Big City’s Big Break
Scott Newell, owner of Big City Small World Bakery, is in an enviable position for a small business owner: he’s his own landlord. In 2014, he purchased the quirky orange building–the only one in town with a...
Read More2016 October
A Supper Club at State and Huron
Boutique hotels and B & B’s are the fashion of the moment, but when it comes to billeting symphony orchestras or hosting conferences, it takes a large, full-service hotel. There’s only one on campus: the...
Read MoreThe Mark Lavengood Bluegrass Bonanza!
Mark Lavengood, born in Grand Rapids, is an ebullient man who dispenses hugs freely–his bandmates call him Huggy Bear. The exclamation point that accompanies his band’s name seems essential once you’ve heard...
Read MoreNagomi Sushi Downtown
Three friends are catching up on one another’s complicated lives over a rare, and twice-rescheduled, dinner out. In the middle of lively conversation, one laughing listener starts pushing glasses away from the center of...
Read MoreKiwanians’ Choice
The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor voted in September to authorize the sale of its downtown Activity Center. The onetime grocery warehouse at the corner of First and Washington has been the organizational hub of the Ann Arbor chapter...
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Mark Morris Dance Group
Lord Byron once called Layla and Majnun the “Romeo and Juliet of the East.” Based on a real-life Arabic poet who was said to have lost his mind over his cousin, the story has had as many lives as a cat. Most famous...
Read MoreEarly Voting
The doors to the city clerk’s office are closed on Fridays this month to give city clerk Jackie Beaudry and her staff time to prepare for the November 8 presidential election. On the job since 2005, Beaudry expects a huge...
Read MoreSilly Stones
When did the small stones with the wide, acrylic-painted eyes first start appearing around the Kerrytown district? No one is quite sure–locals we talked to guessed anywhere from the summer of 2015 to this past summer. But...
Read MoreThe Films of John Hughes
Besides Rubik’s Cubes, Michael Jackson, and Max Headroom, few elements of pop culture are more stereotypically ’80s than the movies of John Hughes. From the hairstyles to the wardrobes to the pumping synth-driven...
Read MoreBirders in Paradise
Local nature lovers are rejoicing over the new 1,122-acre state park. The Watkins Lake State Park & County Preserve is about thirteen miles south of Chelsea and five miles west of Manchester, straddling Washtenaw and...
Read MoreBeatlemania on Campus
That was in the early 1980s, and at the time, the Fab Four weren’t considered worthy subjects for scholarship. So Everett did a more traditional dissertation on Franz Schubert. Sticking to the academic canon paid...
Read MoreCore Strength
Saline is enjoying a spurt in residential development that soon will add about another 120 condos and single-family homes within a mile of downtown. “This much development within close proximity to downtown is certainly...
Read MoreEast of the River
East of the River was founded by recorder virtuosi Nina Stern and Daphna Mor, who met while performing J.S. Bach’s delicately scored Fourth Brandenburg Concerto. They soon discovered a mutual interest in Middle Eastern...
Read MoreCenter Stage
It is with a heavy heart that DCP must cancel our fall production, Little Shop of Horrors. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Copeland Auditorium is no longer available for use. Dexter Community Schools has unexpectedly rescinded...
Read MoreThe Empty Field at Maiden Lane and Broadway
“This rolling prairie is the site for Strathmore Development’s Broadway Village,” writes Bob Gillett about September’s feature. Or, as Silvia Ruiz puts it, it’s “the empty field at Maiden Lane...
Read MoreWashtenaw County Allergy Specialists
We received 121 entries correctly identifying last month’s Fake Ad, including this one from Linda Bankauskas: “I found the Fake Ad for Washtenaw County Allergy Specialists on page 93 of the September issue. I thought...
Read MoreChina Mieville
“Beauty will be CONVULSIVE or it will not be,” wrote Andre Breton, the surrealist who tried to impose some kind of system on the movement that wanted to liberate our dreams and our demons. China Mieville has been...
Read MoreKerrytown Neighbors Turn the Corner
“It’s daunting, moving from my ‘home’ that feels like a sweet cottage” into a traditional retail storefront, says Vicki Honeyman, owner of the gift shop/gallery Heavenly Metal. She’s also the...
Read MoreFour More Years?
While state and national elections occur every two and four years, half of city council is up for election every year. In practice this means voter turnout in odd-numbered years, with only local races on the ballot, is much...
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