The Motor City as Sprocket City?

can see it. The Calgary, Alberta, native is prepping his new business,, to begin cranking out up to 100 bikes per day by the end of this year.

Pashak said it's possible to produce affordable American-made bikes in volume, especially in Detroit, where the equipment and talent exists at costs that are competitive with Asian makers.

"Instead of ordering parts from Taiwan for $6 for a little piece of metal, we're making them for 12 cents apiece," he said. "There are people in Detroit who are really good at making pieces of metal in certain shapes."

Detroit also has an industrial manufacturing edge he believes will bring brand cachet to his product.

Pashak hired four full-time employees to engineer the bike designs and production tools. Three of them, including the foreman, lost their jobs making exhibits for theafter it closed last year.

He's funding the business with earnings from a bar he owns in Vancouver and proceeds from other investments. Pashak expects to invest up to $400,000 to get the bike company rolling.

For now, prototyping is happening in the carriage house of his Boston-Edison neighborhood home.

Pashak aims to have each bike cost about $500. While that's more expensive than the bicycles at retail chain stores, it's cheaper than other American-made bikes and custom bikes that have become popular in the U.S., Pashak said.

Detroit's firstis set for May 6, starting aton Livernois Avenue.

The walks -- held all over the country -- are held in honor of community activist, who worked in Manhattan and Toronto, protecting neighborhoods. The walks are built around the idea that walking a neighborhood is the best way to understand and appreciate it.

No registration is required. The walk begins at 2 p.m. and concludes at, also on Livernois, at 4 p.m. Participants will visit a park, a historic home, a church, a cemetery and other local fixtures.

For details, visit janejacobswalk.org/category/cities/detroit2012

A new history of the Detroit's most famous private club is now on bookstore shelves.

The Enduring Legacy of The Detroit Athletic Club traces the history of the club from the roots of its founding, its famous members and visitors, the efforts to diversify membership and its various renovations and changes over the years as it prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2015.

The book was written by, editor of the DAC News, and, a contributing writer for the club's newsletter.

The 160-page, softcover book, which retails for $19.99, is published by the Charleston, S.C.-based. It can be purchased at the DAC, at, at historypress.net or amazon.com.

Funnyman, anchor of the "Weekend Update" news parody segment on "," is hosting Friday's 20th annual comedy fundraiser to benefit Oak Park-based

The charity's mission is to eliminate hunger by eliminating food waste.

A new presenting sponsor for this year's event is, one of the top comedy websites. The site last year had actordo a video fundraising pitch for the Detroitstatue effort, and then a "RoboCharity for Forgotten Harvest" video with Weller.

The event is at 8 p.m. April 27 at. Tickets are $25, on sale at forgottenharvest.org, dso.org and at the Orchestra Hall box office.

• The Troy office of New Jersey-based insurance providerhas won the company's Platinum Global Branch Performance Award for its top performance in 2011 in the middle-market sector.