When David Copley sold the Union-Tribune to Tom Gores and his Beverly Hills–based Platinum Equity back in 2009, the vulture capitalist with Palestinian roots vowed that he was in the newspaper business for the long …
December 14, 2016
Michigan
Michigan
The Goring of Detroit
Saginaw, MI: first American home of my ancestors
Most people only know the town of Saginaw, Michigan, from the song made popular in the 1960s by country singer Lefty Frizzel. Some hipsters might know another song, “If I Ever Get to Saginaw” by …
December 12, 2014
Detroit Red Wings deal a cautionary tale
The sports publication deadspin.com this week excerpted a story on the Detroit Red Wings scam from Next City, a magazine for urban leaders. The story unearths some new, horripilating facts. A week after Detroit declared …
March 5, 2014
Chhatrala Group hotels in trouble for back taxes
San Diego–based Chhatrala Group, which owns hotels around the country, is in trouble for back taxes in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Victorville. The company has a limited-liability company named Chhatrala Grand Rapids, LLC. The Grand …
January 6, 2014
Road-tripping across the Midwest
Nothing brings out the best in a family than driving for days on a cross-country road trip. Traveling the Midwest’s highways and by-ways, I was reminded of my mom’s stories of driving back to Mississippi …
Mackinac Island
The biggest draw of Northern Michigan is Mackinac Island. Home to only 450 permanent residents, the island hosts over 1,000,000 visitors each season. Besides its natural beauty and history, Mackinac Island is well known for …
Solitude Is Bliss – Michigan's Northern Lakeshore
A recent trip home to northern lower Michigan afforded me one of the greatest summertime pleasures a Michigander knows: a sunset swim in Lake Michigan. There’s nothing better than finding a secluded stretch of golden …
July 19, 2012
There's So Much More to Detroit
There’s so much more to Detroit than what’s in the foreboding Chrysler commercials. It’s taken a beating in the press with the hard times that have befallen the auto industry, but still offers a vibrant …
May 15, 2011
War as They Knew It
What are you reading? “War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest, by Michael Rosenberg. It’s about the Ohio State–Michigan football rivalry during the era of those …
Be There!
The Box takes next week off, so regard this column as your March Madness early-bird primer. Clip and save. The 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament goes off on March 17 with games scheduled …
March 11, 2009
It's a Drummer's World
Raised in greater Detroit, Evan Demko left the University of Michigan with a degree in industrial engineering at a bad time. "Factories were moving out, and plants were closing down [in 2005]. All that's left …
February 8, 2007
Six Feet of Dirt
The North Atlantic, an explosive math-rock trio from Michigan that formed at Kalamazoo College in 1999 (and migrated to SD within a year), offered this Gerald R. Ford obit on their MySpace bulletin: "...Ford is …
January 11, 2007
Hardcore Holiday
"We played a small show on a cold, snowy winter evening in Flint, Michigan," writes Brian Sheerin, vocalist for Mower, a San Diego hardcore band that's now on tour. "It was at a really cool …
January 4, 2007
Phantom Children
“There are no ways of knowing that kids aren’t doing these things. This is a preemptive strike.”
Cafe Blocks City Land-Grab
On July 30, the Michigan Supreme Court stuck a dagger into government's abusive use of eminent domain -- seizing property from one private owner and handing it to a richer owner in the name of …
August 12, 2004