Take that, Starbucks
When the developers of Plymouth Green Crossings decided their office-retail mix should include a coffeehouse, they surveyed people in the area about which one they’d like to see move in. “I think [the developers]...
Read More2009 February
Bicycle Stampede
Or the Boys’ and Girls’ Glee Club of Ann Arbor. Or Candy Death Squad. By any name, they’re a self-described “hard-core” late-night bike-riding group.Weather permitting, they tear through town every...
Read MoreCharlie Louvin
Charlie Louvin was one half of the Louvin Brothers, almost the last in classic country music’s sequence of great brother duets. They came on the scene in the late 1940s with a truculent brand of gospel harmony singing...
Read MoreAct of faith?
With Borders reeling from old debts and falling sales, the bookseller’s board fired CEO George Jones in January. Yet new CEO Ron Marshall not only left his investment firm to take the job, he also promised to buy 200,000...
Read MoreDecember 2008 Crime
Ann Arbor crimes were slightly up in December, 2008 over the previous year, with 63 burglaries (54 in 2007), 7 sexual assaults (5 in 2007), and 19 vehicle thefts (13 in 2007). One number fell slightly: there were 7 robberies in...
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AXIS Coffeehouse
At 6:30, the scheduled starting time for the AXIS Coffeehouse, the only people in the multipurpose room of the Malletts Creek Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library are teen services librarian Sharon Iverson and intern Cherie...
Read MoreDinner at the Melting Pot
The new Melting Pot on Main Street may be the quintessential winter restaurant, a gemütlich gathering place that taps into the primal urge to draw together around a fire when snow falls. There will be no loners here hunkering...
Read MoreDream House
Valerie Laken played a mean second base on the O Team—the Observer’s co-rec softball team—a few years back. I usually played catcher, and I enjoyed chatting with her on the bench or over postgame beers. She had a house on...
Read MoreSnow Patrol
Every time it snows, Ann Arbor community standards supervisor Mike Rankin fields dozens of complaints about unshoveled sidewalks. His small staff then warns the property’s owners that they’re legally required to...
Read MoreMark Olson and Gary Louris
It’s August 1994 and I’m waiting for Johnny Cash to go on stage at Detroit’s State Theater when the opening act’s high-flying harmonies catch my ear. The Jayhawks, one of the great bands of the...
Read MoreGood food on campus
The U-M’s latest restaurant may lack the aged patina of its brethren in the Michigan Union and Michigan League, but it more than makes up for that in wonderful food. The Glass House Cafe opened quietly this past fall in...
Read MoreLuke Bergmann
I like to think that I am more comfortable in Detroit than most Ann Arborites. I know my way around the city and make a point of visiting often. Although I exercise caution occasionally, I haven’t felt much fear in the...
Read MoreMaitelates Chocolates
When transplanted to a new land, even the most adventurous diners will miss the tastes of home—and yearn to rekindle family memories connected to food. Maite Zubía, thirty-one, came to Ann Arbor four years ago from Chile when...
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