by Sarah van Gelder IN 1986 CARLO Petrini and a group of friends threw a big pasta feed in Rome’s storied Piazza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps). The event was a protest against the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy. Out of that…

by Drew Dellinger WHEN MARTIN Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, he did something extraordinary for a speaker mounting a challenge to the existing order: he positioned those in his movement not as outsiders and dissidents,…

by P.D. Lesko THE ANN ARBOR OBSERVER, recently published a piece about staffing and standards within Ann Arbor’s fire department. Council members and former Council candidates have alleged that The Observer takes pains to support the…

by Diane Nilan WITHIN 3 MINUTES of sitting down for a haircut at one of those places that asks for everything but your social security number to cut your mop, I heard about two more homeless families, known to my hairdresser-du-jour.…

by Warren Liverance LATELY, BOTH LIBERAL and conservative blogospheres are abuzz with discussion of the “The Common Core.” It seems that for once, the majority of both sides oppose something that would be bad for the country. Since this…

by P.D. Lesko THE WINTER CLASSIC hockey game that drew over 109,000 people to Michigan Stadium for a match-up between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs showed off the best of Ann Arbor and the worst of Ann Arbor. Having…

by Alyssa Figueroa A FEW YEARS ago, as David Sleppy was walking around downtown Toronto, he spotted a young homeless man who reminded him of his son, sleeping on a sidewalk. “Whose son is this?” he thought. He snapped a picture,…

POLITICAL INSIDERS are playing a game called: “Pin the Campaign Button on the Ann Arbor Mayoral Candidate.” They suggest that the person next elected mayor will serve a long time, thanks to voter apathy and an incurious media (present…

Teriyaki Time — New Ann Arbor Japanese/Korean Restaurant  314 Detroit St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Hours: Mon-Sat: 10am – 9pm, Sun: 12am – 8pm Ph:734-929-2272 I WAS STROLLING through the Kerrytown Farmer’s Market and noticed a…

OVER THE LAST five or six years, I have noticed a trend among the “football cognoscenti.” During the lead up to the season, excitement and interest in examining schedules, prognosticating, evaluating rookie performances, and drafting…