“I was very open in 2012 about why I ran for another term,” says John Hieftje the day after the November election confirmed Christopher Taylor will succeed him as mayor. “I wanted to make sure the city got...
Read MoreLooking back, it had the simplicity of Grover’s Corners in Our Town. Not that Grandma and Grandpa Mann lived on the typical square block. No, think isosceles triangle–or a piece of cheesecake, a small, narrow...
Read MoreOn the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the guns on the western front of the Great War fell silent, ending four of the bloodiest years in the history of the world.The war demolished empires and...
Read MoreOn a bright and brisk Sunday afternoon in mid-October, Paul Bishop of the Dexter Area Historical Society did what a lot of people watching from the lawn of Gordon Hall would probably love to do for their own homes: he set fire...
Read MoreDeb Ellison lives on 240 acres near Manchester, with a view of the River Raisin. But she’s concerned that her waterfront idyll is threatened. At the end of June, Ellison received a notice in the mail from ET Rover...
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Ann Arbor elects a mayor every two years. But because local voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, the only election that usually matters is the August primary. Mayor John Hieftje won the last four general elections with at least...
Read MoreNear the end of the November 4 ballot, far below the hotly contested races for governor and the U.S. Senate, is another contest: with, arguably, even greater impact on Ann Arbor–two Democrats and two Republicans are...
Read MoreThe meeting in July was amazing enough: all four mayoral candidates in the August Democratic primary faced 500 homeless people and their advocates at Genesis of Ann Arbor, the interfaith partnership between St. Clare of Assisi...
Read MoreAnn Arborites cavorting in the Argo Cascades, or communing with nature out by the rapids at Delhi, may not realize that these wonderful spots are actually relics of industrial sites created by the region’s first European...
Read MoreWith its rows of golden corn and deep green soybeans leading to a big red barn, Bur Oaks Farm in Webster Township is a picture-perfect farm.”Crops this year are generally excellent,” emails Tom Bloomer, who bought...
Read MoreRecently I was given a copy of the official program of the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. I worked the event for John Sinclair’s Rainbow People’s Party.As I was leafing through the program, something jumped...
Read MoreKirk Westphal was puzzled. In October 2013, he got a mass email from Chuck Gelman inviting people to “attend the democratic [party] meeting and support jane lumm or the candidate of your choice. this [meeting] is an...
Read MoreIf the words polar vortex still strike fear in your heart, just think what they do to Holly Balansag. Balansag is the winemaker at Sandhill Crane Vineyards, about twenty minutes west of Chelsea. As we approach the harvest season...
Read MoreMichigan football is in the throes of a three-year slide, with last year’s outcome mirroring Rich Rodriguez’s 2010 swan song. In Rich Rod’s third year the Wolverines won seven regular-season games, then lost...
Read MoreAnne Irvine doesn’t step into a roller coaster–she leaps. She grabs the handle and swings her legs into the car like a vaulting gymnast. “Woo-hoo!” she shouts as she lands in the backseat of the...
Read MoreIn June, Maryam Barrie addressed the trustees of Washtenaw Community College. The president of the school’s faculty union announced that the union had filed a complaint with the college’s accreditation agency,...
Read MoreIn May, Erin Sabo, executive director of the Performance Network Theatre, arrived at a meeting of the theater’s board of directors. They wanted an accounting: what does PNT owe? Sabo’s response wasn’t...
Read MoreThe August 5 Democratic mayoral primary marks the end of one era and the start of another.After an unprecedented seven terms, John Hieftje is retiring undefeated. Since 2000, he has faced ten opponents in primary and general...
Read MoreThe drama of who’s running for city council began in March when Bob Dascola went to federal court to get a place on the ballot and climaxed in June when Dascola won his case and Leon Bryson abruptly ended his campaign.That...
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