2024 September

Youth Movement

Youth Movement

Aug 26, 2024 | , , |

Just before kick-off at the AFC Ann Arbor women’s May 19 soccer match against Kalamazoo FC at Pioneer High School’s Hollway Field, fifteen-year-old Izzy Sutton and two U-M students received formal recognition as female leaders and role models. Sutton, tall and athletic, was a 2023 Washtenaw County Young Citizen of the Year, and has won state and national service awards for her work, which has included raising money for bird and turtle rescue by selling her own line of notecards. Sutton has long called for eliminating single-use plastic water bottles at the Ann Arbor Public Schools, petitioning the school board and administration since fifth grade. Most end up in landfills and as trash in the environment.

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The Band Takes the Field

The Band Takes the Field

Aug 26, 2024 | ,

A new U-M dorm is rising on the Michigan Marching Band’s longtime home at Elbel Field, but director John Pasquale is over-the-moon happy with the new Elbel Field a block away.

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Starting Over

Starting Over

Aug 26, 2024 | , ,

Sherrone Moore, promoted to the top job, is in some ways starting over. He’s got a new staff, a new quarterback, and an entirely new offensive line.

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Proletariat Bourbon

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

We received 130 entries correctly identifying the Fake Ad for Proletariat Bourbon on page 50 of the August Observer. Included among those was this one from Elena Chagnovich: “My dad, an avid bourbon drinker, spotted it from across the kitchen table. At first glance, he thought it was an ad for Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon, since the bottle was the same shape and had an animal on the cork. However, he quickly realized this was a sham!”

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Bentley director Alexis Antracoli

Bentley director Alexis Antracoli

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

Antracoli works nearby in a neat and spacious office. Friendly, direct, and even-toned, the director, forty-eight, does not wear her ambitions on her sleeve, but she’s focused and passionate about her goals. The most important, she says, is “to create a more inclusive collection.”

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Urban-fetti

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

“I spy the Ann Arbor Art Center’s ‘Urban-Fetti’ alley art installation,” writes Alandra Meade. It’s “on the alley wall of the Alley Bar at 112 W. Liberty Street,” adds Eric Sobocinski, and Joe Cialdella notes that it’s behind Pretzel Bell. “This mural literally cascades off the wall to the alley pavement,” says Ginny Weingate, citing the clue. “I like how the mural stretches down to the ground,” says Shannon Kohlitz, “although I wish it could get touched up!” 

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Raymond Detter

Raymond Detter

Aug 26, 2024 | |

July 27, 2024. Raymond Arthur Detter passed away Saturday night in his sleep. His loss has left a broad and complex community without its center. This community was not a city, municipality, political cause, or lifestyle—but it touched all of these things. Ray was the beating heart of a community of his own forging. Through the sheer force of his will and wit, he inspired others to participate and become passionate about a constellation of interests he found important.

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Versile Edwin Fraleigh

Versile Edwin Fraleigh

Aug 26, 2024 | |

Versile Edwin Fraleigh, 96, of Chelsea and Ann Arbor, died on June 23 of natural causes. He was born in Detroit, MI on June 4, 1928 to Norman and Bernice Fraleigh. Versile, “think Universal,” graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit. He remembered taking the streetcar for 5 cents to downtown Detroit for a Vernors ginger ale. 

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Explosion Aftermath

Explosion Aftermath

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

Shortly after 6 a.m. on Feb. 19, residents of the West Side were jolted awake by the sound of an explosion, followed by the wail of fire and police sirens. A small house at 701 S. Seventh St. had blown up.

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The Next State Rep?

The Next State Rep?

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

Morgan Foreman handily won the Democratic nomination to replace Felicia Brabec as representative for Michigan House District 33—and she did it with half as much money as her opponent, Rima Mohammad.

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Mall Ambition

Mall Ambition

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

“Briarwood is now charging a parking fee for premium spaces—20 feet closer to the doors!” a poster wrote on nextdoor.com. “Really? A rip off!” 

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Question Corner | September 2024

Aug 26, 2024 | |

As anyone who has seen Miss Firecracker knows, the government used to hire people to scrape dead animals off the roads. And as anyone who has driven down US-23 lately knows, it doesn’t anymore. When did they stop?

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MDOT Nightmare

MDOT Nightmare

Aug 26, 2024 | |

His Bouma Group, Realtors had listed a very rare commodity: two nearly one-acre house lots at 2751 and 2731 Washtenaw Ave., just east of the Stadium fork. “But getting access to the land was the problem,” he says. “We found out that no buyer wanted to move forward on that property because they didn’t have access to it.”

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“That’s my FJ!!”

“That’s my FJ!!”

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

Russ told Sam and Ray that they shared something rare: both owned a vintage Toyota FJ Cruiser. Furthermore, Russ had just opened his July–August Car and Driver and found the full-page “What to Buy” column at the end, extolling the 2007–2014 FJ Cruiser. 

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Beer and Improv

Beer and Improv

Aug 26, 2024 | |

DeRosa began offering improv classes and performances in February. He’s now ready to open the brewpub, which operates separately from the ticketed shows. Outside the theater room are the taphouse, a front patio with firepit tables and heated seating, a beer garden for yard games and live music, and their food truck kitchen serving what he describes as “upscale carnival food,” including smashburgers, chicken tenders, Belgian frites, and corn dogs.

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Tipping Point

Tipping Point

Aug 26, 2024 | , |

In July, the Michigan Supreme Court restored a 2018 law that raised the state’s minimum wage, expanded sick-leave requirements, and phased out the subminimum wage for workers earning tips.

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