Outlne of final story.

While there are no roosters crowing in the Smiths back yard, there are chickens. Thanks to a recent change to the laws in Ann Arbor, the Smiths can keep 4 hens- enough to keep their family, and their grateful next door neighbors in eggs for most of the year.



"The eggs are good but this is hardly a cost effective venture!" says Smith. She stands in front of their homemade coop holding Mrs. Lakenvelder, a large mostly white hen who seems very content in her arms.

It seems as if keeping chickens has more to do with keeping chickens as pets rather then the eggs they produce. A pet with benefits, according to Smith.

According to many, the eggs taste better then store brought eggs.  Mother Earth News magazine has an article discussing the differences, including a heathful  1/3rd reduction in chloresterol.

Grocery store eggs are often older then two weeks since they have been laid. Home eggs are often less then a couple hours old-and fresh eggs are certainly better then older eggs. The hens are allowed to be out, are fed food that the owner controls. 

Need to match your coop with your house? Designer eggs are even possible-the shells can be colorful in hues that are multicolored- brown, green or even a pinkish tinged eggs come from specialized hens bred to produce "easter eggs". It gives new meaning to Green Eggs and Ham- although once you crack the egg, they all look the same.

Turns out there are more benefits to keeping the hens then their eggs. They are quite entertaining. The term pecking order comes from hens and their social status within their group. Watching hens walk around, scratching for something under the surface, clucking at each other, occasional chicken tag, it's like watching water or fire- it's always changing. These are very busy girls.

Even the byproduct of keeping hens- manure- can be beneficial. Many chicken owners turn it into compost for the garden. Here is an article about making Chicken Manure tea. While not a topic of dinner conversation, knowing what might benefit your plants seems like a good idea. 

"All around, we benefit- and I like the fact that our kids will see where their food comes from." says Fetner. The chicks that the Fetner's ordered last year are now the ones that are producing the eggs in their small flock. On average, she collects 2 to 3 eggs a day, more then enough for her family and neighbors.

Fetner and a few friends ordered their chicks from McMurrys Hatchery, one of the most popular hatcheries, and an impessive source of "Mail order chickens".

To keep chickens inside the city limits, you have to order just hens. This is to cut down on the crowing that rooters are known for- while enjoyable to some, it does have it's opponents. 

McMurrys has solved this dilemma with orders of only female chicks available- more expensive then "straight run" where the chicks are not sexed before sending out.

Pullets, female young chickens are in demand and often much harder to get then straight run chickens. Pullets range in price from about $2 to over $5 for a day old chick, whereas their male counterparts are often half that price.

There is one other problem with mail order chicks-the number that must be shipped in order to ensure a survival rate.

"Our first order of chicks the hatchery told us to expect 20 percent to die. So, we ordered the minimum 25. Since it was really cold that February, they sent us 32- thinking attrition might be greater then 20 percent," says Tammy Fisher, a teacher at Honey Creek Community School who ordered chicks for her class to raise a few years ago.

"I guess we are good chicken farmers- only two died. So, we ended up with 30 chicks that needed homes." Fisher says she had quite a few chicks turned chickens living in her garage before she found homes for the hens. 

While Fetner ordered  day old chicks, many choose to get hens that are already laying. This also quickens the egg laying process- a hen does not lay eggs until she reaches the age of at least 15 weeks. You also can get 4 hens instead of 25 chicks.

A quick look on Craigslist provides a few chicken farms in the Ann Arbor area. The A2citychicken , a web site dedicated to chicken farmers in the Arbor Area can direct you to many local sources for chickens that are already laying, coops and advice for keeping hens in the Ann Arbor area. The price of a hen ready to lay is about $15. 

While there have only been 11 permits for chickens inside the city limits since June 2008, the numbers seem likely to increase since orders of chicks have increased for the SE Mich area.  According to the Facebook group, Urban Chickens, there is an anticipated shortage of chicks available this year.

 Chicken keeping is fun, and provides organic, free range eggs for your family to enjoy. It is becoming a serious hobby for many. Perhaps this is the Martha Stewart phenomena- she has touted the benefits of keeping chickens in her magazine and blog. When you have chickens in your back yard, you control what they eat and how they live. "It's all good."

If you want to learn more about urban chicken keeping, you might want to check out Keep Chickens- a comprehensive guide to keeping chickens in urban settings. 

Want to keep hens in Ann Arbor? Click here for a permit!

Left- Martha Stewarts Chicken Coop

There is something different about  Teresa Chambors, 29. Brown eyes behind glasses, blond hair and a mid-length pink dress and bright red shoes, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about the Eastern Michigan University student.

She moves a bit slower than other students. She opts to take the elevator whenever possible. Her hands often shake as she attempts to write. But Chamber still manages to hold onto her 3.7 GPA.

It's what you can't see that makes Chambors different.

 Chambors has someone else's heart beating in her chest. 

At the age of 12, Chambors entered a maze of doctors, EKG's, cardiac echos and heart catherizations. Dr. McDonald Dick, head of Pediatric Cardiology at the University of MIchigan Hospital delivered the devastating news.

Chambors had Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. Her heart would begin to  beat too quickly, often as a result of anxiety. Unlike others hearts, hers could not stop its frantic pace- in many cases, it can lead to sudden cardiac death. 

Chambors also had developed Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart has sustained irreparable damage. Because hers had been working overtime, the damage was done and was permanent. 

Chambors said she spent the next 10 years taking drugs to help her ailing heart function.  The condition ruled her life with numerous hospitizations, doctors visit and tests to monitor her health.  Often only able to stay away for five or six hours a day, Chambors said her social life, the pinnacle of most high schoolers' experience, was non-existent.

"High School was hell," says Chambors. 

Eventually the drugs stopped working and Chambors said her heart was getting weaker. She developed blood clots that traveled to her kidneys,  destroying 35 percent of their function- a condition she still has today. Chambors said she was hardly able to get up four stairs without stopping to catch her breath. It was clear, she needed a new heart. 

In July  2001, Chambors was placed on the "list". She joined the other 2000 plus people waiting for hearts in the USA. Many die waiting for their chance at a new life.

On January 26,  2002, Chambors said she got the call from the University of Michigan- a heart that matched had just become available. After seven months and two days waiting, her tiring heart was removed and another placed in her chest.

Chambors was the 498th heart transplant done at the U-M. 

Much later, Chambors said she was told her heart would have probably only lasted another two weeks. 

Chambors would love to meet her donor family. She has sent several letters, thanking them for their gift of life; thus far, she has not heard from the family. 

Chambors says she  considers such people like Dr. David Dyke and the other doctors and nurses on the heart transplant team her friends. She spent more time in the hospital then she did at school for those 10 years and said she forged stronger bonds with them then fellow students.

Mark Brown, a nurse in the new Cardiovascular Center at the U- M remembers Chambors pre- transplant. 

“You get to know them if they are frequent flyers,” says Brown. 

Chambors certainly qualified for that status- unable to actually account for all her days hospitalized, Chambors recalls several stints longer then a month. 

"The worse experience of my life was being on a vent." says Chambors. "It's like feeling you can't breath and you have to suck air through a straw." 

Chambors was on a ventilator two times, eventually getting a tracheostomy.

Chambors considers herself lucky. She says her transplant was considered one of the top 10 matches ever done at the U-M. Her chance of rejection, always a concern, is low. According to Chambors, this also means she has to take less medications daily then if the match was not as good.

As it is, Chambors says her meds still run a staggering $400-$500 a month- with insurance. Without drug coverage, she estimates her costs would quadruple.

Chambors still lives with her parents in Canton, and her "very important dogs."  She loves to talk about her pets, her beading and her card making instead of talking about her health. 

But, there are things that remind her. The medications make her tired. She must get eight to nine hours of sleep a day to keep up her energy. She takes the elevator and walks slowly to conserve her strength. Chambors carries a water bottle all the time as she says she is always thirsty, another side effect of the medications she must take daily for the rest of her life.

Chambers qualifies for federal disability. But she chooses to go to school, which disqualifies her for assistance. That's just fine with her. She says she just wants to blend in with other students and experience college with as much normalcy as possible-something she missed earlier in life.

Chambors was hospitalized last month, missing two weeks of classes which put a damper on her winter semester.  She said she is grateful to her professors for working with her and assigning work over the internet.

Dr. Lisa Bank, her ecology professor at EMU says she is keeping up- better than some of the other students who don’t have the excuse of illness. 

“They (professors) were great- I had my laptop at the hospital and was able to keep up on assignments and emails,” says Chambors. " I think I might keep my A average.”

Contacts :  Teresa Chambors- Phone 330-232-2828

Story Angles

I would like to use the Martin Bandyke story that just happened in Ann Arbor. Martin John was laid off from the local station 107one- as far as I know, the only station that is germane to A2, and very important to the area. It appears to be owned by a larger company- and that company appears to not be located in A2. From what I can tell, with the tiny amount of looking, it is a rather large conglomeration and therefore, as much as I perceived 107one as local, it really was not. Martin John brought that feeling to the station, which is valuable in itself

There are a few angles I would think about- I know I would probably choose the profile of Martin John, but could also look at a few other ideas.

First would be the profile- He has been in A2 for 3 years (or close to) and A2 radio really has been about this station, which features Martin on the weekdays, as well as a nice segment called Fine Tuning on Sundays. He also is very involved in the local music scene, and knows a lot about the areas talent. He did a lot of community service, and was involved in a lot of local fund raisers, inc the Humane Society of Huron Valley. All in all, an interesting guy, and one worth a nice profile.

My second idea would be to look at the A2 radio scene- and how it has evolved and why it's facing such pressures financially. This is a big change for the station, and certainly a big risk. Why is radio in trouble? Is this a nationwide trend? What has satellite radio done to the local markets?

I would also think about doing something like "the day of a DJ" I think it would be interesting to see what others do, as well as looking at what Martin John did.

I also think an article looking at the local music scene would be nice- Martin did a lot with locals, and it would be interesting to hear more about them, and how important someone like Martin is to their getting noticed. Even if he is still not on the radio, I would guess that he will continue to be involved and finding out from him what he thinks about local talent would be neat, too.

Leads and other important things....

Ann Arbor seems like a quiet town. Next to its news noisy neighbor Detroit, what can happen in such a small town? Plenty, says Greg Stejskal, former FBI agent that was based out of Ann Arbor for over 25 years. 

During his career Stejskal has been involved in the unibomber case, the Oklahoma City Bombing case, the first case of internet threat brought to the attention of media- just a few cases that had ties to the Ann Arbor area.

********************************************************************************

Imagine someone told you that the MLB knew about the use and abuse of steroids years before it became the cover of SI. Imagine you were the person that told the MLB commissioner that steroid abuse was a  problem and no one did anything about it. Imagine your frustration when the public outcry was so riotous that it was the cover of every newspaper for weeks- ten years after your investigation. If your name was Greg Stejskal, there would be no need to wonder- you would know.

************************************************************************************

In his years at the helm of the Ann Arbor division of the FBI. Greg Stejskal has seen many criminals do stupid things. When a suspect jumped into a lake in _____township, surrounded by FBI SWAT team members with guns drawn, Stejskal knew this was the top of the list for his Darwin Awards given out during  his career. 

Questions....

These are questions I would ask.

I am hoping to garner an interview with the woman who has just secured (Not 100% sure about this- it's still kind of U of M gossip...but I have a very close contact. She is at a conference until Thursday...am planning on calling her on Friday) the biggest grant given for research on High Risk pregnancy and sleep apnea.  This project has been in the works for YEARS and just in the past month, it has been determined that there is a tie between sleep apnea/deprivation and preeclampsia.  And NO I am not sharing names just yet! :-)This is not going to be announced to the public for another couple of weeks as I understand it. Still trying to get more info....

Tell me a bit about your background? 

Do you have children yourself?

Where did you do your schooling?

Where did you begin your research? 

What led you to the U of M?

What decided this particular field of research?

Who is this grant from?

Why?

How did you gather your information?

Sample size?

What do you hope is the outcome of this research?

What do you see this research leading to next? (or depending on where things go, see if she is willing to share other things she is working on....the biggest issue with this is the "scoop" factor. If this grant is indeed as big as  I am told, I million for a single person..., that's a lot of money esp. today.)

beginning to muse about profile...

I have a couple of ideas-
One-
Just getting into the market. what would make someone decide NOW in this market, that they will change their jobs to do something that seems SO risky

Another -''Alexander Frey returns to UM for a concert"

Living off the Grid- Families that have chosen to use alternative sources of energy and how they do it.

http://www.off-grid.net/

This is a web site for people that have chosen this sort of life style. It is very broad...and not centered in Mich, but I would look here for ideas on where to look further.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/1820211.html

This is an article where a family in Vermont will experiment with 6 different energy sources.

http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/planning_environment/planning/wind_power/about.html

This is a site that is just dedicated to Washtenaw Co, energy plan, specifically a wind generator. I did not know WC was doing this!

http://www.hbawc.com/mr_builtgreen.cfm

This is a site that is just for WC also- I think this would be a personal interview possibility.

I would also call those people that are advertising on the billboards that are all over town, but strangely cannot find them on the net.

http://www.meadowlarkbuilders.com/green.asp

This is one site, but not sure if its the same as the ones on the billboards.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-04-12-off-the-grid_x.htm

As much as I dislike USA, I would also try and approach some of their sources.