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On April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the City of Ann Arbor Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. This Special Collection will be held at the Ann Arbor Justice Center at 301 E. Huron St., 2nd floor. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last year I finally got around to reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005) by Doris Kearns Goodwin and it was surprisingly thrilling to see how our great president brilliantly juggled arrogant generals, jealous cabinet members, a moody wife and personal tragedy against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yesterday I heard that Steven Spielberg is basing his upcoming film about Lincoln on Goodwin's book, and if Spielberg's pedigree isn't enough to excite you about the prospects of this film, consider that he's cast two-time Oscar winner, Daniel Day Lewis to play the president (yay!) and two-time Oscar winner Sally Field to play Mary Lincoln. Other major talent, such as Kevin Spacey and Sean Penn, are also rumored to have roles. I'm nearly as geeked to find out who ends up playing William Seward and Salmon Chase as I was ten years ago when they were casting Gandalf and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.

Directed by Julian Schnabel, starring Hiam Abbass , Freida Pinto, Makram J. Khoury , Willem Dafoe, Vanessa Redgrave, Miral is based on the novel by Rula Jebreal, translated from the Italian by John Cullen.

Spanning the years 1948-1994, Miral revolves around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and real-life Palestinian woman Hind Husseini, who started the Dar Al-Tifl orphanage in Jerusalem in the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel.

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Soul Surfer is based on the book Soul Surfer : a true story of faith, family, and fighting to get back on the board, about Bethany Hamilton. It is the inspiring story of a talented teen surfer who lost her left arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through sheer determination and unwavering faith.

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You've watched it going up, now tour the new Justice Center at a public open house, Saturday, April 16, 10:00 a.m. ~ 12 noon. The Police Services and 15th District Court will be polished up, guided tours available and there will even be light refreshments.

Plenty of speakers including Police Chief Barnett Jones (who's great with the kids BTW.) The Justice Center is located at 301 E. Huron Street, the corner of 5th and Huron.

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Join City of Ann Arbor officials and staff on Wednesday, April 13, 7 p.m. ~ 9 p.m. at Community Television Network studios for a presentation of the fiscal years 2012 and 2013 budgets. Free onsite parking is available. The meeting will be taped and rebroadcast on CTN Channel 16 and available online 24 hours after the meeting.

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Taxpayers will have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 Federal and State of Michigan tax returns and pay any tax due. Why? Because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Friday, April 15. By law, District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do; therefore, all taxpayers will have three extra days to file their tax returns this year. Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Oct. 17 to file their 2010 tax returns

Some called it "rich and evocative"; some thought it "odd, dark and often creepy", but all the reviewers seemed to agree that Lori Roy's Bent Road * * ( * * * * ) is an exceptionally well-written debut, and a captivating, and suspenseful tale of a dysfunctional family and community.

Young Arthur Scott fled a small Kansas town, moved to Detroit and raised a family. Unnerved by the 1967 riots, he packs up his family and moves back home where the mysterious death of his older sister Eve still haunts him after 20 years.

While Arthur and the oldest daughter slip easily into rural life, others in the family struggle with loneliness and displacement, especially his only son, Daniel. Then a battered red truck is seen cruising ominously along on Bent Road and a young girl disappears without a trace.

Family secrets, small town dynamics, coerced silence, and ruined lives drive the plot towards its shattering revelation and conclusion, "reminding us that simplicity of landscape does not necessarily mean simplicity of life".

Lori Roy was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas where she worked for years as a tax accountant before turning her focus to writing. Her work has appeared in the Chattahoochee Review, and she is the recipient of the Ed Hirschberg Award for Excellence in Florida Writing.

A readalike for Nancy Pickard's The Scent of Rain and Lightning; No Mercy by Lori Armstrong; and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

* * = starred reviews. (Read the NPR review).

* * * * = 4-star review in an upcoming issue of People Magazine.

earth hour

Earth Hour will be celebrated worldwide on Saturday, March 26th. The City of Ann Arbor is participating by turning off the street lights along one block of Main Street from 8:30 a.m ~ 9:30 a.m. and is encouraging businesses and residents to also turn off unnecessary lights during Earth Hour. There's even a cool poster you can download and display in your home or shop window to show your support for the event.

Beastly

Beastly is an edgy romance based on teen author Alex Finn's novel - ultra-modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Seventeen-year-old Kyle is the spoiled, shallow and incredibly popular prince of his high school kingdom. Kyle foolishly chooses Kendra, a witch masquerading as a high school student, as his latest target for humiliation. Unfazed by his cruel behavior, Kendra decides to teach him a lesson --- she transforms him into someone as unattractive on the outside as he is on the inside. Now he has one year to find someone who can see past the surface and love him, or he will remain "Beastly" forever.

Red Riding Hood is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, made famous by The Brothers Grimm.

In this modern version, Valerie is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village.

Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter Father Solomon to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. As panic grips the town, Valerie discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast --- one that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect and bait.

We have, yet another Hollywood remake of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. While the plot is well known, let's hope Mia Wasikowska, and Michael Fassbende bring something exciting to this period drama of Jane and her Mr. Rochester.

Now finally something for the whole family.... ( Rating: PG)

Mars Needs Moms! is based on the picture book by Berkeley Breathed.

Take out the trash, eat your broccoli --- who needs moms anyway? Nine-year-old Milo finds out just how much he needs his mom when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. We go along on Milo's quest to save his mom - a wild adventure that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet, and taking on the alien nation and their leader

Already in theaters is The Adjustment Bureau, adapted from the short story "The Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick, collected in The Early Work of Philip K. Dick. Vol. 1, The variable man & other stories. Matt Damon plays David Norris, a promising U.S. Senate candidate who falls for beautiful dancer at a chance meeting but fate and a mysterious group of men conspire to keep the two apart.

Alan Glynn's The Dark Fields is adapted into Limitless, a paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret "smart drug" that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film. Starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro.

Charismatic bad boy Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Haller in the highly anticipated adaptation of Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer.

In the film, Michael "Mick" Haller is a slick, charismatic Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental Sedan. Having spent most of his career defending petty, gutter-variety criminals, Mick unexpectedly lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what initially appears to be a straightforward case with a big money payoff swiftly develops into a deadly match between two masters of manipulation and a crisis of conscience for Haller.

Adjustment bureau