Columns

STORIES ABOUT THE misuse of taxpayer money to fund private schools, life-threatening delays in blood testing of newborns and the plight of political asylum seekers won the Livingston Awards today. The $10,000 prizes for journalists under…

by P.D. Lesko YOU PROBABLY DON’T know it, but sitting through a candidate forum in Ann Arbor is like watching paint dry. The same 50-60 people (many of whom are candidates in other races, office holders, political appointees or people…

A walk down the refrigerator aisle today looks a lot different than it would have 50 years ago.  by Lauren Rothman REMEMBER THE DAYS when the standard accompaniment to a moist chocolate chip cookie was a cold, tall glass of milk? That…

by P.D. Lesko TRUSTEES GLENN NELSON and Irene Patalan have said they intend to step down from the Ann Arbor Board of Education. In 2003, they ran as a part of a slate of candidates and have, for a decade, served. In that time, they have…

by Karen McVeigh WALMART WORKERS AND supporters in the trade union movement say they intend to stage a new series of protests over wages and conditions at America’s largest private employer, in which they will target the firm’s…

by Paula Marcoux DISASTER CAN STRIKE even the best-prepared home cooks. In David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber Wilkins saved young Copperfield from no small amount of embarrassment using quick thinking, graciousness—and a grill. Pity poor…

by Jill Richardson BELIEVE IT OR not, chickens are not the only farm animals turning up—legally—in cities. Goats are now legal (with some limitations) in Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Pasadena, St. Louis, Oakland, Portland,…

by Melissa Walker WHILE I’M NOT a full-makeup girl most days of the week (or really ever), I’d be hard-pressed to abandon my daily lipstick and mascara habit—it really does brighten my face so that I can avoid the dreaded “You look…

by Jill Richardson I MET MY friend Rachel because we were both in the same situation: We each had neighbors who inexplicably hated our chickens. Rachel and I each had small flocks of hens, no roosters, and sprawling, fertile, organic…

by J.H. Mae EVERYTHING IN MY mother’s house matches. The curtains match the furniture, the furniture matches the carpet, the pictures on the wall were carefully chosen, and even the TV stand is elegant. She is now on the market for…