good source for stem cells, “it is not ethical.” Her primary concerns are “to respect the fetus. You cannot treat it any different than any other child. You cannot take a life and then give away a body. Those participating in abortion are morally disqualified from donating to research because they're the ones responsible for causing the fetal death. It turns the body and body parts into a commodity.” She said there also better, more ethical options for sources, such as umbilical cords, core blood, and baby teeth. “I'm not opposed to medical research, I just want it done ethically.”

Both sides are awaiting the ruling on Whole Women's Health v.

Hellerstedt, a case which was heard in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in early March, the first major abortion case in nearly a decade, centered around the key question of, does a Texas law that forces abortion clinics to meet stringent new standards, in the name of shielding a woman's health, impose an “undue burden” on a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. One of the provisions in the law at issue requires abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. Typically, abortions in early pregnancy are performed in settings similar to doctor's offices. The law also requires doctors to obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals, in case of emergency.

Both sides are awaiting the ruling on Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt, a case which was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in early March, centered around the question of whether stringent new standards, in the name of shielding a woman's health, impose an “undue burden” on a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. his part,” Carpentier said, noting that legislators passed the abortion rider without his signature as a referendum. “But he took a stand.”

Ironically, she said, the impact on Michigan women is debatable, because many insurance companies don't offer it, and is not available for self-insurance policies. “For people who may be choosing early gestational coverage, it may be no big deal,” she said. “But for a family who may discover a fetal anomaly later in pregnancy, and some (anomalies) are not compatible with life – it's no longer a $500 procedure, it's many thousands of dollars. It's a pretty darn expensive procedure in a hospital.”

Carpentier referred to bill 183 of 2013, which passed after Snyder's veto, despite Whitmer's efforts in the Senate, telling the personal story of having been raped 20 years before in an effort to persuade her fellow senators to understand the importance of leaving abortion accessible and available to women. Whitmer said, “It was very depressing the next morning. I had many Republican senators tell me 'I wish I could have voted with you, but I had to vote with my party.' Then my staff said our phones, e-mail, Facebook, are blowing up. People really supported me and my story. I could at least see the value talking about these issues.

Rape is sadly not talked about – but it happens to so many women.

Same with abortion. At least we got the conversation going.”

The conversation does continue, both in the Michigan, and around the country. Besides limiting access, the pro-life movement's focus is now on the use of fetal stem cells, or as a pending Senate Bills 564 and 565, and identical House Bills 5086 and 5087, refer to it, the Fetal Organ Trafficking Ban, which would prohibit the exchange of any form of compensation for fetal tissue or organs.

Supporters of the Texas law say the invasive nature of abortions require that they must be done in hospital-like environments, and hospital privileges for doctors is just a common sense measure to protect women.

Rivet, of Right to Life of Michigan, said that while he has not studied the Texas law, “The argument is not to hold them to a higher standard, or to make (a clinic) into a mini-hospital, but to hold them to the same standards as any other outpatient facilities.

That was our mantra all along.” The impact upon some Michigan laws and pending legislation will likely depend upon the Supreme Court decision.

As for many women having to travel, sometimes great distances, in order to obtain safe abortions, Rivet said, “There's this idea of specialty medical services. Why isn't this in the same category? That you have to travel for medical procedures. Well, you have to travel for good care.”

He said that in Michigan, an abortion provider does not have to have hospital privileges, although there is a requirement that they have a transfer agreement for any necessary emergency care with a local hospital. “That's a standard no one can challenge,” he asserted.

When the law changed in Michigan in 2012, Rivet said, “The impact was immediate. There have been many clinics we know had been below standards. All those bad operators went out of business. In some cases, there had been elderly physicians who had not updated their facilities, who didn't want to update their facilities or standards, and they just closed.”

“There are true believers, religious believers. But there are individuals who are interested in controlling women and then disappearing once a child is born,” said Whitmer. “They are advocates for the unborn, but not for the born.”

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FACES

Ali Woerner t’s quite a sisterhood, and a support system” said Ali Woerner, a Birmingham resident who danced with the Radio City Rockettes for six years. “You’re in a snow globe four months every year. I learned a lot. I grew up.”

At age 21, Woerner and a handful of her close friends piled into a pickup truck and drove from the University of Oklahoma, where she was finishing a degree in performance art, south to Dallas for the Rockettes’ audition. “It was a fun field trip, and then all six of us who went to the audition got hired! I performed in Detroit for a couple years as a Rockette. We would rehearse in one city and travel to two different cities.

I could do it from here. I didn’t have to live in New York – I could go into New York when I needed to.”

In between training, performing and traveling for the holiday show that dates back to 1932, Woerner, now 38, met her husband, with whom she has four-year-old boy/girl twins. “They’re dancers in their own right,” she said. “They would tell you they ‘really like to move.’ I watch my children and how they have their own independence and strength and fearlessness, and I think that has to do with the space they’re in – that they feel they can be themselves and that they’re watching their mom do that. I think that’s the best (gift) I can give.”

Receiving her masters degree in choreography from the University of Michigan, Woerner successfully set out to carve a career path in metro Detroit. “I was born and raised here. I love it here. I didn’t feel I needed to leave to be successful, and I’m glad I didn’t. Being from here, and

I

giving back to our community is huge. I really wanted to stay and figure out how to do that.”

In 2013, Woerner co-founded Take Root, a contemporary modern dance company that’s in residency at Oakland University. The non-profit started as a duo composed of Woerner and her business partner, dancer Thayer Jonutz. “Our mantra is connection,” she said, “whether that’s connection to an audience, or children in K-12 education, or the Dance for Parkinson’s,” which is offered once a month, free to those living with the nervous system disorder.

The five dancers, one musician, and lucky apprentice who make up Take Root perform locally as well as internationally. “Our goal is to find untraditional audiences,” said Woerner. “In Berlin, the studio (we performed in) used to be an old swimming pool, so we were surrounded by white tile, and we were in a basin. We danced in a swimming pool in the middle of Germany!” This month, Take Root will be performing in Kalamazoo, Chicago and at the Detroit Institute of Arts, as part of the museum’s multimedia dance exhibition.

Woerner encourages everyone to keep dancing, “to feel the joy and the freedom – you’d be lying if you said there wasn’t one point you didn’t dance in your kitchen, or in your room, and what that made you feel like.

So why can’t we instill that in our children, and the elderly?”

Story: Katie Deska

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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MUNICIPAL Peabody's may be sold, brownfield sought

By Lisa Brody

Peabody's Restaurant on Woodward in Birmingham may be sold to the Alden Development Group, which is proposing to develop and build a fivestory mixed use building, and in its first step has requested a brownfield plan and reimbursement agreement from the city, noting contamination from adjacent sites have migrated to the Peabody site.

The Birmingham Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Committee recommended the site for $1.4 million worth of brownfield reimbursement at its meeting on March 10, and it is headed to the city commission on Monday, March 28, where it is on the commission's consent agenda.

The restaurant, located at 34965 Woodward Avenue, was initially the site of Park Smith's grist mill. Peabody's began as a local fruit market in 1946,

by Stan and Louise Peabody, grandparents of the current owners, sisters Susan, Nancy and Barbara Peabody. In 1975, Jim Peabody, Stan and Louise's son and Susan, Barbara and Nancy's father, converted the barn structure that housed the fruit market into a fine restaurant, offering modern American fare and spirits.

Susan Peabody said there has not yet been a closing date with the new owner, and they are remaining open for both diners and parties until that time.

“We've got parties booked until August, and we'll keep our customers notified.”

The Peabody sisters are also looking to keep the Peabody's name ongoing.

“We're looking to relocate, downsize and open someplace else in the area,” Susan Peabody said.

Currently nestled between the Greenleaf Trust Building at the corner of Woodward and Maple, and the new Balmoral Building, which just opened on Woodward and Brown, Peabody's is known for its prime rib, steaks, fish, salads, chowder and soups, sandwiches and cocktails. “The core of our business will always remain deeply rooted in the Peabody's tradition of providing an affordable, upscale dining experience,” the restaurant states on its website.

“We would like to express our deep gratitude for your support through these many years. It has been an honor to serve this community,” the Peabody sisters said in a statement. “We will keep you in the loop.” downtownpublications.com

Tender refocusing store arrangement he designer boutique Tender on W. Maple in Birmingham is returning to its original footprint, placing shoes and purses back in its main store in order to provide better service to their clientele.

After opening a shoe and purse boutique in neighboring space 10 years ago, “We've realized it's easier to accessorize someone in an outfit when you can pull the ideal shoe or purse right there,” said Karen Daskas, who owns Tender with her sister Cheryl. “We're not decreasing our inventory at all.”

Karen and Cheryl decided to rethink the layout of their two stores, located at 271 W. Maple Road for 22 years, when the shoe boutique's lease came up for renewal. Despite being next door to each other, the two stores have a small alleyway between them, necessitating customers and salespeople to run between the two.

“This move, Cheryl and I feel, will strengthen our services, because everything will be at our fingertips, rather than having to run back and forth between the two stores,” Karen said. “We're excited. It's a positive move.”

Karen added that she and her sister realized in recent years that they, and their women's fashion sales associates, were “spread too thin” when having to deal with two separate buildings.

The lease on the shoe side expires May 31.

Tender features clothing and accessories from American and European designers.

“We can dress everyone for running around with their kids to a black tie event, and everything in between,” Karen said. “We are very accommodating to a woman's schedule, and this move will help us be even more accommodating, because everything will be right here.”

T

According to minutes of the February 18 meeting, Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Committee, Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker told the committee that Alden submitted a draft brownfield plan to Birmingham in December 2015, in anticipation of the construction of a new mixed-use, five-story development proposed for the site. She said the plan outlined numerous environmental concerns for the site, including historical operations performed at the site, contamination from an adjacent site that had migrated onto the site, and contamination on the site. She said that on January 27, 2016, Alden submitted a revised plan, requesting a reimbursement of $1.4 million in environmental cleanup costs in order to clean up the site to meet Michigan Department of Environmental Quality standards.

Susan Peabody said the site where the Greenleaf Building now sits, at Woodward and Maple, used to be a Shell station, and it is believed that contamination drifted onto the Peabody site.

Despite its history, Ecker said the Peabody Building is not a historic site and is not located in a historic district.

The project's architect, Chris Longe

of Birmingham, provided the committee with a general idea of what the proposed new building would look like, explaining that the components of floors two and three have not yet been determined, but that floors four and five must be residential. The building will likely have two floors of underground parking to accommodate approximately 88 spaces. He said the building will step back at the fifth floor, and building materials will be limestone with steel windows. “This will be a significant structure on Woodward Avenue,” Longe said.

Paul Robertson Jr., a member of the committee, told Longe and Matthew Shiffman of Alden Development that it wasn't a question of if there would be a brownfield reimbursement, but how much.

At the subsequent Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Committee meeting on March 10, Ecker said the committee unanimously recommended approving the full amount, a reimbursement of $1.4 million, in environmental cleanup costs.

The Birmingham city commission is scheduled to approve the brownfield at their meeting on Monday, March 28. It is on the commission's consent agenda, where items are approved in one motion without discussion.

DOWNTOWN

Maple Road charter ballot change fails Birmingham residents voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday, March 8, to reject a call by resident Jim Mirro, who headed a petition drive for a charter amendment proposal to keep Maple Road between Southfield and Cranbrook, and Woodward and Eton roads, four lanes with two lanes of traffic in each direction.

With a total of 7,267 Birmingham residents voting at the city's nine precincts, or about 30 percent of the city's registered voters, including 1,670 who voted absentee, 4,447 or 61 percent voted against the charter amendment change, while 2,820 or 39 percent voted to enshrine W. Maple in the city's charter as a four-lane roadway. Of the nine precincts, only voters in two precincts, Precinct 3, at Derby Middle School and Precinct 9, at the Ice Arena, on the east side of the city, near E. Maple Road, which commissioners kept as a four-lane roadway in 2012, narrowly voted to approve the charter amendment.

Of particular note is the results of Precinct 4, located at First Presbyterian Church, 1669 W. Maple Road, whose voters live both north and south of W. Maple Road, and have been impacted by a test of the roadway as a three-lane road, with one lane in each direction and a center turn lane. Voters in Precinct 4 had the most overwhelming number of no votes, with 716 to 287 yes votes. Precinct 1, located at Holy Name School, 680 Harmon, which runs north off of W. Maple just west of Southfield Road, also saw a significant rejection of the charter amendment, with 577 yes votes to 288 no.

Absentee voters also soundly rejected the charter amendment change, with 1,042 of those voting absentee voting against the measure versus 628 voting in favor of the charter change.

W. Maple Road between Southfield and Cranbrook has been a bone of contention between the city and some residents since the city began studying the roadway, and decided to do a test as a three-lane configuration after three traffic engineering consultants recommended the format as a way to reduce speeds, the number and severity of accidents, and traffic volume on the road. The test began at the beginning of October, and will run through spring 2016, when it will be evaluated for all of the determined 117

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442 S. Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, MI

metrics, prior to the roadway being repaved this summer, as has been scheduled for several years. An interim study by the city's traffic engineer and deputy chief of police, presented to the city commission in January, revealed the test is meeting, and even surpassing, all of its expectations.

However, Mirro objected to the city commission considering the roadway change and approving the test, and last summer had an attorney create a petition to change the city charter to keep Maple Road a four-lane road. He succeed in obtaining the required number of signatures, and the proposal was placed on the March 8 ballot for residents to consider. If the charter amendment had been approved, city voters would have had to cast ballots in the future if any change in the road was desired.

The concern of city officials was in enshrining a road issue in the city charter, which is equivalent to its constitution.

“Once again the Birmingham voter showed that when something is not in the best interest of the residents, they vote against it,” said commissioner Stuart Sherman. “This is good news.”

Redesign of parking structure considered

By Lisa Brody

Birmingham's Ad Hoc Parking committee is in the midst of studying plans and schematics for rebuilding the city's N. Old Woodward parking structure to possibly incorporate a ring of retail frontage along N. Old Woodward and Willits, as well as perhaps adding residential housing and a park, as it works to increase parking

spaces to meet the increased need the city is experiencing.

The Ad Hoc Parking committee was created in March 2015 by the city commission in order to move quickly to find solutions to Birmingham's downtown parking shortage, after an ad hoc parking study committee determined there were significant parking shortages in both the downtown area and the Triangle District. At that time, recommended solutions included building two extra floors of the Pierce Street structure, the only city garage which was designed and built to accommodate additional growth, which was later abandoned; building two public or public/private structures in the Triangle District, which has had no movement; and on N.Old Woodward, at the surface lot known as parking lot number 5, adjacent to the Old Woodward structure, which would be dropped and rebuilt, expanding Bates Street, building a mixed use building with first floor retail, adding parking over it, and extending parking.

The Ad Hoc Parking committee met in February, having contracted with Birmingham architect Victor Saroki, whose design team presented three options and a spreadsheet and costs for the options. Each of Saroki's schemes are vertical expansions, city engineer Paul O'Meara noted.

The first scheme proposes a fivestory mixed-use building with a N. Old Woodward frontage, “with active windows and occupants within,” which city staff felt is an important component to any plan, O'Meara said.

Along Bates Street (Willits), the scheme proposes a one-story, 20-foot deep retail liner retail building fronting the parking structure along the majority of

Hamilton Avenue reconstruction begins long with warmer spring weather comes the dreaded road construction season, and Birmingham's first major road project began Monday, March 28, on Hamilton Avenue between Old Woodward and Woodward in downtown Birmingham.

Hamilton will be completely reconstructed, meaning it will receive new sewers, water mains, a new concrete street, new sidewalks and new streetlights. The street is expected to be completed around the first of July.

Construction equipment and signs were set up the week of March 21, with excavation on N.

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the first level of the parking structure.

The plan notes, “This is a unique building configuration that has not been offered in Birmingham.” Sixteen parking spaces would be lost from the plan, but the building would go down two floors underground to compensate for lost parking.

According to the proposal, two of the plans would keep the land north of Bates Street dedicated to parkland minimal, and allow for the construction of two five-story residential buildings, while other plans would provide for more parkland, and a public plaza area with just one private residential building.

“The value of this parcel is estimated at $4.7 million. This translates to a $1.4 million cost to the parking system benefitting the park system. Maximizing the land (with two five-story buildings) results in estimated revenues of $6.1 million for this parcel alone,” O'Meara wrote in a memo to the committee.

He further wrote that staff recommends the plan with Bates Street frontage, a retail liner building and a larger park plaza.

The committee didn't take a position, waiting to collect more information and data, said committee member and city commissioner Mark Nickita. “We'll have another meeting by the end of March, or in a month,” he said. “We need to strategize how best to go forward, and once we determine how to go forward, the funding options. Right now it's a design discussion, and how to best approach the committee's goals of studying the parking deficiencies. We're looking at the best ways to not only meet parking demands, but also how it meets the appropriate aesthetics and the 2016 plan.”

Old Woodward beginning Monday, March 28.

The city is estimating the work there will last about two weeks before it shifts to Hamilton.

While traffic will not be open during construction, all of the businesses will be open the entire time the road is being reconstructed.

To make shopping, dining and visiting the establishments on Hamilton and around N. Old Woodward in the downtown area a little easier, the Birmingham Shopping District is offering free customer valet parking Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., throughout the project, on N. Old Woodward at the corner of Hamilton, in front of Comerica Bank. The first two hours of valet is free.

If you will be in Birmingham longer than two hours, the Birmingham Shopping District

Nickita said funding has not yet been discussed. “We have to know what we're dealing with first.”

ROJO license okayed after initial concerns During Birmingham's annual liquor license renewal hearing, all but one Class C liquor license was unanimously renewed by the city commission, with ROJO Mexican Bistro required to come before the commission for a public hearing on Monday, March 14, due to outstanding tax and water bills to the city totaling almost $25,000.

On March 14, ROJO Mexican Bistro had their license renewed by the city commission after entering into a payment agreement with the city of Birmingham.

All of the other restaurants in Birmingham with Class C liquor licenses and The Townsend Hotel, which has a Class B liquor license, received unanimous renewals for 2016 after a review of their 2015 licenses by city commissioners during the Monday, February 22, city commission meeting.

In contrast to some recent years, there were no significant issues at any of the city's restaurants in 2015. Only one establishment received citations by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission for selling alcohol to someone under the age of 21, during a police sting.

“It was a good year. There were no violations,” said commissioner Stuart Sherman.

Commissioners held up the renewal of ROJO's liquor license on February 22, over unpaid city taxes and water bills totaling almost $25,000 in the last

recommends you having the place you are doing business with validate your ticket. “For those who are shopping or conducting business in the area, enjoy the first two hours free, then $5 per hour for each additional hour, with a $30 per day maximum,” the shopping district announced. To retrieve your car, call or text the valet 15 minutes ahead, and your car will be waiting for you.

“We’re providing enhanced signage and free valet to customers to make it easy for them to shop during construction,” said John Heiney, executive director of the Birmingham Shopping District. “Whether shopping, dining, coming for a salon visit, or just walking downtown, this service offers a quick and convenient way to park in Birmingham.”

year. A public hearing can be cancelled if the restaurant pays, or sets up a payment schedule with the city, over its unpaid bills, which it was.

ROJO, located at 250 Merrill Street, recently expanded to the space next door to it with a new concept, Sidecar, offering gourmet sliders.

Devine policy change finds little support

By Lisa Brody

An attempt by Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine to force the township's professional service contracts to be bid out every five years and prevent political contributors from bidding on contracts failed to find support after a two-hour discussion at the board of trustees meeting on Monday, March 12.

Devine said he had brought the resolution to amend the township's purchasing and project approval polices to the board “in an attempt to go into the best practices realm, to give the best price to taxpayers, and to have no conflict of interests. I added developers doing business in the township, and for anyone donating to any campaign for anyone running for office in the township this campaign cycle.”

Tom Trice, public works director, countered, “We do have a policy, which we've had since 2005, and it's an excellent policy, and many communities would love to be in Bloomfield Township. Bloomfield Township is a well-run operation.”

Trice said his department regularly bids out materials, vehicles, refuse services, landscaping, and other services, and at times utilizes purchasing consortiums to get the best possible prices, for anything over $35,000. Devine wanted it lowered to $15,000 annually in purchases.

“We follow our purchasing standards. That's our Bible,” said Trice.

“So for less than $35,000, it doesn't mean it's not going to somebody's neighbor or somebody's cousin?” asked Savoie.

“No,” Trice responded. “Things under $35,000, we get quotations on everything – a minimum of three. It's important to our integrity, to the integrity of our community. If we had to come to the board for everything over $15,000, instead of $35,000, and we've taken up two meetings – by the time we'd gotten approvals – it's 90 days. It tremendously adds to planning and to staff.”

“This resolution gives the 122

Sara Campbell coming to downtown

By Lisa Brody

imeless Boston designer and boutique owner Sara Campbell will be opening her 17th self-titled store in downtown Birmingham in April on Maple Road, in the former bec and sam's location.

The store, to be located at 146 W. Maple Road, will feature classic designs that are “modern and chic. Our customer is ageless and timeless. I say we're inspired by Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy. It's where you go after Kate Spade,” Campbell said. “We're not as much about fashion as about making you feel great.”

Price points for dresses, sportswear, coats and accessories run from $100 to $600. Campbell said, “Our focal point is on our dresses,” which run from $200 to $400. Made from fine imported fabrics, Campbell said all of her designs, other than cashmere products, are made in the United States.

Campbell evolved into a boutique owner after becoming an independent designer for stores around the country in the 1980s and 1990s, including Talbots, Laura Ashley, Coldwater Creek, and J. Jill, while also wholesaling her designs to small boutiques.

“I first incorporated when I sold 500 dresses for 50 stores to Talbots in 1985. That was the beginning,” she recalled, noting her private label sales grew to be a $20 million business by 1999. “Then those larger companies decided to no longer use outside vendors, and bring in inhouse designers.”

With her last shipment to Talbot's in 2008, Campbell said she had to reinvent herself. She had kept her wholesale line, and in May 2009, opened a pop up store in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

“I was going to do it for two weeks, as a charity fundraiser, and we ended up staying,” she said. “We're now in our seventh year, and that's our flagship store.”

As they have grown, they have stayed away from malls, and consistently gives back to communities.

“We're very big on giving back to the community. I always believe at any time it could be us,” she noted, focusing on empowering women and changing women's lives. In addition to enjoying the Birmingham retail environment, Campbell said she is essentially “coming home” with this store.

“Both of my parents are from Michigan. I went to Camp Miniwanca (in Shelby Township) each summer growing up. I have Michigan in my bones,” she said.

Bringing the Sara Campbell store to downtown Birmingham is being credited to retail leasing consultant Julie Fielder who has been on retainer with the Birmingham Shopping District for several years as part of a program to proactively address potential vacancies that might occur in the city.

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appearance that we aren't going through the appropriate purchasing process, which is absolutely not true,” Savoie said to the board. “We go through every single purchase to make sure they are in the best interest of the township. This resolution is absolutely false. This board and department heads make sure we are getting the best value.”

Devine said he used to agree, back in 2005, when the policy was approved, but no longer did, disparaging the ability of the department heads to make decisions. “I think now it should go from $35,000 to $15,000, and we should revisit it every five years. And the board

should get involved before the department heads, because department heads make expenditures before the board knows, and because the clerk's office opens the bids. It says in the resolution from '05 that the board of trustees would solicit the bids – but that's not what's happening. It's the department heads.”

Trustee Corinne Khederian asked Devine if it had been bothering him for 11 years, why he was just bringing it to the board's attention now.

Savoie noted that Devine had brought it to the board's attention in 2014, “and it was determined by township attorney Bill Hampton that

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the purchasing program is being followed. It's just that you disagreed with the opinion.”

Devine brought up a source of his objections – that longtime professional service providers, such as engineering firm Hubbell Roth & Clark and law firm Secrest Ward, in which Hampton is a partner, do not have to submit to a bidding process for contract. He then read a list of contributors to a fundraiser for Savoie, for which members of both firms contributed the allowable $150 per person.

“If you think I could be bought for $150 ticket price, we have a much bigger problem, Dan,” Savoie said.

“HRC has been the township engineer for almost 70 years. They have everything on file, and when it goes out to bid, they keep coming back at the lowest price. All these relationships have been in place for a long, long time – other than the auditing firm, whose fees kept going up, and I felt Bloomfield Township should have a big name auditing firm, and it went out to bid (two years ago to UHY), and we saved a lot of money, and you voted against. It would be easy to say let's just give business to my friends and people I know, but you keep the continuity here.

We have the best ones here. You say we're not following best practices – we are following best practices.”

Savoie also pointed out that in the last election cycle of 2012, Devine received 60 percent of his political contributions from township vendors.

Savoie, Khederian, and trustees Brian Kepes and Neal Barnett each questioned why Devine had not bid out outside attorney services for the VEBA water and sewer trust. “As the sole trustee of the VEBA trust, you didn't get that bid out, and that was outrageous,” Kepes said.

“I followed the current purchasing agreement,” Devine said.

“If you really feel there should be competitive bids, you should have done that and led by example,” Kepes said.

“There is a law pending that says if you are happy with a vendor, there is no reason to go out to bid. If you are unhappy, you can, but it does not require you to,” clerk Jan Roncelli said.

“As for the personal, Dan, there was no reason for it. You're talking about bidding where we've had long-term relationships. Dan, professional relations are very important when you're talking about professional services. They get to know you, your organization, your people.”

Jason Theis, finance director, added, 04.16

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“Listening to the comments, something not included is the purchasing department guidelines, the memorandum, which we use everyday.

There's multiple levels of criteria. Not until you get to below $500 for goods do you really have no guidelines.”

“One of the beauties I always saw in Bloomfield Township is its flexibility, its ability to get things done,” said township assessor Bill Griffin. “Now, you're talking about getting bogged down in minutiae, becoming so bureaucratic that nothing gets done.”

Trustee Dave Buckley said, “I'm only interested in a professional purchasing services policy to be bid every five years for review on a revolving basis.

I'm not interested in the amount, and I'm not interested in the campaign donations.”

Devine said he would second the motion for the new policy. However, the motion failed, 2-5, with no other board members supporting the resolution.

Devine's request for audit goes nowhere During the supervisor's update at the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustee meeting on Monday, February 22, treasurer Dan Devine requested a forensic audit, indicating there had been possible financial improprieties or wrongdoing because he had requested a list of all expenses paid to engineering and other consultants in 2014, as well as fees paid to other suppliers, in an e-mail to supervisor

Leo Savoie in February 2015, and had not had what he considered a satisfactory response. But Devine's fellow board members did not support his motion, noting that at any time during the year he could ask department heads for payment records, or access it himself on the township's website.

Devine fought his fellow board members, who challenged his assertion that the township's annual audit was not satisfactory and a forensic audit was needed.

“Forensic is not the appropriate term. Maybe independent is better,” said trustee David Buckley early in the proceedings, as he tried to support Devine, who said, “I indicated going back to last February 13, that I was requesting the preparation of a list of all of the expenses paid to our engineering consultants in 2014, as well as all fees paid other vendors.

Your response, Leo, was 'Dan, you have the ability to get that on your own.' I responded that I don't have access to that information. I have not received responses in a year, and neither have residents.”

“Dan, you are the treasurer. You have access to all of our accounting ledgers. You have all of the information readily available to you,” Savoie responded.

“Dan, have you ever gone to the department heads and asked for detailed records and said, 'I'm concerned about this vendor, or this vender or that bill?' I would not have waited two years. I would have gone

Sundance Shoes planning to open in Birmingham

By Lisa Brody

undance Shoes, a favorite with women shoppers for 43 years, will be opening a store on S. Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham in the former locations of Heartwear Designs and Seegerpeople this summer.

The new store, according to owner Rob Wolk, will be located at 235 and 239 S. Old Woodward in a newly-combined storefront and will be the second location for Sundance, currently located on Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield. The store, known for its fashionable and moderately-priced shoes and purses, is aiming for a July 1 opening, Wolk said.

Wolk said his partner in the new venture “is my daughter, Katie Ray Johnston, who will be running the Birmingham location, although I'll be there a

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right away, as soon as I was in office, if I thought something was amiss. I would not wait until it's an election year,” Corinne Khederian said.

Savoie told Devine that while “I can't tell you how to do your job, all you have do is specifically ask, and go down there and get it, and not send out an e-mail.”

Devine responded he didn't know which files to request, to which Savoie responded, “I'm sorry you don't know which files, and what goes on around here.”

“Anything you want to look up, you can go to Minutes On Demand (on the township website),” clerk Jan Roncelli said. “As for vouchers for Hubbell Roth & Clark (the engineering firm), you, Leo and I approve those. You can drill down and see where each funds and fees are going. I know where they're going. I see them. I don't know how you can't see them.”

Roncelli also said she had contacted both the township's current auditing firm, which they have had for the last two audits, as well as their previous firm, which performed audits for Bloomfield Township for 20 years, and asked them if they ever saw anything amiss in the township's finances.

“I called and asked them about a forensic audit, and they said they've seen no evidence,” she said.

Devine's motion died for lack of support, and he stated he would follow through with contacting the township's department heads for the information he was seeking.

lot too, and we brought in another partner, my son, James Wolk. Jimmy is an actor – he's currently the lead on 'Zoo', a TV show based on a book by James Patterson.”

Wolk said the new 2,200 square foot store will feature merchandise from Free People, Ugg, Timberland, Sorel, Jeffrey Campbell, Eileen Fisher, Doc Martin, Kenneth Cole, Donald Pliner, Steve Madden, Vic Camuto, BCBG, Tom's, Converse and Frye Boots, among other lines.

“We're all over the board. We have great lines that are fashionable, comfortable, affordable and cutting edge,” he said. “So many people are excited to come into our store. We have great lines for everyone all under one roof.”

“We're excited too,” said Steve Quintal with Central Park Properties, which owns the building.

“We don't have any other true shoe stores in town, other than Tender. They're great people. And I think they have a great location, right by the (Birmingham 8) theater.”

Exemptions for hardship considered

By Lisa Brody

While fellow trustees objected to all seniors being exempted from paying for water and sewer and ready to serve fees in Bloomfield Township, once treasurer Dan Devine dropped an age exemption and followed public works director Tom Trice's recommendation for a hardship exemption based on specified criteria, trustees unanimously approved on Monday, March 14, having attorneys draft an ordinance to bring back for approval.

Trice told trustees that the township has a public waste hardship exemption, as does the Great Lakes Water Authority, both of which require financial and tax data in order to provide a waiver for water, sewer and ready to serve fees. He explained that the ready to serve fees are $282 per year, per household. “That's what it costs to bring the water to the house.

Ready to serve is not new money. It's what it costs to run the system. It's not free. You have to pay for it, or you end up like other communities.”

Trice said that to qualify, a resident, regardless of age, would have to be at the poverty level, with property valued at taxable level of $200,000 or less, and they would be required to show their deed. They would need to own only one property, and have savings of $10,000 or less, and to do this would necessitate an ordinance change. He said the township's Board of Review

Quintal said they will have a back entrance that opens to the alleyway leading to the Peabody parking structure. “Convenient parking is great for us,” Wolk said, noting the parking structure has two hours free.

Wolk reminisced that he opened his first store in Northland Mall in 1973. “I've had various other stores, and then been in West Bloomfield for 32 years,” he said. “We started small, and then expanded to 2,000 square feet. Two years ago, we took the space next to us, and now we're 3,400 square feet.”

He anticipates the Birmingham location being a welcoming, tranquil location for shoppers to come in and hang out.

“It's going to be California-meets-shabby chic,” he said, with bleached white floors, whitewashed shelving, walls, ceilings and furnishings in shades of off-white, bone and taupe. “It'll be very soothing. Like you're in Santa Monica and you walk into a really cool store.”

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would review the application. “No public official would be involved in reviewing any individual application,” he said.

Trustee Brian Kepes said he would like to include asking how long someone has been a township resident.

Trustee Neal Barnett asked how residents would be notified, and Trice said on the township's website as well as newsletters. “I also like that it keeps age out of it, and keep age arbitrary,” Barnett said.

Devine then presented his water and sewer fees exemption, which he said, “It's pretty much like Tom's, except I wanted to exempt seniors from water and sewer. In 2011, I think we changed the threshold for property taxes from $200,000 to $350,000, so round up. I rounded up to $500,000 because in working in the treasurer's office, many seniors are house poor with a large lot, having lived here for 30, 40 years, but they may be having economic hardship. I think we should use this as a guideline and not a hard and fast rule. I do think there should be an age exemption – 70, 75, 80 – whatever the board feels appropriate. It would be a voluntary thing. They would still have to fill out the paperwork. That would be a minor accommodation to them for those who have lived here all their lives. It wouldn't be mandatory. But it would be a small accommodation.”

“Tom, I think your recommendation is all encompassing, but provides the township some security,” trustee Corinne Khederian said. “Dan, the problem is, what about the 65, 70 year olds who have moved to the township recently? We have to collect some funds to operate.”

“I think we could do it on a trial basis for a year and see how it goes.

That was my thought,” Devine said.

“There are young families I have heard from too that had problems.

That's why I think an all encompassing program would be better,” Khederian countered.

“Last meeting, there was no consensus on your motion because of age, and just because you raised the age to 70 or 75, I would not support that,” clerk Jan Roncelli said.

“I think the whole idea of hardship is needed, but it has nothing to do with age,” Barnett said.

Trustees concurred, voting unanimously to have the township attorneys draft an ordinance to create a water and sewer hardship exemption. downtownpublications.com

Max Broock Birmingham expands

By Lisa Brody

irmingham real estate developer and property owner James Esshaki announced that the Birmingham office of Max Broock realtors has expanded from its current location at 275 S. Old Woodward to take over two floors at 255 S. Old Woodward, formerly occupied by GSTV. “They already have taken over the whole second floor (at 255 S. Old Woodward),” Esshaki said. “Now they are taking all of the retail space as well. It's an expansion. They are staying in their current location as well.”

Max Broock is one of Michigan's oldest real estate brokerage companies, specializing in the sale of new and used homes, condominiums, lots and land, and investment properties. They have other local brokerages in Bloomfield Township on Telegraph Road south of Long Lake; in West Bloomfield; Southfield; and Troy, among other locations.

The Birmingham office of Max Broock is considered the highest volume office of the real estate firms owned by Real Estate One. GSTV, or Gas Station TV, was headquartered on S. Old Woodward for five years until June 2015, when the company relocated to downtown Detroit, after outgrowing their Birmingham location. GSTV is the country's number 1 video network at gas stations, providing video monitors with programming content from ESPN, CNN Headline News and Buzz Today, Bloomberg TV, and AccuWeather, at gas pumps.

Founded in 2006, over 52 million monthly viewers now watch their programming while fueling their vehicles. The company has grown from a five station pilot, to over 3,000 gas stations in 45 states.

GSTV was acquired in 2014 by Rockbridge Growth Equity, which is owned by Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, Brian Hermelin and Kevin Prokop.

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Einstein Bagels has closed in Birmingham Downtown Birmingham's Einstein Bros. Bagels, a fixture on S. Old Woodward for 20 years, closed suddenly on Saturday, February 27, after racking up a very high water bill, its landlord confirmed.

Merrillwood Building manager Rick Weingartner stated, “They left at the end of February. They had been there (176 S. Old Woodward) for 20 years, and they had planned to stay.”

Weingartner said the bagel store was a corporate-owned store of Einstein Bros. Bagels.

“There was an issue with the water (bill),” Weingartner confirmed.

He said they had been having problems with their refrigeration units, “which usually would recirculate the water and loop into the cooling tower and then circulate again. This one took city water and dumped it down the drain. When we finally put a meter on it, it was quite a high bill, and they decided it wasn't feasible to continue the store. We were really pleased with them and enjoyed them here.”

Einstein's facilities manager Robert Cannalte said he could not comment on the closure or why they closed that location.

It appears the last day of business was Saturday, February 27.

Weingartner said Einstein's transitioned their staff to other locations.

Since Einstein's told the Merrillwood Building management they would be vacating that location, Weingartner said they have had quite a bit of interest in the space.

“People are looking at the space.

There's been a great deal of interest,” he said. “Anything is good, a restaurant or retail. Food is nice because it's set up with the right kind of equipment, but it can be retail as well.”

New bike route approved for city A proposed bicycle route circling throughout Birmingham's neighborhoods with attendant signage was unanimously approved by the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, March 14, after being

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reviewed and recommended by the city's Multi-Modal Transportation Board.

An earlier draft had been presented to city commissioners in November 2015, but was sent back for revisions by staff.

City engineer Paul O'Meara presented the Neighborhood Connector Route which will encircle the city, allowing cyclists to ride along Lincoln from Larchlea to S. Eton, up Eton to Derby, Derby to Poppleton Street, Poppleton to Oakland to Willits in downtown Birmingham, then to Greenwood to Harmon to Lakeside to Oak Street, along Oak to Chesterfield, and then a quick jog along Maple back to Larchlea.

O'Meara said the revised map would use signs and pavement makings, such as the bike symbol sign as a white arrow on a green background at all turns and key crossings, as well as pavement markings at similar locations.

Along with the new route, it was agreed to ban all street parking on Oak Street between Lake Park Drive and Lakeside in order to allow the extension of the existing bike lane on Oak for one block to the east.

A ten-foot wide concrete offstreet bike path will be added on W. Maple between Chesterfield and Larchlea this summer when W. Maple is resurfaced.

The new bike route is expected to be instituted spring/summer 2016.

Investment terms for Schwartz changed The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees changed the terms of their relationship with investment company Gregory J. Schwartz & Co. from a broker/dealer relationship to an investment advisor one, in order to save the township money.

During a fiduciary study session for the board on Monday, February 22, and formally approved at the board of trustees meeting on Monday, March 14, board members were presented with returns for the previous year as well month-to-month for December and January, including detailed analysis on the pension equity portfolio, which is managed by Schwartz. The equity account originally was set up to manage a $80 million pension obligation bond account, which is currently at approximately $67 million following over $25 million in 127

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withdrawals over the last two years, after the township's defined benefit pension plan for retirees, managed by Prudential Insurance, required larger than expected financial infusions to cover shortfalls.

Some trustees had questions about the broker/dealer relationship with Schwartz, rather than an investment/advisor relationship, after fees to the township for the equity account were higher than trustees initially expected. At the meeting on February 22, board members unanimously approved changing the relationship between the township and Schwartz to a investment advisor relationship, which Schwartz recommended.

“The reason we changed it is we can start saving money immediately,” said township supervisor Leo Savoie.

2016-17 Bloomfield Township budget Bloomfield Township trustees approved the 2016-2017 fiscal year budget by a vote of 6-1, with treasurer Dan Devine dissenting over water and sewer rates, on Monday, February 22.

Bloomfield Township's fiscal year runs April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017.

“We have been working on this budget since last September,” supervisor Leo Savoie said. “The board, department heads, have all spent a great deal of time. What are the wants, what are our needs, and then to whittle it down to a balanced budget, as it must be adopted by April 1.”

The approved 2016-2017 budget totals $42.4 million, up from the estimated 2015-1016 budget at $41.7 million. Both revenues and expenditures are anticipated to be

up in the upcoming fiscal year, with property taxes up three percent, at $31.8 million. There is a overall three percent increase in state revenue sharing, $3.3 million; and 48th District Court, whose lease will expire in 2016, but is assumed it will stay in effect, will provide the township with $1.7 million in revenues. Cable franchise fees add $950,000 in revenues.

Public safety, at $26.8 million, is the township's largest expenditure.

The road fund is projected at $4.1 million, and the general fund, the township's operating fund which provides funds for 11 different departments and 15 divisions in the township, has projected expenditures of $7.9 million for 2016-2017.

After a presentation of the complete budget by finance director Jason Theis, Devine asked, “I would like to postpone the water and sewer budgeting, which we're not required to include, until we know what the rates are going to be.”

“This time of year, in February, is very hard to get rates from our suppliers for our budgets. But in my verbal discussions with everyone, my counterparts, they're estimating very modest increases, like about two percent in water rates and seven percent in maintenance in sewer,” said Wayne Domine, director of engineering and environmental control. “Months ago they thought they would be double. Since I've been here, we've always established the rates for the budget, and then set the rates to match what we need our rates to be. To do it the other way around would be new.

You really need to know your expenses, and then figure out your costs.”

“Do you anticipate an increase in

Birmingham introduces Citizens Academy n a continuing effort to provide its residents with information and transparency, the city of Birmingham has created a program to introduce residents to city departments with its new Citizens Academy.

Birmingham said the program is a first for the city, which they have announced as a way to share information about the services the city provides and the roles the various departments have in servicing the public. The inaugural class of the Citizens Academy, which will begin Tuesday, April 12, is currently accepting applications.

I

fixed fees?” Devine asked. Domine said he didn't, but did not really know for sure.

A vote to pull out the water and sewer rates from the budget failed, 3-4, with Devine and trustees Dave Buckley and Brian Kepes voting to pull them out of the budget, and Savoie, clerk Jan Roncelli, and trustees Neal Barnett and Corinne Khederian voting to keep them in.

A vote to approve the budget passed, 6-1, with Devine opposing.

Road work closes Big Beaver Big Beaver Road between Woodward Avenue and Adams Road in Bloomfield Township and Birmingham closed on Thursday, March 3, for road reconstruction and utility relocation work.

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) closed the road to begin permitted utility relocation work which will be done by Consumer's Energy. The utility relocation work, which is expected to take through approximately May 31, is being done in preparation for RCOC's complete reconstruction of the road, which will begin right after the the utility work, and will also require the closure of the road.

The detour for through traffic is Woodward to Long Lake, to Adams Road, and back to Big Beaver and vice versa; or Maple Road to Adams, back to Big Beaver, and vice versa.

“We are very sensitive to the closing of this heavily used roadway and the inconvenience it may cause to many motorists,” said road commission board member Greg Jamian. “But this work was necessitated by the deteriorated condition of the existing road and the

"We are excited to offer this new interactive program for our residents and feel it will open doors of understanding to city government and increase awareness about opportunities to serve in the city."

The spring 2016 academy will meet every Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m., beginning Tuesday, April 12 through mid-May. There will be a graduation ceremony at the city commission meeting on Monday, May 23. Sessions will be limited to 20 participants to ensure the quality of the program.

According to the city, the Birmingham Citizens Academy “provides participants with an interactive learning experience about municipal government services, programs, and responsibilities.”

bridge over the Rouge River.”

Necessary access to homes and businesses along Big Beaver in the construction zone will be maintained during the road closure.

Short term funds find a new home To provide the municipality with some liquidity and flexibility for short term investments, the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees unanimously voted at their meeting on Monday, March 14, to enter into a local government investment pool with the Oakland County Treasurer's Office.

Treasurer Dan Devine explained to the board that Oakland County's local government investment pool operates similar to a money market, with several other Oakland County municipalities participating, which provides economies of scale. He said the return on investment is 98 basis points, or .98 percentage point.

“It gives us a little more flexibility,” Devine said. “It's a nice blend to look at our liquidity needs, as well as to provide for our money market needs.”

At a recent board meeting, a representative from the Oakland County treasurer's office made a presentation to trustees, following a request by trustee Brian Kepes, to explain their investment pool and options for the township.

Devine explained the money is liquid the next day after depositing.

“We just need to decide how much to invest.”

He said that he, supervisor Leo Savoie, clerk Jan Roncelli and financial director Jason Theis had met and discussed placing $8 million in the pool, and that was to be done the following day.

“There will be no change in our investments with Schwartz & Co.,” he said.

Residents interested in learning about civic participation or who are interested in increasing their knowledge about local government can get an application for the academy at bhamgov.org/citizensacademy or they can pick a paper application up in the city manager's office at city hall.

Applications are on a first-come basis.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of Birmingham. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 8.

For further information about the Citizens Academy, contact Joellen Haines, assistant to the city manager, at jhaines@bhamgov.org or 248530-1807.

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BUSINESS MATTERS Family dining option

Art Van acquires Hillside

Diners looking for a comfortable, affordable place to dine have a new choice with Sweet Tree Family Restaurant, 42757 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, in the former Fuddrucker’s location.

Manager Nicole Orfin said the restaurant is a family restaurant, opened a few weeks ago by brothers Abdul, Andy and Fred Karkoukli, who have been in the restaurant business for over 40 years. “With Sweet Tree, they wanted something fresh and family-oriented where they could showcase some of their family recipes,” Orfin said. She said the menu is diverse, with vegetarian and gluten-free options as well as favorites such as burgers and fries, along with fresh hummous, tabbouli, baba ghanoush, and other Middle Eastern specialties which reflect the brothers’ Syrian heritage. “We have a Sweet Tree sauce that is awesome,” Orfin said. “It’s a combination of cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and red peppers. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy. We put it on a lot of our dishes.” Currently, they are running $4.99 breakfast specials until 11 a.m., including vegetarian crepes and eggs florentine. The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bloomfield Township contemporary furniture store Hillside Contemporary Furniture, 2300 S. Telegraph Road, a fixture in the community for 42 years, was acquired by Art Van Furniture as of March 15 for an undisclosed amount. “We are still staying as Hillside Furniture,” said Jeff Selik, general manager of the business, and son of Hillside’s owner, Bruce Selik.

Rather than becoming an Art Van, Jeff Selik said Hillside will “represent the luxury contemporary furniture market, parallel to the way Art Van has done with Scott Schuptrine, as they represent the high end traditional furniture market. We’re not changing the store or the brands, other than we will soon add a Pure Sleep Gallery at the store. Other than that, nothing that has made Hillside who we are and our uniqueness will change.”

Selik said he will remain with Hillside, but his father will retire from the store, although will likely move on to another venture. Hillside has been in Bloomfield Township for its entire 42 years, originally at Woodward and Square Lake, and then 12 years ago they built and opened their 46,000 square foot store on Telegraph just north of Square Lake, across from Costco and and north of Target. Selik said the goal partnering with Art Van is to hopefully open more Hillside stores, “to maximize the business with the goal to expand down the road. For now, our culture, the feel of the company, will stay the same.”

Sliding around The owners of ROJO Mexican Bistro in Birmingham have opened a new, but totally unique, business right next door to ROJO, at 280 E. Merrill Street, called Sidecar Slider Bar, which like the name says, is all about slider sandwiches. Opening in early March, “We are all about gourmet sliders and hot dogs and drinks,” said operating partner Steve Simon. The narrow location, formerly a monogram shop, features a long, sleek bar that diners can cozy up to and order one of their eight different beef sliders or eight other slider options. “We do our burger slider, which is a blend of short rib, brisket and chuck, and eight others,” such as their 2 a.m., 911, and others, Simon said. Then, he said, “There’s the ‘Best of the rest,’” which include pork belly, Ahi Tuna, and portabella mushroom sliders. In addition, “We are all about barrel age cocktails, where we take a recipe for regular cocktails, and we batch that in virgin oak barrels, and let them sit two to four weeks. It extenuates and extracts the flavors,” Simon said. “Each time you do that it changes. The flavors are similar, but different notes are heightened each time.” Sidecar is opened until 2 a.m. daily. downtownpublications.com

40 years, 4th salon Bianchi Salon is celebrating its 40th anniversary by opening its fourth salon, in downtown Birmingham in the Palladium Building, at 270 N. Old Woodward, joining its other locations in Troy, Royal Oak, and Clinton Township. Manager Jovan Kassab said the new Birmingham salon has 28 stylist chairs, a fully equipped blow out bar, “with a whole section just devoted to blow outs, as well as a makeup and brow bar.” Bianchi features private rooms for massages, permanent makeup, lash extensions and skin care, and has two manicure and pedicure chairs. Can’t trudge the two blocks to the Starbucks down the street? They have their own mini-Starbucks coffee station right inside for caffeine dependent beauty clients.

Pizza pizza Woodward just south of Square Lake roads in Bloomfield Township is welcoming a new purveyor of Detroit-style deep dish pizza, as

Marconi’s Pizza is opening shop by the end of May. Owned by Sean Marconi and Al Sylaj, the duo opened the first Marconi’s this winter in Commerce Township, and are opening in Rochester Hills in late April. The locale, at 42787 Woodward, will be carryout or delivery only, specializing in round or thin crust Detroit-style deep dish pizza with “all kinds of toppings. Our specialty is the Motor City Supreme, featuring pepperoni, ham, mushroom and green pepper, as well as the BarBQ Chicken, and Alfie Greek Chicken,” they said. Marconi’s also offers salads, calzones, and specialty breads.

‘Round the block The “Sweet Thing” sign has already been hung at the Birmingham candy store Sweet Thing’s new location at 230 Merrill Street, in the former Schubot Jewellers location. The candy shop, which carries every make and kind of sweet goodies and can custom make candy creations for special celebrations, is moving from its long time home at 215 N. Old Woodward, also in downtown Birmingham. Plans are for it to move down the street and around the corner in early April.

Market expansion Papa Joe’s Gourmet Marketplace and Catering in Birmingham and Rochester has opened a new Detroit location at the Detroit Medical Center. Located in the DMC Midtown Marketplace, Papa Joe’s is located in a food plaza that will be managed by Papa Joe’s. The 15,000 square foot food court offers a Papa Joe’s market, as well as restaurants and eateries that provide a diverse range of cuisine for those working and living in midtown Detroit. Diners can choose from offerings from Kabob Grill, Chiqui’s burrito bar, Estia Greek Street Food, Sukhothai, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Starbuck’s, Burger Bar Detroit, and by summer, Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina. “This 15,000 square foot food plaza offers diners a diverse range of cuisines from around the globe, as well as access to wholesome foods that would align with any nutrition plan, said Papa Joe’s owner Tony Curtis in a memo.

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FACES

Ari Teitel oeper graduate Ari Teitel got his musical break at age 11, when funk artist Robert Randolph, of Robert Randolph and the Family Band, invited Teitel on stage at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater.

While Teitel riffed on the guitar, Randolph lifted the four-footsomething kid onto a chair as the crowd cheered on. “He calls out people to play with him from the audience randomly, and I ended up playing with him for 20 whole minutes. I put it on YouTube and it got a little attention,” said Teitel of the video, which has more than 20,000 hits.

Organizers of Arts, Beats, and Eats, the annual Labor Day festival, caught wind of the young talent, and asked Teitel to put together a band for the Motown Winter Blast. “That’s how I really got on the music scene – I put a band together and I still see the musicians I played with then,” he said, a decade later.

Before Tietel’s three-person band, The Jam Society, dissolved in 2011, a year before his high school graduation, the group released The Anthology, an EP. Since then, Teitel, who’s been performing under his own name, has contributed to records produced by other artists, including The Wise Wersa, and is currently working on his first solo record, which he referred to as, “my baby.”

“It’s all original material, and I’d definitely say it’s a soul record, if I had to pick one word to describe it. What will make it unique is that we’re recording to tape, which a lot of people don’t do any more. We’ll record it all in the same room, at the same time, to capture as much energy as possible,” said Teitel.

“It’s not tracked, where the drummer lays down a part, and the bass player comes in – it will have an organic feel. The other musicians are local guys, but they’ve all done a lot of national work, so I wouldn’t call them your typical local players per se,” he said of the three others accompanying him on the as-of-yet unnamed record.

Over the years, Teitel has played with hit stars and local legends, including Skeeto from Skeeto Valdez’s Funhouse, who’s on drums for Teitel’s forthcoming album; Michael Franti, who he played with at the Royal Oak Music Theater; Flint native Antwaun Stanley, who performs with funk band Vulpeck, featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; and Detroit singer Thornetta Davis, who opened for Etta James, performed on Bob Seeger’s 1991 album, and has two solo records of her own.

“Thornetta, I knew her from being around the scene, I knew her keyboard player. We started talking and she needed a guitarist. I’m still doing a bunch of stuff with her. Anything with Thornetta is a lot of fun.”

Now 21 and studying jazz at Michigan State University, Teitel confessed, “I still get pretty amazed by opportunities. I know I still have a whole lot of work to do, and to me this is just – I’m grateful that this is just the beginning. There’s a helluva lot more I want to do.”

R

Story: Katie Deska

Photo: Jean Lannen

PLACES TO EAT 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. The complete Places To Eat is available at downtownpublications.com and in an optimized format for your smart phone (downtownpublications.com/mobile), where you can actually map out locations and automatically dial a restaurant from our Places To Eat.

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.

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

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

248.865.9300.

Arthur Avenue: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009.

248.480.0768.

Au Cochon: French. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009.

248.792.7795.

Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.792.3579.

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.

downtownpublications.com

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.

Cafe Via: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 310 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.644.8800.

Cameron’s Steakhouse: American.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 115 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.723.1700.

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 Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220.

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

248.792.9766.

Cosi: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 101 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.9200.

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. 176 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.9888. Also 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301.

248.258.9939.

Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. 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, Monday-Saturday.

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.v 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.

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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.

Ironwood Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, 6 or more. Liquor.

290 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009.

248.385.0506.

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 Dolci e Caffe: Italian. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 243 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.480.0492.

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.

Mitchell’s Fish Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.646.3663.

Mountain King: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 469 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.644.2913.

New Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Breakfast, Monday-Thursday; Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. No reservations. 183 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.2181.

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

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

Nosh & Rye: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily.

No reservations. 39495 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.646.7923.

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.

downtownpublications.com

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

Peabody’s: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 34965 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.5222.

Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, MondayFriday; 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 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.

Sanders: American. Lunch, daily. No reservations. 167 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.3215.

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. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.3887.

Sweet Tree Family Restaurant: Middle Eastern/American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42757 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.7767.

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 Corner Bar: American. Dinner.

Wednesday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2958.

The Bird & The Bread: Brasserie. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009.

248.203.6600.

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.

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137

FRONT/BACK Front/Back is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening in both the front of the house and back of the house in the restaurants in the metro Detroit area.

Favorite reopens Pepino’s Restaurant, offering diners delectable Italian cuisine for over 32-years, has reopened in Sylvan Lake, at 2440 Orchard Lake Road, filling the space formerly home to Mike Larco’s A La Carte. A devastating fire last fall forced the family-owned Pepino’s to close the doors on its Walled Lake location. Kathy Kwiecinski, her sister Carol Carson, and Kathy’s son-in-law Chris Hutchinson, Pepino’s owners, have begun demolition of the Walled Lake spot, and are exploring their options to see if the Sylvan Lake Pepino’s becomes permanent, or if they will rebuild at their former site. Fans of Pepino’s who have flocked for years for their trout and lamb chops, will be happy to know that almost all of the staff followed to the Sylvan Lake location.

Northern soul food Detroit’s new SavannahBlue, 1431 Times Square, is now serving what the owners call contemporary Northern soul food. Entrees include Braised Oxtail, Twice Dredged Fried Chicken, Seared Salmon, Fried Seafood, and the SavannahBlue Burger. Other eats include flatbreads, salads, soups and sweets, all of which can be washed down with a glass of cold sweet tea or a cocktail.

The wine selection, which ranges from $26 to $95 per bottle, and are also available by the glass. Just north of the Times Square stop on the People Mover, SavannahBlue is located between the MGM Grand Casino and the Detroit Opera House. The sleek restaurant features dark hardwood floors, a grand piano, and lounge furniture streaked with bright yellow, adjacent to modern table settings and an exposed brick.

Radio-to-table restaurant The formidable Albert Kahn building, originally the WWJ radio transmitter building, still standing strong at 12700 W. Eight Mile Road, is beginning a new chapter in its history as it will be the new home to an as-of-yet-named restaurant. Tentatively named 8MK, it is a project of Union Joints, the restaurant group owned by Curt Catallo, and will include Chef Aaron Cozadd, executive chef for Union Joints. The menu served at the Kahn building will be “the same kind of grub we’ve been doing at other joints all along,” said Catallo.

“For us it’s about delivering the type of comfort food that’s familiar and surprising at the same time.” In addition to Union Joints restaurants, the Clarkston Union, the Union Woodshop and others, Catallo co-owns Vinsetta Garage with K.C. Crain. Catallo and Crain are currently conceptualizing a future restaurant to move into Detroit’s Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center.

Honcho, A Latin style restaurant is the third project Catallo has in the works, to be located in a Clarkston former gas station. “I think part of what draws my wife, Ann Stevenson, and I to these buildings is that they are iconic and always served one purpose, but are destined for another,” said Catallo. “With the Kahn building in Oak Park, I think the city of Oak Park had a vision for the future when they (voted) to allow for liquor licenses in the city. Oak Park had been dry for so long that by them passing that measure and allowing liquor licenses to be issued, that allowed us to look at it as a restaurant space, allows us to restore and repurpose it.” Look for a 2017 opening.

New York Mexican food Joining the tenants of the One Campus Martius building, 1040 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, will be Calexico, a Mexican restaurant that was, up to this point, exclusive to New York City. Serving a fusion of Mexican cuisine blended with southern barbeque flavors, Calexico operates a scratch kitchen and has earned two Vendy Awards in New York, recognizing the merit of their street food.

Since 2006, brothers Jesse, Brian, and Dave Vendley have been operating food trucks and restaurants. Franchise owner Randy Dickow, who is bringing Calexico to Detroit, owns three other Detroit eateries, Freshii at 1001 Woodward Avenue, Lunchtime Global at 660 Woodward Avenue, and Sweet Lorraine’s Mac n’ Cheez! in the RenCen. Slated to open this spring, the restaurant expects to hire more than 70 full-time employees.

Katoi lands home The much-awaited, permanent brick and mortar restaurant Katoi opened at the

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302.

248.858.7688.

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

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

The Stand: Euro-American. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

34977 Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.220.4237.

Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

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

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.

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.

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.

Andiamo Restaurants: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 129 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.582.0999.

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.

Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 310 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.268.1621.

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.

D’Amato’s: Italian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

222 Sherman Dr., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.584.7400.

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.

Inn Season Cafe: Vegetarian. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. 500 E. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.547.7916.

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.

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

248.591.5459.

Local Kitchen and Bar: American.

Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 344 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.291.5650.

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.

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, TuesdaySunday. 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 Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 176 N. Adams Rd, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.218.6001.

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.

Ganbei Chinese Restaurant and Bar:

Chinese. Lunch, Monday-Saturday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 227 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307.

248.266.6687.

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.

Lakes: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 5500 Crooks Rd., Troy, 48098. 248.646.7900.

McCormick & Schmick’s: Steak & Seafood.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. Somerset 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, Monday-Friday.

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.

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.

Tre Monti Ristorante: Italian. Lunch, Thursdays. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.680.1100.

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.

Maria’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323.

248.851.2500.

The Bombay Grille: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 29200 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, 48334.

248.626.2982.

The Fiddler: Russian. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.851.8782.

The Lark: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6430

Farmington Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.661.4466.

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.

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.

Sweet Lorraine’s Café & Bar: American.

Weekend Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 29101 Greenfield Rd., Southfield, 48076.

248.559.5985.

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.

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 Angelina Italian Bistro: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.

1565 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226.

313.962.1355.

Antietam: French. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

1428 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, 48207.

313.782.4378.

Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

end of March at 2520 Michigan Avenue in Detroit, in the former home of Willy’s Garage in Corktown. The brains behind the colorful Thai-infused restaurant, Courtney Henriette and Brad Greenhill, who launched their concept from a food truck, held a temporary space in Ann Arbor this summer, and are excited for to land their “mother ship,” as Henriette put it, back in Detroit. “Our menu is usually really meaty or really veggie-based. If we have a lot of vegetables, it tends to be vegan,” she said.

Welcome to Wahlburgers Nino Cutraro, co-owner of Bella Piatti, 167 Townsend Street in Birmingham, and partner in M & N General Contracting, has joined forces with brothers Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg to open multiple Michigan Wahlburgers, the first of which will land in Greektown this summer at 569 Monroe Street. A menu of burgers and sandwiches, tots and fries, is peppered with surprising ingredients including Thanksgiving stuffing and cranberry sauce, which falls under Mark’s Choice. “I like being associated with the Wahlbergs. I met Mark three years ago when he was filming Transformers 4,” said Cutraro. “I met him at Bella Piatti. He would come in there every day, and we became friends. We’re looking at Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor – only Detroit is firm. I’m very excited. It’s different, and its going to be a good thing for the city of Detroit to bring in Wahlburgers. It’s a fast growing company. They’re opening everywhere.” The fast-casual burger joint is currently serving in Boston, New York, Orlando and Toronto, with others planned for Las Vegas and Philadelphia.

Gilbert returns to Marais James Beard Award-nominated chef Garrett Lipar left Grosse Pointe’s Marais in favor of international travel, placing the kitchen back in the hands of chef David Gilbert, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, general manager Monica Gilbert. “We’re going back to our French roots, but using local ingredients,” said David Gilbert. “You can expect to see amuse bouche, a truffled egg. It means to amuse your mouth. It’s my gift to the table, to awaken your palette.” Gilbert noted that he had been doing some consulting, which has since slowed down, and Lipar had stepped in at that time.

Changes at Tom’s Chef Zach Borowski has joined Royal Oak establishments Tom’s Oyster’s Bar and Ale Mary’s Beer Hall, replacing former chef Norman Fenton, who is preparing to depart for a culinary adventure in Chicago at The Aviary. Borowski, previously of Bill Roberts’ Beverly Hills Grill, said he “plans on continuing to work on what Chef Norman has done, and in time, make changes.” Tom’s Oyster Bar, 318 S. Main Street, and Ale Mary’s, 316 S. Main Street, share a kitchen.

Borowski was trained in culinary arts at Schoolcraft College.

Grey Ghost appears The forthcoming meat-centric restaurant, Grey Ghost, will set up shop at 47 E. Watson in Detroit, the owners recently revealed. Located near Midtown and Brush Park, Grey Ghost will be on the first floor of the Crystal Loft Building, owned by American Community Developers, Inc. Twins John and Dave Vermiglio, Joe Giacomino, and beverage aficionado Will Lee, of Selden Standard, have been hosting pop-up dinners throughout the city as they gain a following and prepare for their future opening. “The fifth installment of the popup series,” said a representative from the group, “begins April 15 at the Great Lakes Culinary Center.” Called the Ghost Tour, it will feature a five-course menu with an emphasis on seafood. The Great Lakes Culinary Center is located in Southfield at 24101 W. Nine Mile Road.

Bucharest moves Buchrest Grill has closed it’s Park Avenue location in favor of a new space in Detroit, 2690 E. Jefferson, on the east side of Chene Street in the Rivertown District. The menu includes Middle Eastern shawarma sandwiches, traditional Romanian dishes, and a variety of gourmet dogs, including knockwurst, bratwurst and kielbasa. Owned by Bogdan Tarasov, Bucharest has additional Detroit locations at 110 Piquette Street and 1623 Michigan Avenue.

Front/Back is reported each month by Katie Deska. KatieDeska@DowntownPublications.com. We welcome news items or tips, on or off the record, about what's happening in the front or back of the house at metro area restaurants.

SERVING DINNER 6 DAYS, BRUNCH ON SATURDAY & SUNDAY. PRIVATE EVENT SPACE AVAILABLE FOR HOLIDAY PARTIES

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301 South Main Street Rochester 48307

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2040 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.965.3111.

Cliff Bell’s: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2030 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.961.2543.

Coach Insignia: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

100 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243.

313.567.2622.

Craft Work: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 48214.

313.469.0976.

Cuisine: French. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday.

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, Tuesday-Friday.

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.

Maccabees at Midtown: American.

Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

5057 Woodward Ave., Detroit, 48202.

313.831.9311.

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.

Roma Café: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

3401 Riopelle St., Detroit, 48207.

313.831.5940.

Russell Street Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 2465 Russell St, Detroit, 48207. 313.567.2900.

Santorini Estiatorio: Greek. Lunch &

DOWNTOWN

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 501 Monroe Ave, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.9366.

Selden Standard: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3921 Second Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.438.5055.

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.

Small Plates Detroit: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 1521 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226. 313.963.0702.

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.

Top of the Pontch: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservation. Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226.

313.782.4313.

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.

04.16

AT THE TABLE Kruse and Muer in Rochester: Don't set expectations too high

By J. March

orever and a day ago I worked at Charlie’s Crab in Troy. It was a massive space with several dining rooms, a huge kitchen and some of the best crab cakes I have ever eaten. At the time it was the flagship restaurant of Chuck Muer and at one time was under the watchful eye of Bill Kruse. After 17 years with the company, Kruse broke away and opened the first of many restaurants in 1988 with Muer investing.

In 1993, Chuck Muer tragically went missing at sea as he was returning from the Bahamas. Since then, the Muer restaurants were purchased by Landry’s, the Texas-based dining and entertainment company. However, Kruse and Muer lives on with Bill at the helm.

Closed in September for a make-over by Ron & Roman, Kruse and Muer on Main in Rochester has a distinct style that can only be described as Art Deco meets rustic lodge meets local pub. From pictures of pop superstars and butcher papered tables to random wall mounts of oft hunted creatures, the style is distinct and sure to squash any requests from vegetarians and vegans alike. Scattered about are nods to all things nautical, which only makes sense considering the history of the owners. The space is warm, not overly loud, and was packed on a Friday at 9 p.m.

We were greeted by a cordial hostess and sat promptly at our reservation time. Our server arrived, took our drink orders and returned in record time.

Though her demeanor was pleasant, it was obvious that neither our 9 o’clock arrival nor our desire for several courses was exactly what she was hoping for. To her credit, our food did indeed come in courses, but there wasn’t much time for discussion since one hand was clearing in the middle of our final bite as the other was setting down the next.

This told me two things: One, no amount of money being spent was going to slow this girl down and most everything we ate that night was prepared hours before.

First let me say that I want to be clear about my expectations. I most certainly do not turn my nose up at long standing restaurants free of Prohibition style cocktails, charcuterie and a list of local vendors. I have a huge appreciation for restaurants that have been doing the same thing for decades.

However, with this comes the hope that by now they’ve gotten it down. For this reason we chose to stick mostly to the classics. Those being Crab Cakes, Maryland Stuffed Mushrooms and for good measure, the Tuna Tostada.

One look at the crab cakes and I knew that my Campari-soaked memories are all that were left of the huge crab cakes rich with lump crab from days past. These were light on crab, heavy on bread crumbs and as soggy as a fisherman's socks. The mushrooms were cooked right and texturally sound, but again filled with one part shellfish and three parts something else. It was hard to tell what that might have been due to the pool of saffron cream.

The tuna tostada had much promise with a bright, delicious mango-avocado slaw that thankfully made the confetti-sized pieces of over-cooked tuna edible.

Hesitant about ordering a soup and salad course, we dove right into entrees. First, Siesta Key

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Jimmy's Lake Perch: lemon caper beurre blanc, tomatoes, mashed potatoes. Downtown photo: Laurie Tennent

Fettuccine, described as Gulf Shrimp, scallops, Maine lobster, artichokes and spinach fettuccine with sweet tomato butter. Once you got past the scale of the overcooked seafood with its bay scallops, king krill shrimp and shreds of lobster, the dish was good with a sweet tangy sauce and al dente pasta.

Eager to give the classics another shot, we ordered Jimmy’s Lake Perch, Parmesan Flounder and the Georges Banks Schrod. At the time I wasn’t sure if Schrod was a typo or if there was something different about it than the Scrod I was familiar with.

Since then I have done more research. What I discovered was that no one really can agree on what it is except to say it is most often a young, white-fleshed fish. Could be cod, could be haddock, could be pollock. I cannot speak to what species was put before us, but what I can say is that there is a reason it is most often heavily battered, fried and served with chips and 6 ounces of tartar sauce. It was a large filet, but no part of it could be described as flaky, considering the rubbery, almost fleshy texture. Once again, the Dijon mustard sauce was remarkable but not enough to carry the dish. The perch and flounder followed suit. Both had a delicious lemon caper beurre blanc that was utterly ruined in the face of fish that simply did not measure up.

Our last dish was a NY Sirloin with zip sauce.

Once again I was at a loss about what I was eating.

Was it a NY Strip or a sirloin? Admittedly not up to date on my butchery, I had to visit a site or two before coming to the conclusion that a traditional NY Strip is from the short loin while the aforementioned is from the sirloin and cut as a strip steak. Now, I'm no Escoffier, but I would venture to say I have a tad more experience with food than the average diner. Chances are good their expectations are for the traditional variety. Too bad for them, considering the NY Sirloin tasted like, well, like a

sirloin cut into a strip. The only part that may have made it New York was that it was tough and salty.

In true form, the potatoes that came with it may have been the best I've ever had.

Kruse and Muer on Main, and I say this with all respect, is what it is – a long time local eatery that brings in exactly that, locals. There is no celebrity chef, sommelier or mixologist. Eater doesn’t cover their every move and James Beard isn’t knocking.

So what? Top Ten lists don’t mean squat and there are plenty of places that make great food with little fanfare.

Any self proclaimed “foodie” wouldn’t condescend and the people who regularly patronize seem perfectly content with things as they are. I realize that this contradicts my mostly unfavorable opinion; however, my job is not to comment on the taste level of patrons or nonpatrons but to give my version of what is put in front of me. On this visit, it was inexpensive ingredients that were prepared in the style referred to as “turn and burn”or “feed ‘em and street ‘em.”

Prix Fixe menus and Course Outs aren’t Kruse's style, and that’s just fine with me. After all, even big ponds need little fish. Little fish with sauce.

Lots and lots of sauce.

Kruse and Muer on Main, 327 Main Street, Rochester 48307. Reservations can be made by calling 248.652.9400. Hours are Sundays from noon-8:30 p.m.; Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.10:30 p.m. Handicap accessible and street parking available.

J. March has 25 years experience in the restaurant industry in southeast Michigan, including certification as a sommelier.

O

utstanding Contemporary on the Shores of Lower Long Lake

Luxury abounds throughout this stunning 2005 Tobocman contemporary on nearly 2 acres overlooking Lower Long Lake. A generous foyer opens to the expansive great room accented by rich hardwood flooring, wall-inset gas fireplace, domed sky lights and floor-to-ceiling windows with breathtaking views. The gourmet granite kitchen, with access to a sweeping outdoor terrace, opens to the family room with handsome built-in cabinetry and fireplace. The luxurious first-floor master suite, with lavish travertine master bath and two custom walk-in closets, offers both pond and lake views. A glass tile-enclosed indoor pool highlights the walkout lower level with large rec area and full kitchen.

Entry and lower level laundry facilities.

230 feet of lake frontage. Attached 3-car garage. $4,275,000

Meredith Colburn 248.762.5319

Cindy Kahn 248.568.7309

MColburn@ HallandHunter.com

Cindy@ CindyKahn.com

442 S. Old Woodward Ave. Birmingham, MI 48009

THE COMMUNITY HOUSE It Really Does Take a Village Recently, I came across an old African proverb which offered a timeless reminder “that children will thrive only if their families thrive and if the whole of society cares enough to provide for them.” In earlier times the "village" meant an actual geographic place where individuals and families lived and worked together. That notion of the “village” can no longer be defined as a place on a map, or as a list of people or organizations, but its essence remains the same: it is the network of values and relationships that support and affect our lives.

On January 30, 2016, The Community House hosted its first annual Bates Street Society Dinner to publicly recognize and induct new Bates Street Society Members who have made significant charitable contributions to support the work and mission of The Community House in Birmingham.

Members were acknowledged at a semi-formal event hosted by The Community House's Officers and Board of Directors. The Bates Street Society Dinner also offered guests (the “village”) a wonderful opportunity to publicly express their enthusiastic support for the 2016 TCH Pillars of Vibrancy inductees.

Weeks later, The Community House hosted its first annual SIP Birmingham charity event and live auction at The Community House. The mission of SIP Birmingham was to create a world-class signature fundraising event that would bring aficionados (the “village”) of fine cuisine and extraordinary craft cocktails together who wanted to share their interests and good fortune with others in a first-class setting for the benefit of children served by The Community House.

Let us help you get home - worry free.

Bill Seklar

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Troy Bergman NMLS ID 140061

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Call us today for a free preapproval or mortgage analysis!

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According to all reports, from donors, supporters, media, our leadership and guests – The Community House scored two major homeruns…and from our vantage point – the “village” made it all possible.

Company NMLS ID 140012

Starting with our incredibly generous “village” of corporate sponsors; Bank of Birmingham, PNC Wealth Management – PNC Bank, Raymond James, Barb & Tim Hertzler, DBusiness and Parsonage Florist, Clark Hill, Children’s Hospital of Michigan – Troy, SlipNOT, Tiffany Florist, Luxe Linens, Remy Cointreau USA, Casamigo Tequila, Zim’s Vodka, Great Lakes Wine & Spirits, Tiffany Florist, In-House Valet, NewsTalk WJR 760am, Hour Detroit and Voss Water.

KEEP IT Downtown.

The only publication of its kind in Birmingham/Bloomfield.

Quality editorial environment.

Produced by local residents from offices in downtown Birmingham.

Special thanks as well to our “village” of incredibly kind and talented participating restaurants including Streetside Seafood, Local Kitchen & Bar, The Stand Gastro Bistro, The Bird & The Bread, Au Cochon, Prime 29 Steakhouse, Slow’s BBQ and Twisted Olive. (Chefs out of their kitchens on a Saturday night!)

I would also like to personally thank the scores of print, radio and TV media who so kindly and so professionally cover, attend and educate the community about The Community House and this special “village” of ours - especially the incredibly talented and dedicated team at Downtown Publications.

While too many “villagers” to list – our gratitude to the hundreds of folks behind the scenes that volunteer, serve, support and lead The Community House – now and over these last 94 years. It is truly this “network of values and relationships that support and affect our lives.”

Personal note: To readers of our column – I cannot express how selfless and generous the sponsors, restaurants and media are in our region – time and again these incredible folks give of their time, talent and treasure to so many noble and important causes – if you too are moved by their extraordinary generosity and kindness – please patronize their businesses, their restaurants, their organizations and subscribe to and read their publications – remember it truly does take a “village” and that notion certainly goes both ways!

Birmingham Bloomfield Charity Golf Classic: Save-the-Date! Monday, June 27. Established in 2015, the purpose of the Birmingham Bloomfield Charity Golf Classic is to bring together golf enthusiasts for an extraordinary day of golf, networking and comraderie at Orchard Lake Country Club for the benefit of programs and services delivered by The Community House and the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber.

Join the local business leaders, almost 400 of whom use Downtown on a regular basis, in our May issue.

Ad deadline Friday, April 15.

Contact David Hohendorf.

(O) 248.792.6464 ext. 800 DavidHohendorf@downtownpublications.com

LOCAL

William D. Seklar is President & CEO of The Community House in Birmingham. downtownpublications.com

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Here is the update on the recent social scene. Many more photos from each event appear online each week at downtownpublications.com where readers can sign up for an e-mail notice when the latest social scene column is posted. Past columns and photos are also archived at the website for Downtown.

Motor City Open

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Motor City Open The 17th annual squash tournament presented by The Suburban Collection was chaired by Derrick Glencer, Mike Beauregard and Peter Schmidt. It Sally Gerak attracted 28 internationally-ranked, professional players from all over the globe to the Birmingham Athletic Club. Before the six days of play concluded, more than 1,000 spectators had witnessed the action. The surprise winner, a young Egyptian/Harvard graduate Ali Farag, took home $10,830 and a Longines watch from sponsor Greenstone’s Fine Jewelry. He was profuse in his praise of the world-class tournament and the local hospitality. A staple on the MOC calendar is the Sponsors Party. It attracted more than 200 for sipping, supping, squash action viewing and bidding in the charity silent auction. The beneficiaries – the Karmanos Cancer Institute and RacquetUp Detroit, an urban squash and education initiative – will share about $20,000.

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1. Mike Beauregard (left) and Jon Uffelman of Bloomfield, Roger Hillborn and Magdt Talaat of Troy. 2. Julian Wellings (left) of Birmingham, Joe O’Connor and Derrick Glencer of Bloomfield.

3. Joe Michael (left) of Shelby Twp., Ronia Kruse, and Rami & Carmen Fakgoury of Bloomfield.

4. Jeff Gembis and Lynn Sirich of Birmingham. 5. Michael (left) & Andrea Guttilla of Bloomfield, Hugh and Emily Camiener of Birmingham. 6. Doug Firth (left) and Dick May of Birmingham and Jerry McGlynn of Bloomfield. 7. Sarah (left) & Bob Dodge and Rick Claar of Birmingham, Nancy & Jamie Richard of Bloomfield. 8. Walt Oehrlein (left) of Bloomfield and Shanid Khan of Birmingham. 9. Trip Jerome (left) of Grosse Pointe, Tara & Terry Barr of Bloomfield.

Cabaret 313

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1. Samantha Becker of Troy and Mark Meyers of Royal Oak, Sandi Reitelman of Birmingham.

2. Claudia Sills (left) and Vera Yardley of Birmingham, Joy & Allan Nachman of Bloomfield.

3. Debbie & Henry Gornbein of Bloomfield. 4. Nancy (left) & Bud Leibler and Barbara Kratchman of Bloomfield. 5. Bridget & Michael Morin of Bloomfield. 6. Mark & Lois Shaevsky with Bobbi Toll of Bloomfield. 7. Denise Abrash and Jim Hayes of Bloomfield.

Eisenhower Dance 25th Anniversary

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1. Laurie Eisenhower of Rochester, Barbara Frankel of W. Bloomfield. 2. Marian Impastato (left) and Marianne Endicott of Grosse Pointe, Bob & Maggie Allesee of Bloomfield, judge Joseph Impastato of Grosse Pointe. 3. Rick Geller and Debra Bernstein-Siegel of Bloomfield.

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Cabaret 313 More than 200 people applauded Jason Graae’s two Cabaret 313 shows last month in the Black Box Theatre at the Detroit Opera House. His considerable talent (voice, tap dance and oboe), humor, familiarity with the show’s subject – awardwining songwriter Jerry Herman, now an octogenarian - and the pieces he selected combined for a splendid evening. The well-known and loved songs from La Cage Aux Folles, Mame and Hello, Dolly! had people tapping their fingers in time and even humming a bit, but his choice of a little gem (Mrs. S.L. Jacobowsky) from the almost unknown “The Grand Tour” sent this reporter to You Tube to rehear the clever, moving lyrics with an “Abie’s Irish Rose” theme. The audience ranged from nonagenarian/sponsor Joe Orley to the young son of Graae’s classmate from school days in Oklahoma. It also included arts supporters like the DIA’s Salvador Salort Pons and the Ethan Davidsons. Conversation in the lobby between shows included some making arrangements to reconvene for supper at the nearby London Chop House – a decidedly Big Apple-type choice in a 313 zip code. The next Cabaret 313 is sold out, but Maxine Linehan will perform beautiful songs on May 7 at MOCAD. Go to cabaret313.org.

Eisenhower Dance 25th Anniversary The contemporary dance company Laurie Eisenhower founded 25 years ago in a modest studio in Rochester celebrated its milestone anniversary with a performance in the grandeur of the Detroit Opera House. It was actually ED’s fourth appearance on the DOH stage. In between there have been two additional dance centers in Birmingham and Franklin, annual subscription series and international performance tours. The anniversary show featured Eisenhower’s reconstruction of “The Rite of Spring” to Stravinsky’s iconic score, “Evermore,” a work from the company’s early years, “Bolero” to the music of Maurice Ravel, and a special number choreographed by Eisenhower to honor longtime supporter Maggie Allesee. Some 100 Michigan Opera Theatre dance aficionados ($45 ticket) attended the champagne reception that followed the performance. Allesee took the opportunity to thank the dancers “…for one of the finest performances I have ever seen.” A black tie gala evening Saturday, May 21, at Detroit’s Westin Hotel will celebrate the 25th anniversary with pomp and circumstance.

Salute to Bloomfield’s First Responders “Here in the heart of the country, you are appreciated…Bon Appétit!” Msgr.

Tony Tocco told his 90 invited dinner guests. They were the First Responders – the city of Bloomfield Hills public safety officers and Bloomfield Township fire and police departments – gathered in St. Hugo’s Fellowship Hall for a homemade pasta dinner. The parish pastor, who wears his Italian heritage proudly and is well known among his friends and flock for his culinary skill, was blessing the repast. Before the prayer, event coordinator Sue Nine had promised, “The best pasta you will ever eat.” Tocco and his kitchen crew, parishioners Dr. Bob Faccia and chef Louai Sharkas, had stirred up the seven gallons of his homemade sauce to accompany the 600 meat balls, the penne pasta, parmesan cheese, antipasto salad and hot bread. Parishioners eager to show their gratitude added appetizers, beverages, a

DOWNTOWN

04.16

sweet table of beautiful tortes and elbow grease. Pianist Curtis Posuniak accented the scene with Italian melodies.

The appreciation and affection on display throughout the hall were indeed a long way from Ferguson.

CARE House Circle of Friends Luncheon “I’ve never been so impressed with a child abuse center than (I am) with CARE House,” Erin Merryn told the audience of 300 CARE House supporters convened for the 20th anniversary Circle of Friends lunch at The Townsend.

Merryn has toured the country since 2010 on her crusade to get state legislators to pass “Erin’s Law”. It mandates body safety education to spare children the sexual abuse she and her little sister experienced at the hands of predators who were family “friends”. Her horrific story was powerful and showed why the more common “Stranger Danger” approach does not work for the 90 percent of young victims who know their predators.

The luncheon was emceed by Birmingham native/former NBC broadcaster Chris Hansen. A trailer from his “To Catch a Predator” show was on the video screen prior to Circle of Friends co-founder Vickie Celani’s remarks. She noted that the Friends have raised more than $1 million in the 20 years since they put the topic of child abuse up for public discussion. The other co-founders were Doris August, Janet Grant, Lois Shaevsky and Dr. Linda Sircus. Twenty-year Circle of Friends include the five co-founders plus Elyse Foltyn, Darlene Jackson, Barbara Goldberg, Jan Ann Hoge and Pat Rosen, who is now CARE House executive director. They were all saluted at the luncheon which raised $80,000 for the exemplary child abuse center.

Bates Street Society Dinner “An idea whose time had come,” people said about The Bates Street Society. It was initiated by The Community House board of directors to salute donors whose financial support has accumulated to at least $25,000. Their names were displayed on video screens in the Wallace Ballroom during the first society dinner. Several dozen of them were in the dinner crowd of 200 ($200, $150, $100 tickets). Before dinner a champagne reception for the 10 new community Pillars of Vibrancy attracted 50 well wishers to an upstairs room where past Pillars welcomed them and applauded their contributions. In addition to the superb cuisine and genial socializing, highlights of the evening included lilting vocals

by Eloise Alterman accompanying herself on the piano and Kids Kicking Cancer founder Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg’s brief but powerful message about empowering children fighting pain. “A perfect God created an imperfect world perfectly…The real challenge of life is living it,” he concluded.

St. Regis School Auction Jeanine Ammori and Leila Kello and their committee made some big changes in the grade school’s popular annual fundraiser format. They instituted one ticket price and arrival time, replaced the strolling dinner with sit down, plated service (beef filet) and, most significant from the standpoint of guest enjoyment, they replaced the large, silent auction with a Chinese (pick-your-own-prize) raffle. The latter eliminated the necessity for guests to hover over bid sheets instead of partying, plus it was much more efficient to set up.

The event attracted 300 school supporters ($125 ticket) to the Shenandoah Club where Ben Sharkey made music before and after the very spirited live auction. It was highlighted by the bidding for Mark and Colby Mitchell’s donation – a three-night stay at their 4,500 sq. ft. luxurious digs in NYC’s Plaza Hotel. The Mitchells settled the bidding competition between Johny Kello and Alison Gleeson by letting both downtownpublications.com

Salute to Bloomfield’s First Responders

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1. Dr. Bob Facca (left) of W. Bloomfield, Msgr. Tony Tocco of Bloomfield. 2. Sue Nine (center) of Bloomfield, Stacy Prachar (left) of Rochester Hills, AJ Sparks of Grand Blanc. 3. Dave Hendrickson (left) of Macomb, John Ball and Stuart Sherr of Bloomfield. 4. Phil Langmeyer (left) of White Lake, Paul Nine of Bloomfield and Dr. Stan Materka of W.Bloomfield. 5. April Switala (left) of Commerce, Geof Gaudard, Sam Arabbo of Bloomfield, Tim Newsom of Waterford.

6. Megan Davidson (left) of Bloomfield, Dolores Green of Birmingham, Sandy Ress of Clarkston, Elena Facca of W. Bloomfield. 7. Ed Lietz (left) of Macomb, Kelly Marthen of Hartland and Dan Trudeau of Oxford.

CARE House Circle of Friends Luncheon

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1. Board president / event sponsor Kappy Trott (left) of Birmingham, Erin Merryn (center) of Elgin, IL, event chair / event sponsor Maria Roberts of Bloomfield. 2. Event sponsor/Congressman Dave Trott (left) of Birmingham, emcee/Birmingham native Chris Hansen of Stamford, CN. 3. Diana Howard (left) of Franklin, event sponsor Vicki Celani and Jan Ann Hoge of Bloomfield. 4. Sarah Deson (left) of Troy, Valerie Ahlgren of Bloomfield. 5. Denise and Kathy Abrash of Bloomfield. 6. Vince Giovanni (left) of Bloomfield and Kareem George of Franklin. 7. Lidija Grahovac (left) of Bloomfield, Betsy Reich of Birmingham. 8. Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson (left) of Clarkston, Henry Baskin of Bloomfield. 9. Tracy Muscat (left) of Farmington Hills and Jill Schubiner of Birmingham.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK buy it for $24,000 each. This brought the live auction total to $80,000 and the event gross to more than $130,000. The proceeds are earmarked for LED lighting for the entire school.

Bates Street Society Dinner

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Bar Foundation Fellows Reception Oakland County Bar Foundation president Chuck Moore welcomed 39 new Fellows at a cocktail reception which attracted about 215 of the 625 Fellows to the Townsend. Fellows membership (pledges of $1,000 or $5,000) is not limited to legal community professionals but most Fellows are attorneys or judges. They support the foundation programs that enhance citizen access to and understanding of the legal system. Like the foundation’s annual Signature Event, the reception was a convivial gathering. If it runs true to form, the 2016 Signature Event, Friday, May 6, at Oakland Hills Country Club will be likewise. Loyalists know that to get a coveted ticket it is best to be a sponsor. Contact Katie Tillinger at 248.334.3400 or go to www.ocba.org/signature-event.

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1. Congressman Dave Trott of Birmingham and Sandra Krafsur of Royal Oak. 2. Tim & Barbara Hirtzler of Birmingham. 3. Bill Seklar (center) of Bloomfield with Mary (left) & Paul Glantz of Lake Angelus and Bonnie & Norm LePage of W. Bloomfield. 4. John (left) & Carol Aubrey of Birmingham, Alexander Zonjic of Windsor, ONT. 5. Jeff Imerman (left) of Birmingham, Amy Zimmer and Robert Dempster and Caroline Rooney Dempster of Bloomfield. 6. Dr. Frank McGeorge (left) with his wife Sara of St. Clair Shores and Peter Leonard of Birmingham. 7. Jim Suhay & Barbara with Beatrice & Pierre Boutrous of Birmingham.

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St. Regis School Auction

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Birmingham Education Foundation’s Unabashed Bash The annual soiree benefiting innovation in the Birmingham Public Schools attracted 220 advocates ($175 tickets) to Somerset Collection South. The milestone 15th annual nature of the event inspired the move from the event’s traditional home at The Townsend and the Passport to Learning theme inspired a strolling dinner of ethnic cuisine by Plum Market. Food stations were set up around the center court fountain where a stage permitted Seaholm and Groves music and performing arts students to entertain guests supping in the adjacent lounge seating. The silent auction ($18,207), a raffle ($4,050), and the live auction ($16,340) offered more diversions, as did superintendent Dr. Dan Nerad’s brief remarks. The latter included gratitude for the great gifts of students, parents, staff and board members and a pitch for people to run for soon-to-be-vacant seats on the school board. Thanks also to generous sponsors, the 15th annual benefit raised $123,040.

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6 Marian High School’s Benefit Evening Because the annual Marian Mothers’ and Dads Clubs’ fundraiser was just before Ash Wednesday, co-chairs Analia Jarvis and Tammy Eberhard and their committee embraced a Mardi Gras theme. And, indeed, the good times rolled as 330 guests ($100 ticket) partied big time at the event coordinated by Jennifer Marcherio and Patty Sharkey. On the stroll they savored Bourbon Street flavors, bought wine pull and raffle tickets and bid in a silent auction ($27,430) before settling in for the program.

It was emceed by MHS dad Dan Sharkey and included the

1. Jeanine Ammori (left) and Leila Kello of Bloomfield Hills. 2. Melanie Scott (left) of Beverly Hills, John & Tinney Newman of Bloomfield. 3. Mike Brozek (left) of Bloomfield, Jennifer & Adam Waechter of Beverly Hills.

4. Janae (left) & Brian Condit of Beverly Hills, Msgr. Charles Kosanke and Chris Moore of Bloomfield. 5. Mark & Kellie Berg of Bloomfield. 6. Mark & Julie Masters of Bloomfield. 7. Alison Gleeson (left) of Bloomfield, Kim Hawes of Bingham Farms, Annette Askounis of Bloomfield.

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Restore Foundation Benefit Even though judge Edward Sosnick is retired from the bench, he serves as president of the RESTORE Foundation. It supports Oakland County’s drug treatment courts which enable juveniles and adults to continue schooling and working while undergoing rehab. The foundation invited people to salute the retired judge’s 75th birthday at a ‘Restore the Brilliance” cocktail party. It brought 150 friends and colleagues to Eddie Merlot’s restaurant where sparkle was provided by diamonds from the Wachler Estate Collection. Guests enjoyed selecting baubles to model during the party. The very affable Sosnick enjoyed greeting friends of all ages and he really liked their birthday tribute – donations to the foundation.

Thanks also to sponsors Orlans Associates, Jaffee Law, Frank Simon and Gary Sakwa, the event raised $10,000.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK drawing of lucky raffle winners’ names. It also featured a spirited live auction ($41,800) conducted by Jim Bickley with help from Sharkey and pledging for MHS principal Sr. Leonora’s Wish List ($12,850). Combined with the five months of intense organizing and some generous sponsors, the annual event netted $126,000.

Bar Foundation Fellows Reception

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1. Ryan Plecha (left) of Royal Oak, Dan Quick and Chuck Moore of Bloomfield. 2. Richard Victor (left) of Bloomfield, John Schaefer of Birmingham. 3. Judge Denise Langford-Morris (left) of W. Bloomfield, judge Wendy Potts and Liz Luckenbach of Birmingham, judge Colleen O’Brien of Clarkston. 4. Randy Wright (left) and John Schrot of Birmingham. 5. Laura Brodeur-McGeorge (left) of Troy, Sandy Glazier (left) of W. Bloomfield, Fellows trustee Sue Ellen Eisenberg of Bloomfield. 6. Ann Marie Uetz (left) of Detroit, Michael Groebe of Birmingham.

7. Mike Sullivan (left) of Bloomfield, David Armstrong of Macomb.

Birmingham Education Foundation’s Unabashed Bash

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1. Ben Dolan (left) and Matt Heller of Beverly Hills. 2. Paul (left) & Jackie Keller of Franklin, Susan & David Priestley of Birmingham. 3. Steve & Rosemary Ricelli Scheidt of Birmingham. 4. Geri Rinschler (left), Jessica Thomas and Doug Blodgett of Birmingham. 5. Miriam & Larry Imerman of Bloomfield. 6. Rachel Guinn (left) of Auburn Hills, Pam Davis and Rana Esmmons of Bloomfield. 7. Alan Ross (left) and Deric Righter of Bloomfield.

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Variety Chili/Mac & Pulled Pork Cook-Off Variety, The Children’s Charity’s comfort food event is the perfect antidote for winter’s chill. It attracted 175 supporters ($100, $150 tickets) to The Townsend for a casual, yummy evening chaired by Chris Rotger, Jeffrey King and Katie Smith. They’d organized a small auction raffle in the ballroom lobby, but the chow at stations that ringed the ball room was the big draw. That and the country western sounds dispensed by James of Cloud 9 that generated spirited line dancing. Judges Steve Pardo, John Prepolec and Laura Berman sampled dishes from 14 generous restaurants and awarded the following Critics’ Choice titles: Chili - Green Lantern; Mac & Cheese and Pulled Pork - Yardbird Smoked Meats. People’s Choice titles were: Chili - Green Lantern; Mac & Cheese Crispelli’s; Pulled Pork - Yardbird Smoke Meats. The third annual cook off raised $55,000 for Variety’s children’s programs.

Oakland County LINKS Invest in Youth Excitement reigned at a recent Pontiac School Board meeting when the Oakland County Chapter of LINKS took center stage.

Chapter president Winifred Green, along with Linda Ware Smith and Teresa Rodges who chaired the fundraising luncheon, presented Google Chromebook laptop computers and book covers to the 25 students in Pontiac Middle School’s program for high achieving students. District Superintendent Kelley Williams thanked them profusely for “… ensuring our students have opportunities that open many doors.” The LINKS benefit luncheon had attracted 300 to the Troy Marriott.

Eton Academy’s Gala & Auction Celebrating was certainly in order at Eton Academy, the Birmingham school for students who learn differently in grades 1 – 12. Not only was it celebrating 30 years as the academy that evolved from The Adventure School, it was also celebrating the recently completed Loepp Family Lower School and the Eton Hartman Center for Teaching and Learning constructed in the former St. Columban Church and the LaNeve Family and Friends Welcome Center bridging the new and old. National Honor Society members welcomed the sold-out stream of 340 guests who sipped and nibbled as they bid $40,000 in the silent auction which included handsome student art. But the dinner program is this reporter’s favorite part of the event. It always features moving testimonies to what happens at Eton.

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This year, event chair Linda Kenney spoke about how Eton has helped their two sons, whom they adopted from a Kazakhstan orphanage, overcome insurmountable odds. Leora Bernard, who started at Eton as a seven-year-old but has moved on to a public school, told how Eton gave her the gifts of literacy, self confidence, courage, and “…value, the greatest gift of all.” Current Eton senior Lauren Winkelman spoke about how failing tore her apart before coming to Eton. “(Here) I have true friends...I have all As...I found out who I am and my future,” she declared. The program also featured capital campaign co-chairs Dan Loepp and Mark LaNeve who thanked individuals and corporations for their generosity, which that very morning, had topped the $3-million goal. That announcement inspired spirited bidding in the live auction ($111,400) and scholarship giving ($41,000) conducted by Dan Stall.

When completed, event accounting is expected to show that the 2016 Gala and Auction will raise more than $300,000.

St. Hugo’s Sky’s the Limit Auction About 320 boosters of St. Hugo of the Hills grade school gathered at the school’s 20th annual fundraising auction chaired by Sarah Jankowski, Stephanie Schwartz and Karla Mekani. They used a hot air balloon design motif, courtesy of Michael Jankowski, to decorate the new party site – the Shenandoah Club.

The evening featured a savory dinner starring beef tenderloin tips, Smart Phone bidding, a 52-card raffle that raised $5,200, Paddle Raise pledging ($15,000) and a live auction. One of the highlights was Churchills of Birmingham‘s donation of a men’s trip for 10 to Honduras and Nicaragua to tour the Rocky Patel Cigar Factories and Farms. The school does not release event amount-raised numbers.

Marian High School’s Benefit Evening

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1. Jennifer Margherio (left) of Bloomfield, Analia Jarvis of Washington Township; Tammy Eberhard of Oakland and Patty Sharkey of Bloomfield. 2. Judy Heinen Thornbury (left) of Bloomfield, Rick Copland and Jacques & Karen Stepien Pasquier of Rochester Hills. 3. Julie Lunghamer Jenney (left) and Cristina Recchia of Bloomfield. 4. Tamra & Mike Odrobina of Rochester. 5. Rita (left) & Mark Garmo of W. Bloomfield; Sandy & Tony Montalbano of Bloomfield. 6. Paul & Clare Troy of Rochester Hills. 7. Nancy (left) & Bill Girardot, Patsy Flynn and Linda Boff of Bloomfield. 8. Stacey & Steve Tuohy of Bloomfield. 9. Bill (left) & Susan Hall of Bloomfield, Terry Thomas of Birmingham.

10. David & Kathy Petoskey of Bloomfield.

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Variety Chili/Mac & Pulled Pork Cook-Off Founders Junior Council Cirque The Detroit Institute of Arts’ young professional support group’s annual masked gala attracted some 625 ($125, $150 tickets) to the museum’s Great Hall and Rivera Court. The black and white theme for the event, chaired by David Gasper, Lindsey Barile and Justin Jacobs, was inspired by Truman Capote’s legendary, 1966 ball at New York’s Plaza Hotel. It had nothing on the FJC. Masked models in fashions from sponsors Neiman Marcus and BrickerTunis Furs lined the Kresge hallway guests strolled en route to the Great Hall where waiters offered flutes of champagne. Music by DJ Prevu, Jared Sykes, the Star String Quartet and Ben Sharkey accented the dancing, socializing, cocktailing and nibbling downtownpublications.com

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2 1. Chris Rotger (left) and David King with Charley King of Birmingham. 2. Lauren Goldstein (left) and Emily Cetner of Bloomfield, Katie Smith of Northville. 3. Judy Solomon (left) of Birmingham with John Prepolec of Bloomfield and Steve Pardo of Livonia. 4. Annabel Cohen (center) of Bloomfield with Susie Konop (left) of Huntington Woods and Judy Goldwasser of Bloomfield. 5. Mackenzie Beckett (standing left) of Troy and Hunter Shuert of Bloomfield, Mary & Paul Glantz of Lake Angelus.

6. Felicia Shaw (center) of Birmingham, Joe & Colleen Newmyer of Bloomfield.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK (small bites). The guests’ fanciful masks tended to compliment their black and white apparel. Many paused for a picture in the photo booth as a souvenir of the memorable evening.

For more information on FJC, visit foundersjuniorcouncil.com.

Eton Academy’s Gala & Auction

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1. Sponsors Paul & event chair Linda Kenney of Grosse Pointe. 2. Sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Dan (left) & Amy Loepp of Birmingham, alum parents/ committee member Paula & board member/sponsor Ford’s Mark LaNeve of Northville. Dan & Mark co-chaired the capital campaign that financed the school’s new addition. 3. Alysia (left) & Dr. Jeffrey Vlasic, sponsors Jim & Shari Vlasic of Bloomfield. 4. Board president/sponsor Jeff Zanetti of Northville, board member/sponsor Sonia Pastore of Bloomfield. 5. Jennifer & Omar Karim of Bloomfield. 6. Courtney (left) & board members Michael Plotzke and Larry & Nancy Bluth of Bloomfield. 7. Chris Camilli (left) of Rochester, his daughter Jacqueline Thompson of Royal Oak.

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St. Hugo’s Sky’s the Limit Auction

Go Red for Women The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women kicked off with a Red Dress Fashion Show hosted by the Somerset Collection. It featured local media personalities and comedian/ actress/TV personality Kim Coles. She also starred the next day at the luncheon chaired by Janice Cosby Bridges and Sharyl Smith which attracted more than 650 to the Detroit Westin Hotel. Many came early for free health screenings and the silent auction, but the vibrant scene in the Renaissance Center ballroom was the highlight. Fox 2’s Deena Centofanti emceed the program that included compelling remarks by Shelly Appel and Sally Lou Loveman as well as Coles.

They inspired donations in the “Open Your Heart” appeal that, together with the auction, totaled $30,000. Thanks also to generous sponsors, the Go Red Campaign grossed $603,000 for hearth health programs.

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1. Sarah & Michael Jankowski of Bloomfield. 2. Peter & Stephanie Schwartz of Bloomfield. 3. Nancy Montales (left) of Troy, Colleen Ferrara Bloomfield. 4. Father Tony, Sister Mary Ellen, Sister Margaret and Deacon Dominic of St Hugo of the Hills. 5. Stephanie Schwartz (left) and Sarah Jankowski of Bloomfield, Karla Mekani of W. Bloomfield.

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Founders Junior Council Cirque

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1. Jeffery Imerman of Birmingham, FJC President Amy Zimmer of Bloomfield. 2. DIA Director Salvador Salort-Pons (center) and his wife Alexandra May of Bloomfield. 3. Richard (left) & Denise Victor of Bloomfield, Heather and Ronnie Victor of Birmingham. 4. Dana Sorensen of Bloomfield, Grant Juth of Grand Rapids and Ali Restaino of Birmingham.

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Variety’s SHINE for FAR & SCAMP A standing room-only crowd of some 200 ($35, $100, $200 tickets) gathered in the Somerset South Rotunda to applaud the 23 young fashion models who strutted their stuff to raise funds for the FAR and Bloomfield Hills SCAMP summer programs for special needs kids.

The youngsters had been glammed up at Felicia’s Salon before they dressed for the show. It kicked off with a performance of “With a Little Help from My Friends,” reprised from FAR‘s Beatles show. Then the models, each with a community mentor, were introduced by show coordinator Vicki Howard as they showed off the spring finery. Somerset merchants donated the apparel to each of the smiling models, all of whom demonstrated unique modeling styles.

The Sunday afternoon happening, cochaired by Ruthie Seltzer and Julie Truskowski, raised $10,000 for the camp programs. Variety supporters will also convene April 27 for the annual Table Tops luncheon and May 20 for A Star is Born. Go to variety-detroit.com for information updates.

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Trade Secrets Trade Secrets, the JVS brainchild at which business women reveal their MO for success moved to larger quarters (Temple Beth El) and still sold all the dinner seats (500 at $150 & up). Before dinner, guests sipped, socialized and 04.16

shopped at a large raffle (50 items). The display tables were accented by tall baskets of donations from the keynote speaker, Linda Schlesinger-Wagner. And the story of her journey to the top with her $8 million line of clothing was mesmerizing. It involved…” a difficult divorce… a son with a drug problem…and a happy yellow house in Huntington Woods.” She also paid tribute to “…my new husband…my cheerleader Monnie Must…(West Bloomfield shops) Guys & Gals and Rear Ends…QVC…(and inordinate) good luck.”

Her son, who has been clean for eight years, told her he could not believe that she was able to buy her website for $8.99 a year. The crowd gave her a standing ovation and JVS gave her an April Wagner blown glass sculpture. See her topselling line of tanks and tops at www.skinnytees.com. Felicia Militello also earned a standing ovation when she accepted the JVS Women to Work Award for using the skills she learned at JVS to reenter the real estate field and provide for her three children.

They beamed with pride as she spoke. The eighth annual event not only set an attendance record, counting the raffle ($17,000), texted donations ($20,000) and generous sponsors, Trade Secrets 2016 also raised more than $275,000 to help women reenter the job market following difficult life transitions.

Roeper Scholarship Dinner Prelude To honor the memory of Mariann Hoag, who was indispensable to the operation of Roeper School during her 60-plus years working there, the school alternates its fundraising auction with The Mariann Hoag Scholarship Dinner.

This was the year for the dinner. It kicked off with the Prelude hosted by Head of School David and Elaine Feldman in the gym at the Lower School in Bloomfield Hills. It was bedecked with red geraniums, Hoag’s favorite flower. Some 175 guests gathered there to sip, savor passed hors d’oeuvres and bid on the 43 artistic items in a silent auction. Each offering was created by Roeper’s gifted students. A program featuring brief remarks by 1985 Roeper grad Frank Crosby, Ph.D. inspired guests to raise their paddles and make scholarship donations ($30,000-plus) with the urging of athletic director Ed Sack. Then guests learned the identity of their dinner host ($75-ticket) and departed for their destinations. In addition to the 13 local dinners alums from New York City to San Francisco also staged six more dinners, all with proceeds earmarked for financial aid to those students needing same - a particular passion of Hoag.

Junior League of Birmingham Several dozen “retired” members of the Junior League of Birmingham convened at Keri Boyd’s Birmingham home to sip, sup and socialize before winter was officially kaput. “Retired” refers to their league activity only. Most, like Kathy Walgren, are still quite involved in community volunteerism. Walgren was spreading the word about the Boomer Summit being held April 30 at NEXT. When current president Shiela Jones downtownpublications.com

Variety’s SHINE for FAR & SCAMP

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1. Ruthie Seltzer (left) of Birmingham, Vicki Howard of Huntington Woods. 2. Felicia Shaw (left) of Birmingham, model Sophia Puzzuloi.

3. Jeremiah Ross (left), David King of Birmingham. 4. Megaera Terteling, Marty Seltzer of Birmingham. 5. Eric Clark (left) of Bloomfield, Reyna Mansour. 7. Annabelle Murphy, Karen Gaudette of Birmingham. 6. Annabelle Murphy, Karen Gaudette of Birmingham.

Trade Secrets

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1. Liz Elkus (left) of Bloomfield and Jodi Neff and Kristen Gross of Franklin. 2. Katherine Jacob (left) of Birmingham, Linda SchlesingerWagner of W. Bloomfield, Diane Farber of Bingham Farms. 3. Aaron (left), Molly, Sophie and Ann Chernow of Bloomfield. 4. Patty Daiek Wagner (left) and Linda Wagner Curry of Bloomfield. 5. Julie Nelson-Klein (left) of Bloomfield, Marci Canvasser of Franklin.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK arrived she asked them all to attend JLB’s Signature Event at BOH on April 16.

The week after the Sustainers gathered, 80plus members of the current JLB Provisional Class staged their annual fundraiser at the Royal Oak Farmers Market. It attracted more than 100 ($45 tickets) to sip and sup, courtesy of Chef Jared Bobkin of Local Kitchen & Bar and Tito’s Vodka, Motor City Gas and Faygo. A raffle and live music by The Whiskey Charmers accented the casual scene. It was coordinated by Melanie Rand, Alyce Robelli, Sarah McDonnell, Lisa Gentile, Sheri Gordon, Genna Edmonds, Megan Moore, Jacqueline Saliotte and Samantha Loux. Proceeds will support the league’s partnerships with CARE House, Common Ground and Judson Center as well as its human trafficking and Kids in the Kitchen programs.

Roeper Scholarship Dinner Prelude

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1. Charlie Uchno of Bloomfield. 2. Leslie Moskowitz (left) of Bloomfield and Lori Talbot of Rochester. 3. Yasser Al-Khafaji (left) & Yasmin Sabi of Rochester, Zaina Assaf & Ali Al-Khafaji of Shelby Twp. 4. Laura & Peter Karmanos of Birmingham. 5. Michael Bosway (left) of Clarkston, Katie Booth of Birmingham, Alex Klee of Lathrup Village. 6. Denita Banks-Sims (left) of Bloomfield, Beth Vens of Clarkston and Katie Buchmann of Clarkston.

Junior League of Birmingham

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1. Maggie Allesee (left) of Bloomfield, Keri Boyd of Birmingham. 2. Katie Marinelli (left) of Royal Oak, Martha Johnson of Troy, Bridgit Herman of Bloomfield. 3. Jane Inman (left) of Bloomfield, Kathy Walgren of Birmingham. 4. Susan Lucken (left) of Birmingham, Karen Caserio of Bloomfield. 5. Lori Rhodes (left), Amy Louwers and Amy Hochhammer of Birmingham. 6. Linda Lessway (left) of Birmingham, Charlton Hibbard of Lake Orion. 7. Julie Goddard (left) of Grosse Pointe, Cheryl Hall Lindsay of W. Bloomfield, Rebecca Pryor of Bloomfield.

Career Dress Boutique Open House

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Humble Design Beauty Within Luncheon Humble Design, the non-profit that furnishes homes and hope for the recently homeless, staged a Saturday luncheon that attracted 275 ($100 tickets) to The Reserve. Co-founders Treger Strasberg and Ana Smith welcomed board members like Monica Moray, Lynn Sirich, Carrie Weiner, Stacey Kives and Claire Trainor as well as 17 past clients from The Empowerment Plan and Rebel Nell. Both businesses hire homeless women to make coat/sleeping bags (TEP) and jewelry (RN).

Guests bid in a large silent auction set up in the heated tent adjacent to the dining room before adjourning for lunch and the program. It included a video featuring past clients and a panel discussion with Rhonda Walker, Jennifer Gilbert, Denise Ilitch and Pam Rodgers. They focused on empowerment, perseverance, motivation and maintaining a balance between work and living, all of which comprise “The Beauty Within”. For more information about Humble Design, go to humbledesign.org.

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1. JoAnne Carlson (left) of Rochester Hills, Kathleen Taylor of Clarkston, Judy Zorn, Karen Lockman and Cheryl Panciatici of Rochester Hills, Lucy Simone of Troy. 2. Peggy Wessler (left) of Commerce Twp and Karen Nichols of Bloomfield. 3. Cheryl (left) & Lou Panciatici and Jane Sanford of Rochester Hills.

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Career Dress Boutique Open House A determined band of 10 women are committed to helping moderate/low income women dress appropriately when interviewing for and taking a job. So committed are they that when the space they had occupied as Career Dress since 2002 at Lighthouse of Oakland County became unavailable, they refused to shut down the boutique. Instead, they formed a new 501(c)3 non-profit and hunted for, found and moved it to new digs at 55 West Huron in downtown Pontiac. The reopening called for a show-and-tell celebration and about 55 sponsors, donors and Pontiac business neighbors attended. They learned that Career Dress has provided professional attire for a variety of industries to more than 4,000 women referred by 50 local agencies. No one takes a salary. It is completely dependent on donations and volunteer efforts. For more information, go to careerdress.org or call 248-481-8276.

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Send ideas for this column to Sally Gerak, 28 Barbour Lane, Bloomfield Hills, 48304; email samgerak@aol.com or call 248.646.6390.

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M AGNIFICENT S HOWCASE C USTOM HOME W/ 113 F T. FRONTAGE ON A LL S PORTS S UNRISE L AKE IN M ILFORD !

C USTOM ESTATE HOME WITH F RONTAGE ON F LANDERS L AKE W/2.4 ACRES LOT.

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WALNUT LAKE - $875,000

MACEDAY LAKE - $799,900

CASS LAKE - $1,250,000

ORCHARD LAKE - $469,000

WALNUT L AKE F RONT W / 135 F T. S ANDY F RONTAGE .

S PECTACULAR C USTOM L AKEFRONT W/ FINISHED WALKOUT ON A LL S PORTS M ACEDAY L AKE .

C USTOM B UILT L AKEFRONT W/100 F T. FRONTAGE & FINISHED WALKOUT.

E LEGANT U PDATED C OLONIAL ON C UL-D E-SAC IN O RCHARD L AKE W OODLANDS .

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DUCK LAKE - $999,000

FARMINGTON HILLS - $369,900

CASS LAKE - $475,000

CLARKSTON - $1,599,999

M AGNIFICENT C USTOM D REAM HOME W/ WALKOUT ON A LL S PORTS D UCK L AKE .

B EAUTIFUL FARMINGTON G LENS C OLONIAL W/F INISHED WALKOUT ON C UL- DE -S AC .

P RIME L AKEFRONT LOT ON A LL S PORTS C ASS L AKE .

S PECTACULAR C USTOM C ONTEMPORARY ON 4 ACRE P RIVATE S ETTING .

A MAZING A RCHITECTURAL D ESIGN , FEATURED IN M AGAZINES .

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ENDNOTE

Foot-dragging on medical marijuana issue nce again, the Michigan legislature has shown its disposition for inaction won't be changed by mere public opinion or urgings by the state's highest court. Despite repeated requests from the Michigan Supreme Court, local governments and a strong vote of the people, legislators have continually failed to enact laws to clarify the state's nearly eightyear-old Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. In November of 2008, 63 percent of Michigan voters approved a statewide ballot proposal making marijuana legal for medical purposes with an approved card issued by the state.

However, since then, the law has led to at least 18 Michigan Court of Appeals hearings and eight different state Supreme Court rulings.

Meanwhile, local municipalities have taken an array of stances on what is and isn't permitted under the state's medical marijuana law. Likewise, patients and voters who overwhelmingly approved the law are caught in the middle, hoping they are following the law, but never really knowing if they are subject to legal action for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Take for instance the Michigan Supreme Court's 2013 decision finding that medical marijuana dispensaries aren't permitted under state law. Yet, the city of Detroit and many

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other local municipalities permit, or even regulate, dispensaries.

Medical marijuana patients who want to take their medication in an edible form, rather than smoking, run the risk of facing criminal charges.

That's because law enforcement considers the entire weight of the edible, which often come in the form of candy or baked goods, when determining the amount of drug a person has in their possession. That means a non-smoking patient with an edible weighing several ounces is considered to have that much marijuana, rather than the amount of the drug in the food.

Issues such as edibles, dispensaries and dozens of other questions that have yet to be clarified by the courts have to be addressed by the legislature. Yet, nearly eight years after the passage of the act, the legislature has failed to take any serious steps toward enacting the law sought by the majority of voters in the state.

That's unacceptable. And non-responsive to the wishes of the people who elected them.

There have been, and are currently, several legislative initiatives intended to address some of the issues with the medical marijuana law.

One such proposal, HB 4210, is a legitimate bill that attempts to address the edible issue.

Passed in October of 2015 by the House by a vote of 343 to 96, the bill has sat stagnant in

the Senate Judiciary Committee since October 8, where it's likely to die without action.

Members of the legislature, particularly conservatives who have worked to block efforts to clarify the state's medical marijuana law, should be advised to cast their personal opinions aside – or special interests – and do the work that the voters tasked them with when electing them to office. Voters clearly supported legalizing medical marijuana. Any attempt to subvert the law, create restrictions blocking access to medical marijuana, or failing to address clear issues with the law, we feel, is a dereliction of duty on behalf of state lawmakers.

Clearly, the efforts of pro-marijuana groups currently working to pass three different ballot initiatives in the state to legalize recreational use of marijuana are the direct result of the legislature's complete failure to deal with medical marijuana issues over the past eight years. Why wait for legislators to drag things out when you can just go direct to the voters?

Lawmakers in Lansing have shown repeatedly that they can produce quick results when it comes to legislation that appeals to their own special interests.

It's time those we sent to Lansing to do our business start addressing the issues of interest to voters at-large.

Poor proposals and political retribution he bi-monthly board of trustees meetings in Bloomfield Township have become a sideshow of personal animosity, pandering to special interests, mixed with questions of fitness for office, wrapped around the necessary business of the township.

But before you cast aspersions at all seven trustees, understand that the efforts to short circuit the meetings, to place superfluous and time-consuming items on the agenda that can best be described as pandering while casting aspersions upon others within the government, can only be laid at the feet of one individual: township treasurer Dan Devine.

A prime example occurred at the March 14 township board meeting, with an attempt by Devine to force the township's professional service contracts to be bid out every five years and prevent political contributors to bid on contracts. On the surface, it sounds not only reasonable, but an ethical and appropriate choice. Except Devine's resolution was really a smokescreen attempt to prevent those who had contributed the legal amount at a recent

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fundraiser to supervisor Leo Savoie's re-election campaign from doing work in the township.

And it hid the reality that the township has had a solid purchasing policy since 2005 – one which the board of trustees of that time, Devine included, unanimously approved.

This time, his resolution failed to receive support, with most board members tiring of his personal vitriol, questionable financial management and erratic behavior.

At the March 14 meeting, Devine asserted he had brought the resolution to amend the township's purchasing and project approval polices to the board “in an attempt to go into the best practices realm, to give the best price to taxpayers, and to have no conflict of interests.”

Devine has long-simmering anger towards Savoie, who he faults for ascending to the township's top spot in 2011 when former supervisor Dave Payne retired, instead of himself.

His erratic behavior includes his suggestion last May that Savoie may have “kidnapped” his daughter when she was working and not answering his calls, and then a whistleblower

lawsuit against Savoie and the township, a suit he lost but has appealed. Devine apparently also harbors animosity towards well-respected engineering firm Hubbell, Roth & Clark (HRC) and municipal law firm Secrest Ward, who both provide professional services to the township, but whose services do not go out to bid.

Devine's attempt to tie the township's utilization of HRC and attorney Bill Hampton of Secrest Ward as having been “bought” through donations to Savoie's fundraiser – all within the framework of campaign contribution law – are not only inappropriate, but disingenuous, considering he has had a history of receiving thousands of dollars to his re-election campaigns from vendors doing business with the township.

Whether pandering to seniors, throwing department heads under the bus at board meetings, or being revealed for having made chronically poor financial decisions for the taxpayers of Bloomfield Township, the problem in the township isn't a matter of dysfunction or lack of sound policies – it's the treasurer.

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