Lynch Law on Huron St.
This 1931 Ann Arbor lynch mob photo –“iconic,” if ever there was an “iconic” photo of an Ann Arbor historical event–has suddenly turned up for sale on eBay, posted on a “Buy it...
Read More2017 January
Super Pair
“We are a mystery to a lot of people,” admits Bryant-Pattengill parent Ariel Hurwitz-Greene. Her eight-year-old son Nathaniel has attended Bryant, off Stone School Rd. south of Packard, since kindergarten; next year...
Read MoreMiracle Drugs
At the June meeting of the University of Michigan regents, U-M Health System president Dave Spahlinger projected a $129 million surplus for the 2016 fiscal year. With annual revenues of more than $3 billion and roughly 16,000...
Read MoreWestgate Loses Avenue Plus
By February 1, Westgate Shopping Center will be minus Avenue Plus. Right after Thanksgiving it hung tempting “40% off” closeout signs in the windows, and most women who were drawn in by them seemed to be heading...
Read MoreNicki Wilson and Christy Jones Retire from Retail
“I’ll move into an office somewhere and continue to do interior design, lighting design, and custom-made invitations,” says Nicki Wilson, whose iT Boutique made a brave move to Main St. a couple of years ago...
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Exit Interview
Sabra Briere meets a reporter at the downtown Sweetwaters. Two people at the next table stand to give her hugs when she comes in and hug her again when they leave, with accompanying “I love you”s. “People here...
Read MoreMy Girlfriend Beru
The name of the U-M student band My Girlfriend Beru “comes from a really unnecessary scene” in a Star Wars movie, says Daniel Rothenberg, a senior majoring in earth science. It’s so obscure that if you Google...
Read MoreiDrink’s Bubbly DrinkMate
Douglas Wang, CEO of iDrink Products Inc., can’t turn water into wine, but he can turn wine into champagne (though not Champagne, a protected designation of origin). For that matter, he can turn any liquid into a bubbly...
Read MoreCo-op in Turmoil
“I have been vilified!” People’s Food Co-op manager Lesley Perkins announced to an Observer reporter outside the store in December. A day earlier, she had emailed PFC staff that she was resigning because of the...
Read MoreThe Kouzas Shake Up Their Block
Siris Brew BBQ and Cigars next to Vedge Cafe on the 200 block of North Main has had a long gestation but really will open this winter, promises Geoff Schwartz, marketing manager of Kosch Dining Solutions.Siris–pronounced...
Read MoreTropical Smoothies on the East Side
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is the latest food option to hit the congested stretch of Washtenaw that runs from Huron Pkwy. to Arborland. The openings and closings here can often be read as reflections of mass cultural shifts, as...
Read MoreDeer Cull 2.0
In November, city council approved a second winter deer cull by a vote of 9–2. As it did last year, the city will hire sharpshooters to kill up to 100 deer in closed city parks. But instead of two months, city CFO Tom Crawford...
Read MoreMeredith Monk
With her latest performance work, Meredith Monk says she sought to create “space for imagination and a fluid, perceptual field that could expand awareness of what we are in danger of losing.” What resulted is On...
Read MoreA Makeover for babo
Babo on E. Washington at N. Division closed for three weeks this fall; the windows were papered over, and cryptic signs touted a makeover in the works. What a makeover it was: formerly a mini-grocery and prepared food bar, babo...
Read MoreRipple Effect
In December, people who normally swim at the Ann Arbor Y were unexpectedly plunged into unfamiliar waters at the city’s Mack Indoor Pool and the county’s Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center–all because of a...
Read MoreAthleisure at Lole
“I’m a gym rat. I want to work in this type of store because I live in activewear,” says Alex Reymann, manager of Lole in Arbor Hills Shopping Center. Women’s wardrobes in recent years have been redefined...
Read MoreDom Flemons
It all started at an unheralded event called the Black Banjo Gathering, held in 2005 at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. That four-day conclave of young African American musicians explored the African and...
Read MoreCollage Concert
Hill Auditorium’s stage gets a hefty annual workout with the aptly named Collage Concert by the U-M School of Music, Theatre, & Dance. For thirty-nine years this student showcase has been riveting audiences with a...
Read MoreSoftware Blues
Human resource information system (HRIS) companies promise the sun, the moon, and the stars. But they sometimes deliver an asteroid–and Ann Arbor’s been hit twice. When the City of Ann Arbor switched to Ultimate...
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