Chelsea 'stronger than ever,' Mayor Jason Lindauer says in his second state of the city address

During Chelsea Mayor Jason Lindauer?s recent State of the City address he told residents at Chelsea Retirement Center that the city is ?stronger than ever? financially.

Lindauer said the city was given its highest bond rating to date, an ?AA-,? which is up three levels from previous ratings, and Chelsea?s fund balance is at about 20 percent, ?far better than in previous years.?

In addition, Chelsea?s audit was assigned an ?unqualified? rating from Plante Moran, the highest possible rating.

?With the collaborative approach of the DDA, the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and the Chelsea First Initiative, our city has welcomed 12 new businesses to town in just the past nine months,? he said.

?As one listens to these business owners, it becomes clear that part of the reason they chose to bring their talents here, to act on the next great idea, is that Chelsea provides the sophistication and infrastructure usually found in larger cities, with the collaboration of a smaller town and the charm of a Norman Rockwell backdrop.?

Calling Chelsea a ?growth-ready city,? he said three years ago Chelsea had a lack of water and sewer treatment capacity as well as an undersized ?major transformer for electricity.? Today, those issues have not only been dealt with ?head-on? but also they have been resolved.

He said there are plans for ?below ground? capital improvements such as storm water management repairs and upgrades on North Street and highlighted recent repairs in the Jackson Street Area.

The complete speech can be heard here.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.

Source: http://www.annarbor.com/news/chelsea/chelsea-stronger-than-ever-mayor-jason-lindauer-says-in-his-second-state-of-the-city-address/?cmpid=RSS_link_chelsea

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Egypt's military ruler warns crisis must end

Egyptian protesters shout anti-military ruling council slogans during their protest at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in the square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. The Sunday rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution," comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. Arabic reads: "Square of the Egyptian revolution." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian protesters shout anti-military ruling council slogans during their protest at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in the square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. The Sunday rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution," comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. Arabic reads: "Square of the Egyptian revolution." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Protesters walk next to a poster against Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in the square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. Sunday's rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution" comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An effigy representing Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, is hanged at at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in the square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. Sunday's rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution," comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Pictures of international political and religious figures, including a caricature of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, center, with Arabic writing that reads, "check me, check me," are displayed for sale in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. The Sunday rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution," comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A child with the colors of the Egyptian flag painted on her face walks around Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Egypt's activists are staging a massive protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square to press demands for the country's military rulers to step down. The Sunday rally, dubbed "Legitimacy of the Revolution," comes following nine days of continued protest in Tahrir. The planned rally comes one day before the start of voting in the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The elections will be held over a three-month period. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's military ruler warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the turbulent nation does not pull through its current crisis and urged voters to turn out for landmark parliamentary elections starting Monday.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi claimed "foreign hands" were behind the latest wave of unrest, an assertion similar to those made by Hosni Mubarak in his final days in power before he was ousted in a popular uprising in February. Tantawi was Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.

In comments carried by the nation's official news agency, Tantawi rejected calls for him and other generals on the ruling military council he heads to immediately step down.

The warning came as thousands of protesters were filling Cairo's Tahrir Square for another massive demonstration to push for him and the other generals to immediately return to their barracks in favor of a civilian presidential council and a "national salvation" government to run the country's affairs until a president is elected. It was the ninth straight day of a revival of the protest movement that toppled Mubarak. At least 41 protesters have been killed in and more than 2,000 have been wounded, most of them in Cairo.

The military took the reins of power when Mubarak was ousted. But it has come under intense criticism for most of the past nine months for its failure to restore security, stop the rapid worsening of the economy or introduce the far-reaching reforms called for by the youth groups behind Mubarak's fall and the ongoing protest movement.

Tantawi said the military will follow through with its somewhat vague road map for handing over power. The ruling council never set a precise date for transferring authority to an elected civilian administration, only pledging that presidential elections ? the last step in the handover process ? will be held before the end of June, 2012.

"We will not allow troublemakers to meddle in the elections," he said. "Egypt is at a crossroads ? either we succeed politically, economically and socially or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that."

Tantawi also accused foreign powers he did not name of meddling in Egypt's affairs.

"None of this would have happened if there were no foreign hands," he said. "We will not allow a small minority of people who don't understand to harm Egypt's stability," he said, apparently alluding to the protesters in Tahrir, epicenter of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-27-ML-Egypt/id-01ad8bc6dce0433ba63fad719467c073

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3 arrested US students to head home from Cairo (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? Three American students arrested during a protest in Egypt were released Friday and planned to catch flights out of Cairo to begin their trips home, an attorney and family said.

An Egyptian court had ordered the release of American University in Cairo students Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter a day earlier.

The three were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents the 19-year-old Porter, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said police escorted the students to the airport late Friday local time.

Simon said he and Porter's mother both spoke by phone with the student, who is from the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside, Pa.

"He clearly conveyed to me ... that he was OK," Simon told the AP.

Simon wouldn't immediately discuss his client's travel plans, but Sweeney's mother says the students were expected to fly from Cairo to Frankfurt, Germany.

Joy Sweeney told the AP her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo., would fly from Frankfurt to Washington then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives late Saturday.

"I am ecstatic," Sweeney said Friday. "I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow night. I can't believe he's actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful."

The 21-year-old Gates is a student at Indiana University.

Messages seeking comment after word of the students' release for Gates' parents Friday. They had issued a statement through the school Thursday saying they were "extremely happy" he would be coming home soon.

Joy Sweeney said U.S. Embassy officials had earlier indicated it might be a few more days before the students were released because Egyptian courts typically are closed Fridays and Saturdays.

"But apparently the U.S. Embassy and the powers that be made it happen," she said. "Whoever needed to be there got there and got it done for the boys, and we are eternally grateful."

Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and "he seemed jubilant."

"He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff," she said. "We said, `No, no, don't get your stuff, we just want you here.'"

She said American University will ship his belongings home.

Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.

"I'm getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner," she said Friday.

___

Kozel reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_us/us_egypt_american_students

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