Knight’s Gambit
“I came back from vacation,” recalls Sherry Knight Bedolla, “and they said, ‘You’re moving over there.'””They” are her father, Ray Knight, and her brother Don—founder and manager,...
Read More2009 May
Rose’s Good Company
Community activist Rose Martin is leading a grassroots effort to help ex-prisoners that in many ways parallels Mary King’s. But while King is a paid contractor of a statewide program and must follow certain guidelines,...
Read MoreFamily Feud
Ray Herrick—a master toolmaker and close friend of Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and Thomas Edison—started Hillsdale Machine & Tool Company in 1930. Four years later, it was on the brink of bankruptcy when the town of...
Read MoreWalk signs and candles
Q: Several stoplights seem now to be out of sync with the pedestrian crossing signal. For instance, when you are headed west on William and waiting for the light at Main Street, pedestrians get the white OK-to-cross sign while...
Read MoreMary King’s Mission
“If I were you, I’d get a murderer,” says Mary King, matter-of-factly. “Second degree. The murderers have been there for twenty or thirty years—they come out and have a whole new life.”Women...
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The Death of the News
The trio might have been candidates campaigning as they smiled, shook hands, and spoke to half-empty auditoriums around Ann Arbor in April. Instead, they were publishing executives working for the Newhouse family, and their...
Read MoreThe Glazier Way Parade
I am still in the kitchen making breakfast when the police sirens begin to sound. The children, who have been running in and out of the house all morning, shout, “The parade is here! It’s starting!”Ann...
Read MoreFlowers, food, feet, & more
Gwen Kassa bought the University Flower Shop in Nickels Arcade from longtime owner Dolly Holek in February. Holek, who’s in her early sixties, owned the store for twenty years and she’ll be working there part time...
Read MoreYarn and futon stores close
Liz Zimmerman posted a note at her Flying Sheep Yarns shop saying “I’m sorry to say I have to close the shop. I’ll be here until March 31st at least and I can be reached by email.” But she didn’t...
Read MoreClassics at the City Club
When Ann Arbor City Club dropped “Women’s” from its name in January 2008, management hosted a focus group to learn “what the guys want,” says member Jeff DeBoer. Now they’re getting their top...
Read MoreMillion-dollar Ears
In August 1962 jazz composer-pianist George Russell recorded a forward-looking album, The Outer View, that included a twelve-minute version of “You Are My Sunshine,” a song first recorded in 1939 by the Pine Ridge...
Read MoreEthiopian Hospitality
I think sometimes that what makes America the shining city on a hill is the glow of all the restaurant signs of brave immigrants who’ve come here to redefine their future—and ours. Twenty years ago, the Blue Nile was Ann...
Read MoreA New Home for Four Directions
After fifteen years at 329 South Main, Alan Freedman took Four Directions in a new direction at the end of March—one block north, to 211 South Main. The move’s been in the works for a couple of years, ever since Freedman...
Read MoreMedical Marijuana
On April 6, Renee Wolf was chauffeured to suburban Lansing. At a cyber cafe there, she and others boarded a bus to the Michigan Department of Health. She rolled into the building in her wheelchair, deposited some forms in a box,...
Read MoreRemaking Tradition
Brothers John and James Abrams, joined by their cousin Elijah, come from Kingston, Ontario. All rather adorable teenagers, they started out very young playing bluegrass music, follow-ing three previous generations of musicians...
Read MoreClosings Hit Campus
An eviction notice on the door of Earl of Sandwich, on State Street, pretty much explained everything, but former employee Andrew Schaeferle, on site cleaning up, rounded out the picture. He began with the two words on...
Read MoreStimulating Bridges
Will the feds pay for new bridges on East Stadium Boulevard? Homayoon Pirooz, head of the city’s Public Services Department, sure hopes so. He points out that January’s economic stimulus bill includes “$1.5...
Read MoreQuaffable History
U-M chemistry professor emeritus Daniel Longone curates the current exhibit at the Clements Library. His knowledgeability and elbow-patched blazer are quintessentially professorial—especially surrounded by the Clements’...
Read MoreCampaign, campaign, campaign!
“I made a mistake,” admits Ravi Nigam. “I didn’t campaign.” The lawyer/engineer was widely expected to win a school board seat in this month’s election. His only opponent, grad student Adam...
Read MoreShakeup in 48105
The Green Road post office in northeast Ann Arbor eliminated two delivery routes in March. After an evaluation that included counting every piece of mail handled and every step walked, the thirty-one remaining routes were...
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