Martin Contreras and Keith Orr
Over coffee one morning last October, Martin Contreras, fifty-four, and Keith Orr, fifty-six, discussed whether they should get married that day. “Let’s do it,” urged Contreras. They had been a couple for...
Read MoreOver coffee one morning last October, Martin Contreras, fifty-four, and Keith Orr, fifty-six, discussed whether they should get married that day. “Let’s do it,” urged Contreras. They had been a couple for...
Read MoreJosh Greenberg has just landed in Uganda. It’s the summer after his sophomore year at Duke, where he founded a nonprofit called the Progressive Health Partnership. He’s raised the money to start a small medical...
Read MoreThey’ve created a line of raw energy bars, established a small farm, and revived the “Yellow Barn” community arts venue. But Evan Dayringer, thirty-two, and Britten Stringwell, thirty, agree that their latest...
Read More“Believe it or not, I had already planned my life for the next twenty years once I hit eighteen,” Anistia Thomas says. The “plan” sounds like a combination of teenage pipe dreams: design fashion for...
Read More“What’s the game here?” U-M prof Susan Murphy asks as she projects strings of equations and approximations in a crowded classroom in the Dennison Building. Students in this advanced U-M statistics class write...
Read MoreStanding on a footbridge next to Argo Dam, Laura Rubin likes what she sees: a group carries inner tubes toward the new Argo Cascades, bikers and runners whiz by, a couple of paddleboarders balance clumsily on the pond, a few...
Read MoreDan Saferstein knows how important sports are to a lot of Ann Arbor kids–and to their families. “In this city, parents have high expectations,” he says. “College [athletic] scholarships become kind of a...
Read MoreSitting down at Sweetwaters with Michelle Krell Kydd, I ask, “What exactly can you smell right now?” “The generic smell of a coffeehouse,” she replies. “I can smell cake. I can smell something...
Read MoreYou must “build right angles,” Kiki Markovits instructs in a heavy Austrian accent as she points at her perfectly positioned chin and neck. A petite woman dressed in a stylish cotton top, black leggings, and...
Read More“Man, it was hard,” says Grant Grimard, nineteen. The former Pioneer High basketball captain broke with the pack after graduation in 2011: Instead of college, he joined the nonprofit City Year program, where he...
Read MoreA toddler is on the loose in Bernie and Marvel Mayotte’s family room, weaving in and out among the toys and books that dot the floor, climbing up and down on couches, and pointing around the room. Bernie, age...
Read MoreNine-year-old Alden Rohwer loves to sing. “He sings all day long, on car trips—everywhere!” says his mother, Aileen. She says since joining the Boychoir of Ann Arbor about a year ago, Alden’s been inspired not...
Read MoreIt’s with a feeling of awe and gratefulness that I’m looking at my first prairie dock, a tall wildflower that could pass for a sunflower’s skinny sibling. Prior to this, I had only encountered prairie dock...
Read MoreIt’s been said that getting sober is easy; staying sober is the hard part. Dawn Farm and the Home of New Vision (see Substance Abuse Support Groups) offer their newly sober clients a way to increase their odds for...
Read MoreIt’s no surprise that Michigan ranks third nationally in the number of disc golf courses. Compared to conventional courses, disc golf—where players toss Frisbees and other flying discs into basket-like goals—is easy on...
Read MoreBemoaning the decline of the city’s live music scene has been a favorite pastime for music-loving Ann Arborites for at least a generation, going back to the demise of legendary nightspots like Joe’s Star Lounge, Mr....
Read MoreThe 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 MoreThe 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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