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Low Expectations

Last year’s hiring of Rich Rodriguez triggered a sort of hysteria among Michigan football fans. The change from the forty-year reign of Bo Schembechler and his heirs to a new regime with no ties to Wolverine tradition...

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Ann Arbor’s Newest Stage

“I Spy answer: the corner of the Arthur Miller Theatre 1226 Murfin Dr.,” emailed U-M theater professor Christianne Myers, identifying August’s image. Barbara Bushkuhl, who drives by the theater frequently,...

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Caring for Nature

Jason Frenzel believes there’s a naturalist in each of us just waiting to come out. As the volunteer and outreach coordinator for the city’s Natural Area Preservation (NAP) program—which aims to protect and restore...

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Worshiping in the Woods

The procession in the Botsford Recreation- al Preserve in Scio Township reminds me of fifth-grade school hikes. But instead of youthful explorers on a field trip, the partici- pants in this summer solstice celebration are mostly...

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Hoopla

It’s a Saturday morning in the Ann Arbor YMCA gym, and the basketball courts are filled—but not with sweaty guys playing a pickup game. On this day, females from age seven to their seventies are playing in the Y’s...

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Sharing in the Harvest

The corrugated cardboard boxes, heavily coated in wax and a dusting of dirt, look a bit tired and well used. Yet to the crowd gathering behind the Farmers’ Market stall, their highly anticipated appearance in late May or...

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Treating addiction and pain

Pain. A typical dictionary definition is “an unpleasant sensation.” But “Samantha,” who lived with chronic pain for eighteen years, has her own definition.”It was like a sumo wrestler was sitting on...

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Go WWOOFing!

Clonlara high school grad Stef Weyand says the day her partner Aaron Jones got laid off “was a wonderful day for all of us!” Weyand, Jones, and their toddler, Quinn Xavier Zappa Jones, will soon leave their...

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History: Calvin Fillmore

In July 1873, a family reunion in Scio Township merited coverage in the New York Times. That’s because former president Millard Fillmore attended the gathering at the farmhouse on Dexter-Ann Arbor Road where his brother...

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Pole de Leon

Lisa Welch stares herself down in the mirror. Hips out, head back, her knee-high leather platforms clicking on the hardwood floor to a musical beat, she sensually exaggerates her walk toward the floor-to-ceiling steel pole....

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The New Frugality

“The truly high-end people are cutting back,” says jeweler David Lewis. At Two Wheel Tango, customers are forgoing expensive bikes–and buying new inner tubes and getting repairs, which are up markedly.So it...

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Fewer Fireflies?

“Suddenly, they’re not there,” says Scio Township resident Eleanor Lord.When Lord and her husband, Tony, immigrated to the United States four years ago, they were delighted by the nightly display of fireflies,...

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Crossing the Bridge

Elaine Kuperman identifies July’s feature as “my favorite place–Gallup Park.” Specifically, “the bridge spanning the Huron River at the east end of Gallup Pond,” adds Phyllis Valentine....

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Yellow Cab Goes Green

One out of every three Yellow Cabs in Ann Arbor is now a Toyota Prius.Dave Reid bought his first hybrid cab in June 2008, when gas prices were around $4 a gallon. Reid, the president of Yellow Cab’s parent company,...

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Life in New Swabia

In 1834, German journalist Karl Neidhard visited farms in western Washtenaw County. He described two starkly different cultures existing side by side.On one side were the “Americans,” mainly people of English...

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New Twists on Triathlons

Eva Solomon and Karen McKeachie were bored with standard triathlons. So now they run a company, EST Events, dedicated to adding some spice to the three-part swim-bike-run races.The two veteran athletes are hosting...

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Trail of Memory

Thanks to a nature-minded family, a new walking trail circles what was once a millpond north of Geddes Road. “Dad died a year ago,” says Jeff Post, walking through the construction zone at Parker Mill County Park...

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They Deliver

“About the only distinctive feature of the Federal Building on East Liberty is the projected geometry of the brick elevation on Fourth Ave.,” writes Alice Ralph, identifying June’s I Spy subject. “The...

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Full of Heart

A red quilted heart hangs in the bay window of the home on South East Street in downtown Chelsea. Another decorative heart is near the front door. Behind the door is the headquarters of Nancy Harris’s unique gleaner...

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Rabbit Rescue

“Most people in our country would agree that you don’t go to a shelter and eat cats and dogs.”That’s how Amie Brockman, an animal caretaker at the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary, reacts when asked about a...

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