Collectors Corner is closing. The resale shop at 6633 University Avenue has been raising funds for Hadassah, an American Jewish volunteer women's organization founded in 1912 that supports community programs, health initiatives, medical research, emergency relief and refugee settlement worldwide, since 1983. Their last day will be December 15. It seems that difficulties in staffing the shop with volunteers are a big part of the reason for the closure.
Fiscally dubious (I): Subsidizing landlords?
On November 15 the City Council approved the 2023 property-tax levy unanimously, and the 2023 City budget with 7 votes to 1. Kathy Olson (District1) voted against it both at Council and at the Finance Committee meeting earlier that evening because last Thursday, November 10, the Council had reinstated a $150,000 cut to the 2024 ARPA funding (American Rescue Plan Act) for energy efficiency and solar energy in 'naturally occurring affordable housing' (NOAH), a cut that had been agreed upon unanimously by the Finance Committee on November 1 (see Middleton e-View 239 and 241 for details). She criticized that the budget was spending a lot of ARPA money to enrich NOAH landlords when the City should use those funds to take care of maintenance, repair and energy efficiency needs in its own facilities.