News

John’s Side Job

Jan 25, 2023 | Business, Community, Featured, Profiles |

To look at John Swider behind the counter at the Goodyear store on W. Stadium, you’d never guess...

An Afternoon with Community Mental Health

Jan 25, 2023 | Featured, Health, News |

It’s a quiet Friday afternoon in January on the fourth floor of the County Annex on N. Fourth Ave....

The End of an Era on South U

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, Marketplace |

The Oct. 31 closure of Ulrich’s Bookstore ended an eighty-eight-year run as a campus-area...

The Plastic Bag Store

Dec 23, 2022 | Culture, Environment, News |

Imagine walking into a space that looks like a modern grocery store—except that everything there...

Question Corner | January 2023

Dec 23, 2022 | Community, Education |

Q. What is the background to the memorial for Edward Lorraine Walter in the U-M Grad Library? The inscription on the stained-glass window reads “Lost at Sea.” A. Walter was a U-M professor of languages, born in Litchfield,...

Makeover

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, News, Real Estate |

Destination Ann Arbor

Dec 23, 2022 | Government, News, Nonprofits |

For twenty-seven years, Kerr’s work was attracting meetings and tourists to Washtenaw County. An...

Cabbie Life

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, Community |

Years ago, while driving for Checker in Detroit, he dropped off a passenger at the downtown...

Trial by Fire

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, News |

It wasn’t to be. Kim is co-owner with her husband Kurt of Ann Arbor Muffler Brakes and Shocks on...

Back to the Farm

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, Featured, Marketplace |

While farm-to-table has become an important movement in restaurants, Tonya and Rich Lockwood are...

(Bed Bath &) Beyond a Praying Mantis

Dec 23, 2022 | Environment, Featured |

Part One. I needed some things at home, and thought that Bed Bath & Beyond could solve all my...

The Metamorphosis of 212 S. State

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, Culture, Featured, News |

A year ago, 212 S. State was a vacant lot. Hidden away behind Sava’s restaurant, it was accessible...

Playing the Academic Game

Dec 23, 2022 | Culture, Education |

Playing the academic game: The life of an academic can be difficult. There’s the challenge of...

Robots Roll at Palm Palace

Dec 23, 2022 | Business, Dine, Marketplace |

Plagued by post-pandemic staffing shortages, Palm Palace has found an oddball solution that might...

Doing the Drop

Nov 22, 2022 | My Town, Sports |

As the Observer went to press, the U-M football program looked well positioned in its perennial...

Basketball prospects

Nov 22, 2022 | Sports |

After struggling through a 19–15 season, Juwan Howard’s U-M men’s basketball team pulled it...

Boards and Judges

Nov 22, 2022 | Education, Government, News, Nonprofits |

After sorting through thirteen candidates, voters last month returned twenty-year vet Susan...

Question Corner | December 2022

Nov 22, 2022 | Environment, Government |

Q. What will the City of Ann Arbor do if the “Gelman Plume” contaminates Barton Pond? Is there an alternative source of water? A. This fiscal year the city will install two “sentinel wells” to watch for the plume approaching...