- Community
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Sign of the Times
Ann Arbor’s pioneering queer politicians return for an overdue commemoration.
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Ballet & Books
When Talia Bailes was eighteen, she took a gap year before beginning college, heading to a small Amazonian town in rural Ecuador.
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T.D. Usdull, CPAS
Fake Ad Update | October 2025
- News
Target: Public Broadcasting
In late July, President Trump clawed back more than $1 billion of approved funding for public broadcasting, including $24 million from Michigan stations.
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What $12.5 Million Buys
The late Lou Ferris’s Superior Twp. estate includes a 15,000-square-foot mansion and a working farm.
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Enrollment Threat
The Trump administration is targeting college students from other countries—and hitting the U-M.
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Hometown Clickbait
Joan’s “Ann Arbor” shop has clones around the country.
Since 1976
The Ann Arbor Observer has been putting readers in touch with our town. Packed with concise and insightful news of people, politics, education, shopping, dining, and entertainment, our newsprint magazine has a monthly circulation of 53,000.
Business
Latest
Follow the Oil
What happens to the cooking oil that deep fries your favorite foods?
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The Meaning of the $3,100 Campus Studio
More high-rises and dorms are in the pipeline, but the student housing boom may finally have peaked.
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The Rise of Busch’s
It’s grown from two country stores to sixteen supermarkets. Whole Foods veteran Bobby Turner will write the next chapter.
Marketplace
LatestKing’s Keyboard House Takes a Bow
October 2025 Marketplace Closings
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From Coffee to Gifts
Noteworthy Wants and Wonders takes Bitty & Beau’s spot.
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Two More ‘Shroom Shops
Underground Society, Mushees, and Stemology keep things groovy.
Culture
Latest
The Mighty Fitz
John U. Bacon researched and wrote each of his four best-selling books on Michigan football in less than a year. Telling the stories of the Edmund Fitzgerald and its twenty-nine crew members took almost four.
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Theatre NOVA
An innovative company faces an uncertain time.
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The Play’s the Thing
Acting out (in the community)
News
Football Rebound
Last year, Michigan football had nowhere to go but down.
Ann Arbor Observer City Guides
Guide to Ann Arbor shopping, dining, senior services, health care, and schools. Mailed free to Ann Arbor residents, with a bonus circulation of 500 for retail, real estate offices, and U-M.