When philanthropist Joe Fitzsimmons sought some big donors to join the United Way’s Tocqueville Society a few years ago, he approached venture capitalist Rick Snyder.Snyder had already helped birth the economic development...
Read MoreA new study from University of Utah psychologists found a small group of people with an extraordinary ability to multitask: Unlike 97.5 percent of those studied, they can safely drive while chatting on a cell phone.University of...
Read MoreIndia Cafe opened in March in the back of the Foods of India grocery store on Broadway, tucked away behind a big wall of Bollywood DVDs.When Sapan Goel opened Foods of India thirteen years ago, he installed a small kitchen in...
Read More“It is difficult to get the news from poems,” William Carlos Williams wrote, rather famously. Still, there are many experiences and parts of the world I know, however inexactly, only from learning about them in...
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Ever wonder what happens to all those neglected articles of clothing left at the cleaners? Harold Kim, owner of Armen Cleaners, estimates that fifteen to twenty pieces go unclaimed each year between his three locations. Although...
Read MoreLet us be the first to report the true spelling of Eve Aronoff’s new Cuban-inspired restaurant, Frita Batidos, which is due to open around July 1 in the former Cafe du Jour. Her Facebook announcement gave the name as...
Read MoreIf you want to hear all 270 of Bach’s compositions for organ–played on instruments that Bach himself used–they’re just a few clicks away at www.blockmrecords.org/bach. Downloads are free, and there have...
Read MoreLa Shish and I go back a long way–to the 1980s, when it was a single Dearborn lunch counter. After moving to Ann Arbor in ’93, I often trekked to the growing chain’s outlets in Canton or Livonia, frequently...
Read MoreWhenever Chris Frey is ready to brew, he fills thirteen five-gallon jugs with water in Detroit and hauls them back to his home in Saline. “Gretchen [Driskell], our mayor, would not be pleased to hear me say this,” he...
Read MoreQ: What is the story behind the brick and wood structure on the south side of Broadway (at Swift) that has been inactive for decades? The location is so good, why hasn’t it been developed?A. Opened in 1969 as an Italian...
Read MoreWhen you think of Ann Arbor’s music scene, classic jazz bands might not be the first thing to come to mind. But by any measure we’d have to rank as some kind of stronghold. You can hear jazz in styles ranging from...
Read MoreWhen a large sign appeared in the front window of the original, now vacant Big George’s on West Stadium announcing the entire building was for sale or lease, we wondered how that would affect the Wolverine Brewing Company....
Read MoreOn November 2, 1869, the famed Hutchinson Family Singers appeared at Dexter’s Costello Hall. Known for their four-part harmonies and social activism, the Hutchinsons presented comic, dramatic, and sentimental...
Read MoreWhen the armored truck broke down in Virginia, Brian Banks was relieved. Banks, an academic advisor at the U-M School of Art and Design, is the local coordinator for the Fundred Dollar Bill Project. Merging art and advocacy,...
Read MoreThey say you can’t judge a book by its cover. What about when a book has no cover, or does not resemble a book at all? This is just one of the questions posed by the exhibit Open Book: An International Survey of...
Read MoreFor about a year, a note affixed to the pay phone in the downtown library explained that the phone was not working and that the staff was “aware of the situation.” Now the note is gone–along with the...
Read MoreKate Long won’t plant the first seeds at her new Deer Tracks Farm in Ann Arbor Township till next year. But she’s already got a gaggle of potential customers for her organic vegetables–as well as volunteer...
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