by Clara Hendrickson Thousands of local newspapers have closed in recent years. Their disappearance has left millions of Americans without a vital source of local news and deprived communities of an institution essential for exposing…

by Ari LeVaux Beets are a challenging food. No vegetable feels so much like work-or tastes so much like dirt. Which surely means beets must be supremely good for you. But dense tubers are problematic to mess with. You can't just…

by Kiera Butler People love to complain about the wastefulness of meal-kit delivery companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. The baggies that hold a single scallion! The thousands of miles of shipping! The endless cardboard boxes!…

Update: In its Aug. 2017 City Council candidate article written by James Leonard, the Observer states a married candidate's "girlfriend" donated thousands to the candidate's campaign. The woman named as David Silkworth's "girlfriend" is,…

by Ari LeVaux Garlic season is upon us, which means that last year's garlic will be on sale alongside the new crop. Don't be fooled by a sale price; squeeze each head you buy. It should be as hard as a baseball. If not, there is probably…

by Patricia Lesko Ann Arbor's mayor, Chris Taylor ("Mr. Congeniality" according to a 2015 article in the Ann Arbor Observer), has been singing and dancing around Wards 3 and 5 on behalf of his City Council candidates Zachary Ackerman and…

by Nathan Fisk In today’s media-rich world (or media-saturated, depending on your view), one rarely has to look far to find parents concerned about the ways that kids engage with technology. Recently, managing “screen time” seems to be…

by Ari LeVaux Pickling can happen any time there are ripe veggies for the picking. Now it's cucumber season, which lasts basically all summer long. Beans are upon us too. Soon come the pickled peppers, large batches in large jars,…

by Ari LeVaux For garlic lovers, this time of year is like an early holiday season. As we speak, delicious edible flower stalks called scapes are curling their ways from the tops of hardneck garlic plants. When they are available, it's…

by Barbara Milrod, M.D. “Lucy,” a shy, intelligent six-year-old, missed three days of school because she had stomachaches. The symptoms started the day after Lucy witnessed a loud argument while waiting for the bus with her babysitter. A…