Carol Lopez, feisty owner of Peaceable Kingdom, is taking some flack for selling Obama pins and bumper stickers while offering nothing promoting the other guy. But Lopez, who opened her store in the Age of Aquarius (aka 1971),...
Read More“It was freshman year in U.S. history that I got really interested in World War II,” says Dexter High sophomore Andrew Kapanowski. “I thought, ‘Wow!’ … some of these guys are still alive! Why...
Read MoreWe’d driven all the way to downtown Ypsi, and the guys were getting restless. To case this new Red Rock Downtown BBQ joint on Michigan Ave., I’d collared some loyal amateur smokers–not so hardcore that they...
Read MoreScott Lasser’s new novel, Say Nice Things About Detroit, starts with a double homicide and dementia. That makes it sound like an Elmore Leonard novel, and Lasser’s fast-paced narrative and ear for the speech of the...
Read MoreAfter a nearly thirty-year hiatus, the city’s black precision drill team, the French Dukes, is back for at least two scheduled performances this summer at picnics sponsored by organizations associated the city’s...
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With Borders, @burger, Allure, Poshh, Sole Sisters, Squares, Champion House, and Organic Bliss all having closed in the past year, commerce on E. Liberty has lately been looking like a game of Whac-A-Mole.Grand Traverse Pie...
Read MoreDelux Drapery, a seventy-year-old business owned by Steve Blunk, the grandson of the original owner, is leaving its location on S. Main across from the South Main Market, where it’s been for eighteen years, to make room...
Read MorePerhaps you have somewhere in your past an aunt, grandmother, or fifth-grade teacher who would sniff, “That’s a sign of a very limited vocabulary!” whenever they heard a four-letter word. I heard this...
Read More“Developers seek asylum at local church.”If the headline in the News of Ann Arbor website was eye-catching, the lead was eye-popping: “After narrowly escaping a pitchfork-wielding mob yelling ‘We just...
Read MoreOn a rainy Saturday morning, Anne Reinstein’s students arrive at the back door of her home on a quiet cul-de-sac on Ann Arbor’s east side. In her cozy sunroom, four sewing machines await their users. Reinstein,...
Read MoreThe son of an English crime reporter living in Johannesburg, Johnny Clegg traveled into the city’s black townships as a teen and absorbed Zulu music firsthand. Later he studied anthropology and began to think about the...
Read More“If you asked most college students if they know there’s a student-run radio station on campus, they’d say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know we had that!'” acknowledges Ben Yee, the recently retired...
Read More“I emailed Bongz & Thongz and said, ‘If you’re having trouble moving this merchandise, I’m the one who can do it for you,'” says Tanya Brown. Eight months later (mainly because Bongz &...
Read MoreI just watched The Beatles’ 1968 cartoon movie Yellow Submarine again for the first time in forty-four years, and I’m glad I did. Whether or not you’ll feel the same after watching it at the Michigan Theater on...
Read MoreFor many, the highlight of this year’s musical season in Ann Arbor was the University Musical Society’s presentation of Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, the last century’s most radical rethinking of...
Read MoreSometimes even the Fake Ad Czar makes mistakes (pause for gasp). The winner of our little contest in May was Karen Fournier. Somehow, in all the excitement over our new policy of including the previous winner’s name in the...
Read More“It’s the Parkway Center, home to Castle Remedies and various medical and health-related businesses,” writes Elizabeth Woodford about June’s feature. “Better known as the big purple house(s) that...
Read MoreFor two years now, the Bank of Ann Arbor has been gleefully giving competitors the Ann Arbor version of the Bronx cheer. The ads—in both traditional and social media—highlight competitors’ outsider status. Each begins,...
Read MoreThe arrival of a brand new fast food chain restaurant is always a surprise–are there any left we haven’t seen? Actually, two new ones just hit town.On the southeast side of town is Jersey Mike’s, selling that...
Read MoreG.C.I. Fine Jewelers will be closed by the end of June, says a “friend of the family” helping with the closeout sale, who didn’t want to be named. The closing probably isn’t news to anyone driving down...
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