The West Side in the 1950s
My formative years, from grade school through twelfth grade, were spent in a house my grandfather built on Miner St. I can’t imagine a better place to get started in life.
Read More
Community
The Observer Observed
That’s the title of an exhibit on the second floor of the downtown library. Subtitled “45 Years of Pages from the Ann Arbor Observer,” it covers five large walls with reproductions of 500 pages published in the magazine between 1976 and 2022.
Read More
The Whippoorwill Bar and Grill
“The Fake Ad is on page 42 for the Whippoorwill Bar and Grill,” writes the always reliable David Karl. “Ah yes, who hasn’t been driven to insomnia by the constant nighttime singing of the Whip-poor-will. I know I have. But unlike Thurber’s Mr. Kinstrey, I just took a sleeping pill and called it a night. Much easier, less hassle and mess free.”
Read More
U-M Kellogg Institute Building
“The OG Dentistry building at 299 Fletcher has such beautiful lines in their glasswork,” says Mary Adams.
Read MoreWhy Are There Still “Township Islands” Within the City of Ann Arbor?
Starting more than a century ago, when Ann Arbor built its water and sewer system, owners of property that hadn’t yet been annexed to the city had a choice: accept annexation and connect to city services or keep their own wells and septic systems and stay in their townships.
Read MoreWhy Does The Restroom Want My Phone Number?
Q. I think it is great that the city is providing public restrooms, but when I loaded the app on my phone I wondered why it required personal information and phone location.
Read More
Albert Rosseau’s Land Title Building
“I spy: the Land Title Building at 106 N. Fourth Ave. designed by Albert J. Rousseau,” writes Kate Pasola.
Read MoreA Mini Sales Surge in Barton Hills, a Mini Subdivision on Upland Dr., and a Mini Family Compound on Miner
Mini-sub complete behind Courtyard Shops; ex-U-M provost returns; and Barton Hills sees unusual sales action.
Read More
Mickey’s Heating and Cooling
Last month’s Fake Ad for Mickey’s Heating and Cooling on page 48 of the June Observer elicited 196 correct responses.
Read More
Cancer Gratitude
An Ann Arbor native, Joan Belgrave is a two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. Four years after her husband died, her life took another dramatic turn when a routine biopsy resulted in an especially dangerous diagnosis: “triple-negative” breast cancer.
Read More
Ji Hye Kim
On a pleasant Tuesday night in late April, the dining room at Miss Kim filled up not once, but twice.
Read More
Tally Alley
About once a week, they tape large sheets of paper on either side of “Graffiti Alley” by the Michigan Theater. One says “eye contact” and the other “smiles.” For several hours, they make a mark every time a passerby responds.
Read More
Eric the Great
Eric Parker was a self-described “earth traveler” who lived by his wits and took great pride in his independence as a schizophrenic, unhoused man. He was highly intelligent, a lover of birds and animals, and a solo explorer of Ann Arbor and southern California. His last year of life was spent under the care of the author, his aunt, who deeply misses her firstborn nephew, a complicated, remarkable human.
Read MoreApril 2024 Home Sales
Jim Harbaugh sets another record; the dinnerware collector departs; and the Wall Street Journal says A2 is No. 3—and an anomaly.
Read More
Pocket Listing
You know how sometimes you’re in a group chat and you come up with a really funny comment and you text it to the group and… nothing? No “haha.” No 🤣. Not even the humble :). Just… nothing.
Read More
Louie’s Tale
In early May of 2023, Sarah Stein, general manager of the restaurant Anna’s House, was prepping for the 6 a.m. rush. Her gaze lighted on the pond just beyond the patio. A mother duck glided serenely across its surface, followed by eleven adorable ducklings. One of them immediately stood out: unlike his brown or yellow siblings, his feathers were white.
Read MoreQuestion Corner | June 2024
Q. I love the Hoyt Trail at Parker Mills County Park. However, sometimes the odor from the nearby wastewater treatment plant ruins a visit. Is there a way to know when the odor will be bad?
Read More
Bicentennial Investments
The James L. Crawford Elks Lodge has a commanding presence at the northeast end of Sunset Rd., high on a hill overlooking the Huron River. The substantial brick-and-stone building has been a pillar of Ann Arbor’s Black community for eight decades.
Read More
Symbiosis of the Red Bellied Woodpecker and the Eastern Bluebird
“The birds are from a mural by Jacob Dwyer on the Phoenix West building at 117 N. First St.,” writes Kathy Scott about May’s photo.
Read More
MIFarmLink
Dohner compares MIFarmLink to “a matchmaking service that connects farmland owners and seekers who would otherwise never meet.” According to the Conservation District, land access is the greatest barrier for beginning farmers; meanwhile most farmland owners lack a succession plan. MIFarmLink neatly solves the problem with an online tool that lets owners list their available properties and farmland seekers post their professional profiles.
Read More