Feb 26, 2013 | News |
For the first time since taking office in 2000, mayor John Hieftje faces a skeptical city council. In two successive primaries, Second Ward voters turned out two of his closest allies, Stephen Rapundalo and Tony Derezinski....
Read MoreFeb 20, 2013 | News |
Stenographers–those gals (rarely guys) trained in something called shorthand–were in demand when Manpower, Inc., opened its doors locally fifty years ago. The area’s first temp agency sent them out wearing...
Read MoreFeb 15, 2013 | News |
On devices from smart phones to iPads, touch screens have become ubiquitous in the last five years or so. And that has an Ann Arbor company, Dynics Industrial Computer Solutions, riding a wave of touch-screen mania.”Four...
Read MoreFeb 8, 2013 | News |
Q. The State Theater doesn’t have an elevator, or handrails in the center aisle. Why don’t they have to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act?A. The State Theater is “grandfathered” and has not...
Read MoreFeb 2, 2013 | News |
Ann Arbor’s academics, political progressives, and people of faith talk a lot–just not necessarily to each other. That’s why the Reverend Joe Summers of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation helped organize...
Read MoreJan 28, 2013 | News |
Of the ten years Stephen Postema’s been Ann Arbor’s city attorney, the past one’s been his best yet for big wins in court.The blond-going-gray lawyer hasn’t lost a lawsuit since he got the job. But...
Read MoreJan 26, 2013 | News |
Turning eighty last year, neurologist Sid Gilman proudly displayed all the hallmarks of a distinguished career: An endowed chair at the U-M med school. National acclaim as an expert in Alzheimer’s disease. The...
Read MoreJan 18, 2013 | News |
“It’s all over,” says Allison Dondzila of Cribley Drilling & Champion Water in Dexter. She figures the company finds dangerous levels of arsenic in the water of one out of twenty wells it drills, and it...
Read MoreJan 15, 2013 | News |
The Bird Center of Washtenaw County took in 1,002 injured or orphaned birds last year. Most died or had to be euthanized, 324 recovered and were returned to the wild, and as winter set in, the volunteers were still caring for...
Read MoreJan 8, 2013 | News |
Between 1944 and 1984, the Universal Die Casting factory occupied twelve acres of property on Monroe Street just south of downtown Saline. Built around the former Saline Creamery, it manufactured and electroplated die-cast zinc...
Read MoreJan 3, 2013 | News |
Ann Arbor’s decision to cancel its Christmas tree collection two years ago left a lot of folks unhappy. But as disappointments go, it’s nothing compared to the switch to single-stream recycling.The city rolled out...
Read MoreDec 29, 2012 | News |
Despite a tenacious campaign, Ann Arborites voted not to build a new downtown library. The decline of print media, an increasingly suspicious electorate, and a woman haunted by a dream all played a role. —On election...
Read MoreDec 26, 2012 | News |
It’s a beautiful fall day at Jenny’s Farm Market on the corner of Island Lake and Dexter-Pinckney roads, with sunlight shining on the straw maze outside and streaming through the jars of pickles and preserves...
Read MoreDec 15, 2012 | News |
For years people walking by the Ann Arbor Bus Depot on West Huron shook their heads at its sad state of decay. Out-of-towners often thought it was no longer in use, while many townies assumed that the owner, Bill Martin, was too...
Read MoreDec 8, 2012 | News |
An interactive map on Forbes magazine’s website provides a fascinating picture of American migration over the past five years–including some encouraging trends for Ann Arbor. Clicking on a county will display every...
Read MoreNov 10, 2012 | News |
“The governor grabbed both of us by the arm and said, ‘Tell me what I don’t know.'”That’s John Bebow, president of the Center for Michigan, recalling an encounter he and center founder Phil Power...
Read MoreNov 6, 2012 | News |
Once all this was Republican.For all but fourteen of the seventy years before 2000, Ann Arbor’s mayors were Republicans, and so were its city councils. But Republican Ingrid Sheldon saw the demographic ground shift beneath...
Read More