Svea’s Shoes
The Breakfast at St. Andrew’s has a new leader.When she volunteered at the breakfast at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Shannon Chase usually served up pastries and muffins on Wednesdays before dashing off to classes...
Read More2012 November
Chasing Heroes
When Dan Chace was growing up on Ann Arbor’s northwest side, he and his friends would pretend to be Michigan’s All-American running back, Billy Taylor.When Chace was ten years old, Taylor walked into his classroom to...
Read MoreRolling Again
After two years sidelined, I’m rolling again. By happenstance, the day I first ventured outside on my new recumbent Terra Trike was two years to the day I last rode my Specialized Expedition “comfort bike” out...
Read MoreBonita Neighbors
A staffer called in sick, so Bonita Neighbors, blue scrubs and all, starts her day at the Community Dental Center answering the constantly ringing phones. When relief arrives, Neighbors, the clinic’s director, enters her...
Read MoreIn the Works – Fall 2012
A flock of new eateries are planning fall openings. The first, slated to open in mid-November, is Vellum, a modern American restaurant by John Roumanis, owner of Mediterrano and Carlyle Grill, and his son Peter Roumanis.The...
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The Price is Right
Asked how he likes the new Library Lane parking structure, neighbor Herb David replies bluntly: “I don’t. The architecture is great, but I don’t think it’s functional. I haven’t seen people using...
Read MorePhil Power’s Second Act
“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 MoreA funny rhythm
The first time Bill Zolkowski recalls the idea of a beer garden being discussed was in July 2011. Fifteen months later, he and Mark Hodesh announced the grand opening of Bill’s Beer Garden would take place on October...
Read MoreGoodies Produce
Cesar Hervert is a Zingerman’s fan, too.”I love those guys,” says the owner of Tmaz Taqueria and the new Goodies Produce on Packard. “They inspire me to do my business that way.”Hervert could be...
Read MoreLaunching Chelsea Update
Lisa Allmendinger wants to be “the little old lady who knows everybody in town.”In her thirty-two years as a journalist, Lisa Allmendinger reckons she’s “done it all. I started in sports, was the...
Read MoreSaline Solution
The former Steeb Dodge dealership and neighboring gas station just west of Ann Arbor St. were torn down in 2006. When developer Michael Concannon’s planned Village Marketplace + Lofts stalled in the recession, it spent an...
Read MoreGrammar of the Elite
What do the rich and powerful have to say?As a recent incident proved, one way to learn what the elite talk about is to stash a video camera behind a votive candle and a vase of flowers at a $50,000-a-plate political fundraiser....
Read MoreEnglish Test Prep
“I moved to Ann Arbor this summer and now I think I can finally call myself a resident—this is the first month I have spotted the Fake Ad!” wrote Kristin Labby. “It’s for English Test Prep on page...
Read MoreFlame of Wisdom
Bob DeBona set off on his bicycle in search of October’s I Spy. “I had almost given up right about the time I rounded the corner from Glen to Ann,” he writes. “It’s … beautiful.”The 2006...
Read MoreBottlenecked!
“I have no authority here at all,” the Rev. Yolanda Whiten announced to the line of voters that snaked throughout the basement of the Ann Arbor Community Center and out the door. “But does anybody here object...
Read MoreReturn of the GOP
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 MoreBlue vs. Red
The Fifty-Second District turned from blue to red two years ago when Republican Mark Ouimet won the state house seat previously held by Democrat Pam Byrnes. Now Gretchen Driskell wants to change its color again.Ouimet, a past...
Read MoreJudging the Judges
The four candidates for two seats on the Twenty-Second Circuit Court are strikingly different in appearance.In one race, there’s incumbent judge Tim Connors with his bolo tie and scuffed cowboy boots versus Wayne County...
Read MoreTwo boards and two millages
Paying for Public ArtOf all the possible city millages discussed in the last few years, from human services to safety services, an arts millage seemed the least likely–until August, that is, when a proposal to put one on...
Read MoreSelling a Millage
Ann Arborites love their downtown library. But do they love it enough to spend $65 million to replace it?Last May, Ann Arbor District Library director Josie Parker and AADL trustees Ed Surovell and Prue Rosenthal invited Ellie...
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