The Huron River bisects Ann Arbor with a winding swath of beautiful ponds and flowing water. Its steep bluffs and rich floodplains are protected by a patchwork of parks that comprise more than 1,000 acres of open water, forested...
Read MoreBrandan Montgomery did very well at the public high school he attended in Washtenaw County. Too well for the effort he put into it, he says. He didn’t study, slept through classes, and still received As on tests....
Read MoreSep 1, 2011 | Community |
As an intern in Madison, Wisconsin, Grace Hong lived in a windowless campus apartment without air conditioning. When the native of the Philippines moved to Ann Arbor to enroll in the U-M’s Global MBA program, she says, it...
Read MoreSep 1, 2011 | Community |
Ann Arbor’s Downtown Kiwanis Club has been “getting to give” since holding its first thrift sale in 1927. Over the years, the club has raised more than $5.75 million by collecting donations of used clothing,...
Read MoreAug 31, 2011 | Community |
The sidewalks along Main Street are overflowing again, with restaurant staffers wiping off tabletops and restocking silverware, student types strolling along looking for coffee or something stronger–and some colorful...
Read MoreAug 30, 2011 | Community |
To understand how single stream has changed city recycling, ride on a recycling truck and talk with the man who drives it. Allen Kennedy, Recycle Ann Arbor’s curbside manager, sets up the ride. He tells me he’s...
Read MoreAug 26, 2011 | Community |
Q. What is that odd little building on Miller that abuts the eastern side of the train tracks, right before Knight’s Market? I remember walking past it twenty years ago, and it still looks the same, though a little worse...
Read MoreAug 24, 2011 | Community |
Four years ago, Ralph Pasola bought a standard schnauzer puppy from Ackley Kennels in Northfield Township. He named him Petey. Petey goes everywhere with Ralph–he even follows him into the bathroom in the morning. Ralph...
Read MoreAug 23, 2011 | Community |
Five years ago, Sgt. Demond Johnson was told he could choose either Michigan or California as the next stop in his army career. Sunny San Diego beckoned, but after Johnson finished catching his breath at the cost of homes there,...
Read MoreAug 15, 2011 | Community |
My grandfather adapted easily to change, which may be why he lived to ninety-seven. He defied the usual expectations of age that companies use to rationalize hiring only people with pre-pubescent arteries.Ernest was born in a...
Read MoreAug 6, 2011 | Community |
“Finally one I know!” exclaims Kara Rumsey about July’s I Spy. “I see it every Saturday when I go to the Farmers’ Market.” It’s the “lemonade … hut,” writes Sarah...
Read MoreAug 6, 2011 | Community |
“The Fake Ad this month is on page 58 for the ‘Prenup Clean-Up’ teeth cleaning with Drs. Barbor, Webster, and Seaugh,” emailed Kristen Schleick, underlining “arborweb,” the name of the...
Read MoreJul 26, 2011 | Community |
Q. I’m wondering about the boarded-up house at the corner of Kingsley and First. Why is the house sitting there in that shape? It’s like Detroit.A. The house is in the Allen Creek floodway, which means it can neither...
Read MoreJul 24, 2011 | Community |
The AAUW Book Sale that takes place every September at WCC’s Morris Lawrence Building is one of the largest in the country. The sale, whose proceeds are used mainly for scholarships, grosses about $40,000 over one weekend,...
Read MoreJul 23, 2011 | Community |
Tom Bartlett is the owner of the mystery storefront at 111 S. Fourth Ave., next to the Embassy Hotel. Its window displays an odd black bicycle and the name “Circumference.” Business cards taped to the door give...
Read MoreJul 18, 2011 | Community |
How many people attend the Ann Arbor Art Fair? I googled that question and found “over 500,000 visitors attend the fairs each year” (Wikipedia), “an estimated half-million visitors” ( AnnArbor.com), and...
Read MoreJul 12, 2011 | Community |
“How much are you worth if you die?” U-M economics prof Sherrie Kossoudji asks a class of undergrads at Lorch Hall. “Why do ova cost more than sperm? Is it acceptable to sell your kidney?”Clearly, this is...
Read MoreJul 9, 2011 | Community |
Janice Stevenson, owner of Wackenhut Gartens, says people often guess that her store at Jackson and Lima Center roads was originally a church or a school. A former resident reported that people often knocked at his door thinking...
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