http://arborweb.com/ Ann Arbor online: news and reference community resource, with the area's best events calendar, Ann Arbor Observer City Guide, comprehensive information on housing, restaurants, government, education, and more, and free classified ads. en-us 2010 Ann Arbor Observer. All Rights Reserved. http://arborweb.com/articles/from_la_shish_to_sheesh.html When Talal Chahine fled to Lebanon in 2005 to avoid charges of federal tax evasion and in 2006 was indicted for allegedly funneling money to terrorists, the La Shish Middle Eastern restaurant chain he'd founded went belly-up. And longtime La Shish restaurant managers Mike Ibrahim and Abe Tarini were... Tony McReynolds Marketplace http://arborweb.com/articles/lisa_reardon_pleads_guilty.html The woman calmly walked to the podium, dressed in her green prison jumpsuit. She smiled and joked with the bailiff as the attorneys conferred at the bench. She was handcuffed, so she used her left hand to help raise her right to swear the courtroom oath. Her mother and sisters were in tears as she e... Michael Betzold News http://arborweb.com/articles/marrakesh_and_back.html In more than six decades of public performance, pianist Randy Weston has followed his own singular path. Never one of the more popular entertainers, he has, nevertheless, created a very personal musical approach that transcends any particular style. Weston was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he i... Piotr Michalowski Culture http://arborweb.com/articles/the_joy_of_wheatgrass.html "No way am I going to eat four spinach salads," Maureen Policella says emphatically--not when she can get the same nutrients by drinking a glass of freshly blended spinach juice. "Depending on what you juice," she says, "one glass can give you all the nutrients you need in a day." Policella started... Tony McReynolds Marketplace http://arborweb.com/articles/on_a_roll.html The Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee is picking up speed. They've mobilized the base: 120 kids showed up at a city council meeting in May 2008 to voice their support. They've enlisted the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Fifth Ward council members Mike Anglin and Carsten Hohnke. And they'... James Leonard News http://arborweb.com/articles/dixboro_pure.html What's in those big blue bottles sprouting at the base of the trees surrounding the Dixboro village green and the old Dixboro School on Plymouth Road? Gallons and gallons of sap that will be reduced to maple syrup by five friends--Steve Day, Mark Korzon, Rob Martens, Andy McLaughlin, and Derrick Oxe... Sandor Slomovits Community http://arborweb.com/articles/gas_for_less.html So far, there are two Gas For Less songs that choke me up. I'm not alone. Someone posted on front man Ryan Racine's Facebook profile, "FU for making me cry into my whiskey...Shut your guitar." Racine, sincerely baffled, replied, "Since when is crying into your whiskey a bad thing?" #PAGEBREAK# ... Charmie Gholson Culture http://arborweb.com/articles/shoe_trade.html For twenty-five years Ann Arbor had two running stores within a block of each other downtown. Running Fit, which traces its origins to 1984, now has a half dozen other locations, including a megastore that opened last year on Jackson Road. Tortoise and Hare, born on Liberty in 1978, opened a ... Sally Mitani Marketplace http://arborweb.com/articles/cleaning_up_allen_creek.html Since late November, drivers passing Pioneer High School have been puzzled by enormous mounds of dirt at the southwest corner of Stadium and Main. The "Allen Creek Stormwater Project at Pioneer"--a joint venture of the City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Public Schools, and the county Water Resources Commi... Steve Gilzow News http://arborweb.com/articles/seva_reviewed.html Ann Arbor has hundreds of restaurants, but only one boasts an open-face cheese melt piled with fresh veggies (including alfalfa sprouts) that has been on the menu since the 1970s. At Seva, this guacamole-topped time machine is called the Persea, from the Latin for avocado. You can have yours with fr... Mary Beth Lewis Marketplace