Stadium Blvd. never had horses and buggies travel on it, nor has it ever been much of a pedestrian street. Constructed in 1926, it was a product of the automobile age. Originally named “Boulevard Drive,” it was also...
Read MoreWas Patrick Doyle shocked at the thought of publicly admitting that some people didn’t like Domino’s pizza? “Oh, sure,” the company’s CEO says. “First time around? Absolutely.”But in...
Read MoreDave Munson is used to solving problems. That’s what engineers do. Now, as he approaches retirement after ten years as dean of the U-M College of Engineering, he thinks he has gotten a handle on a very big one. From the...
Read MoreJeanice Swift was the school board’s second choice. On July 28, 2013, the board learned that Brian Osborne, the New Jersey superintendent they’d wanted to hire, had turned them down. Three days later, they offered...
Read MoreFor thirty-four years, our office has looked out on the corner of Main and Huron. Over the years, we have seen some great stuff: Geoffrey Fieger news conferences; post-courtroom screaming matches; cops chasing robbers;...
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In April, longtime Ann Arbor resident Al Newman rode a bike in Providence, Rhode Island. With that ride Newman, seventy, completed his goal of cycling in all fifty states.The achievement is more impressive when you learn that...
Read MoreA patron who thought he was stiffing a server at Holiday’s Restaurant gave her more than he bargained for.”I still remember where he sat,” says Jeanie Gonczy, “and he was just very, very dissatisfied with...
Read MoreKnowing that we’d emptied the kitchen before we left, we stopped for groceries on our way home. We were just back from Cuba, and the overflowing American supermarket was a stark reminder of just how scarce food was there....
Read MoreLike the NCAA men’s champs, Ellsworth has exceeded expectations. The book that he spent nearly twenty years researching and writing–while also being a stay-at-home dad to twin boys, and later, battling...
Read MoreEver been to one of the city’s parks where the ground is blackened and ashy? If so, you’ve seen the aftermath of a prescribed ecological burn, part of the parks’ maintenance and restoration program since...
Read MoreThe Kouza family is getting closer to opening Siris (subtitled Brew, BBQ, and Cigar) at 207 N. Main in the building that most recently housed Sheesh, destroyed by fire in 2011. Rick, Joe, and several other siblings who like to...
Read MoreKevin Sirois bought the small Achatz Handmade Pie Company shop on Plymouth Rd. in February 2015. “We have operated for a year and find the business is far too seasonal to maintain thus we will be closing on Sunday March...
Read MoreQ. At Mary Beth Doyle Park in February, we spotted a big pump that was pumping water into an enormous fabric bag. I think the pump must be moving the water out of the way so that they can re-dig the ponds at the park. But what...
Read MoreTraffic completely clogged downtown Ann Arbor, as RVs chugging in for Michigan’s football spring game mixed with cars full of young people anticipating the next day’s Hash Bash. In the face of gridlock, it seemed a...
Read MoreJun didn’t have to look far for the cause. Working ten- and twelve-hour days, seven days a week, he was constantly exposed to fumes from perchlorethylene.Like most “dry cleaners,” the process Eureka used was...
Read MoreFred Lelcaj is often behind the counter of his newly opened Fred’s, a narrow lunch counter on the block of South U closest to the Diag. “What’s your appetite like right now?” he responds when a customer...
Read MoreThe fifth season of Mark’s Carts should be in full swing by now. Mark Hodesh sold Downtown Home & Garden to Kelly Vore in 2015, but he still owns his namesake collection of food carts and the weather-flexible...
Read More“Are they six-packs? Four-packs? Bombers? What?” Gus Georges, owner of newly opened Big House Liquor, is quizzing a customer who asked if he might consider carrying an obscure kind of beer. He’s happy to:...
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