Scouts Honored
All five of Ann Arbor’s first female BSA Scouts have earned their Eagle rank.
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Community
Pomonapalooza Rocks On
In 2022, neighbors Chris Wolff, Shannon Zager, and Dorothy Gotlib decided to throw a party across their three front yards. It seemed like a fun way to reconnect with their neighborhood after the pandemic, and Pomonapalooza was born.
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Scott Beal
“Writing and art are the things that give me joy and give my life color and interest; things that I devote myself toward making and celebrating in so many ways,” says poet and educator Scott Beal. “So now I have a profession that allows that to be the central thing that my profession is built around. That’s really exciting. I like working with young people and getting energy from them, and hopefully giving some back.”
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Chasing the Sky Disc
Neither snow nor heat nor holidays stop players from showing up for weekly games organized by HAC Ultimate, which has been meeting regularly for forty years. Extreme cold, though, can be an obstacle. “At ten below zero,” says longtime member John Arkison, a disc that hits the ground “shatters—like porcelain.”
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All Rise for a Notoriously Tough Boss
On the anniversary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s August 1993 Supreme Court appointment, we share stories from four Ann Arborites who clerked for the legendary judge.
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Fifty Years of Observing Ann Arbor
When we were reflecting on how to report on our fiftieth anniversary, we decided to turn the mirror to our audience, and ask how the Observer has impacted them beyond staying up on what’s happening in our corner of the world. We were delighted to hear not just from readers, but also advertisers, former employees, and past and present contributors. It was a powerful reminder of how tightly the Observer is knit into this community. Here now are some of the stories they shared. Some are surprising, some are funny, some gave us goosebumps, and you might want to get the tissues, just in case.
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Patricia M. Garcia
Patricia Garcia was born in Grand Rapids, the second of three daughters, and the family later moved to Lansing and Kalamazoo to follow her father’s career. A World War II Navy veteran who served on the USS Howorth, he worked as a barber when Garcia was young, and her mother stayed home. She recalls visiting his shop on her days off of school: “We’d play checkers with my dad and spin in his chair, and he’d cut our bangs.”
Read MoreLetter to the Editor: EV Rebates
The city’s plan to spend $500,000 to give qualified residents about $4,000 to $7,500 to buy a new or used EV shows poor judgement at the very least.
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A Century in Ann Arbor
“I love Ann Arbor for its ability to move forward with an open heart,” says Margaret Laird. “That’s what Ann Arbor is.”
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A People’s History of Art Fair Bingo
Like many beloved cultural institutions, Art Fair inspires a mix of appreciation, vigilance, irritation, dread, and anticipation from those lucky enough to have experienced it. Certain things have a tendency to repeat. Patterns emerge. So naturally, the event lends itself well to that storied pattern-noticing game, bingo.
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Walkable, but Inaccessible
Does A2 Summer Streets shut out people with disabilities?
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Naturalist Shawn Severance
Shawn Severance’s path to becoming a naturalist was winding, not strategic, but nevertheless seems meant to be because of all the skills she developed along the way. After earning a degree in animal physiology at MSU, she moved to Ann Arbor in 1994 to study developmental neurobiology at U-M. She earned a second master’s degree in landscape architecture, leading to years of work in green building, teaching, and campus planning at WCC before joining the parks commission.
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Arrivals, Departures, and Pancakes
Ann Arbor’s airport is a hub for more than just flights.
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Educator and Human-Rights Champion
Kathy Kosobud, a longtime Ann Arbor resident and educator, received the David McMahon Human Rights Award from the Michigan Education Association in April. The award honors moral and ethical leadership in the fields of human and civil rights.
Read MoreQuestion Corner | June 2026
The demolition and clearing of three major buildings (a motel, an office building, and another building used by a church congregation and others) south of the intersection of Stadium Blvd. and Washtenaw Ave. [next to the plaza that houses Trader Joe’s and other businesses] were completed many months ago. But the large signs of the former occupants still are in place. Why?
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Author Camille Pagán
Camille Pagán’s novels regularly reach bestseller lists, her work has appeared in national publications, and her career gives her a reason to travel. But she’s happiest in Ann Arbor, where her life is structured around school schedules, familiar streets, and the dependable calm of a Midwest town.
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Dorro and Goliath
U-M alum Rachael Merritt and her team hope to offer an alternative to Amazon with Dorro.
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Our Intersecting Lives
We present to you five strangers who all either live or work in Ann Arbor. Although they don’t know each other, they’re all connected in the little ways that make a community: frequenting the same spots, walking the same sidewalks, common heritage, similar interests and motivations.
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The Restaurant Kids Are All Right
For many first-generation immigrants, restaurants were about survival, demanding long hours and leaving little room for anything else—something I experienced, our family life structured entirely around the business.
But for these second- and third- generation immigrant restaurant kids of Godaiko, La Piña Loca, and Q Bakehouse, the formula has changed. Though the kinship remains, the experience is evolving.
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All the Lonely People
People experience loneliness when “perceptions of their social relationships don’t match what they would ideally like them to be. Not everyone who feels lonely is truly alone and not everyone who is socially isolated feels lonely,” says University of Michigan social epidemiologist Lindsay Kobayashi. The importance of third places—low-cost or free community spaces like parks, coffee shops, and libraries where people can find connection outside of home (a first place) and work (a second place)—is becoming a more popular topic in public health research.
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