2026 August
Touché, My Friend
One of my favorite things about Theatre Nova is that it will never shy away from an unconventional story. Its latest production, Gracie Gardner’s Athena, is just that: a coming-of-age fencing dramedy that debuted to rapturous reviews off-off-Broadway in 2018.
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A Fourth Attempt at Forever
Carey Crim has written some excellent plays. Unfortunately, Emma’s Wedding(s) is not one of them.
Read MoreFive Below Pops Up in Pittsfield
Oak Valley location opens ahead of Maple Village store closing.
Read MoreThe Last Loaf of the Best Baguette
Jeff Renner retires after forty-six years of baking award-winning bread.
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Juicy Kitchen Rises From the Ashes
It took ten months and about a half million dollars, but Juicy Kitchen owners Aaron and Kelby Ziola have succeeded in reopening the popular breakfast and lunch spot after a fire last September closed it down.
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Faster, Higher, Stranger
High-rises and luxury student apartments are transforming Ann Arbor’s skyline, and the streets and neighborhoods below.
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Scouts Honored
All five of Ann Arbor’s first female BSA Scouts have earned their Eagle rank.
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Ann Arbor’s Reading Challenge
Standardized test scores show that many Ann Arbor–area kids are struggling with reading proficiency. According to results released last year from the 2024–25 Michigan Student Test of Education Progress, only 56 percent of AAPS third-graders met or exceeded proficiency standards in English Language Arts. On a key national study known as the Nation’s Report Card, Michigan was ranked forty-fourth in the U.S. for fourth-grade reading in 2024—dropping eight places since 2019.
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Pomonapalooza Rocks On
In 2022, neighbors Chris Wolff, Shannon Zager, and Dorothy Gotlib decided to throw a party across their three front yards. It seemed like a fun way to reconnect with their neighborhood after the pandemic, and Pomonapalooza was born.
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Barton Dam
It’s remarkable that some of Ann Arbor’s best scenery doubles as hardworking infrastructure.
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Encouraging Health Trends
In its 2025 annual report, released in late April, the Washtenaw County Health Department announced a promising decline in deaths from opioid overdoses, firearms, and suicides in 2024. Firearm deaths continued to drop in 2025, and preliminary data show a similar trend for opioid overdoses and suicides. With all three issues nationally recognized as public health crises, why has Washtenaw County been so successful?
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A Special Election Turns Weird
In an exceedingly rare political maneuver, resigned Ann Arbor school board treasurer Don Wilkerson filed in June to run in the November special election called to fill the seat he vacated.
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Seeking a Check on U-M’s Expansion
In late June, three Democratic state reps—Jason Morgan and Morgan Foreman of Ann Arbor and Jimmie Wilson of Ypsilanti—introduced legislation that would require university officials to follow local zoning requirements and ordinances. This followed U-M’s announcement in May that it would purchase the 140-acre Concordia University campus for $60 million. Because the university has legal autonomy on land purchases, the move did not require local input.
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Liberty Plaza Mural
July’s I Spy “depicts a segment of the Liberty Plaza mural at the corner of E. Liberty and S. Division,” says Ivana Tullett.
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Chasing the Sky Disc
Neither snow nor heat nor holidays stop players from showing up for weekly games organized by HAC Ultimate, which has been meeting regularly for forty years. Extreme cold, though, can be an obstacle. “At ten below zero,” says longtime member John Arkison, a disc that hits the ground “shatters—like porcelain.”
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Scott Beal
“Writing and art are the things that give me joy and give my life color and interest; things that I devote myself toward making and celebrating in so many ways,” says poet and educator Scott Beal. “So now I have a profession that allows that to be the central thing that my profession is built around. That’s really exciting. I like working with young people and getting energy from them, and hopefully giving some back.”
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