In Spokane, a mystery still unsolved. In Montgomery, echoes of another bomb threat, nearly 55 years ago, to the day.

At Irving Place and Sixteenth Street In One of the Quietest and Most Aristocratic Localities of New York. While this is the very centre of the Metropolis, being within a block of Union Square, where all the great retail stores, the fashionable promenades, the theatres and all the direct lines of transit by elevated and surface roads find a nucleus, the immediate surroundings of Irving Place are as peaceful as a suburban resort. The advantages of such a location are obvious. To escape the bustle, din and confusion that characterize the great thoroughfares of New York and yet be in the midst of the shopping and amusement centres, constitute an attraction which no visitor can afford to ignore.

Westminster Hotel — its name lives on 135 years later with annual Westminster dog show

2010 — Sadie

Sadie, the eighth terrier to win best in show

OK, this win hardly came as a surprise, given the soft spot judges have held for terriers through the years. The year’s champion title went to Sadie, a four-year-old Scottish terrier — the eighth Scottie to win best in show and the first since 1995. “A dog of this quality comes along once every 10 years,” said her owner, recalling the 2001 winner, a Bichon frise, as the last one of Sadie’s singular caliber. “Her breed character is fabulous — she thinks very highly of herself. Her coat is absolutely breathtaking.”

2009 — Stump

Stump, at 10 years old, the oldest Westminster best in show

In the history of dramatic comebacks few can beat Stump, a 10-year-old (or in human years, a 70 year old) Sussex spaniel. He worked his way back from a four-year retirement (which included recovery from a near fatal illness) to become the oldest dog ever to win champion title. (The title was previously held by an 8-year-old papillon back in 1999.) The Westminster show became Stump’s 51st career best in show. Who says there are no second acts?

2008 — Uno

Uno helped put beagles back on winning track

For nearly a century, beagles had ranked among the top 10 most popular dogs by the American Kennel Club. Yet not one single beagle had yet to win Best in Show at Westminster. That changed with Uno. Maybe it was his pleading mascara eyes. Or his dog-next-door reputation. Uno, officially known as Champion K-Run’s Park Me in First, lived up to his name.

2007 — Diamond Jim

Diamond Jim won big at the 2007 Westminster show

They call him Diamond Jim. This Frisbee-loving English springer spaniel beat out more than 2,6000 competitors at the 2007 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. But the six-year-old spaniel didn’t just bask in the glories of his win. He soon resumed work as a therapy dog, including with Alzheimer’s patients.

2006 — Rufus

Rufus is a certified therapy dog

Need a therapist? Call Rufus. In addition to winning Best in Show at the 130th Westminster Kennel Club, this colored bull terrier is a certified Therapy Dog. Not to mention the top-winning bull terrier of all time. On the heels of retirement, Rufus has assisted special needs children. He also made weekly visits to a nursing-rehabilitation center and worked with senior citizen programs. And he received special invitation to visit the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he rested delicately on the bedside of a bomb technician who had survived a blast in Afghanistan.

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Miriam Norris, tourism director, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Photo: Lisa Singh)

Miriam Norris knows a good story when she sees it.

Three years ago, on the heels of a 25-year career in radio and broadcast journalism, Norris became tourism director at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. With that role, she took on a story close to her heart: the moment a 24-year old minister named Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., took to the pulpit of his own church, for the first time. It would remain the only church where he would serve as senior pastor.

Under King’s leadership, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church soon proved the staging ground for what would become a watershed moment in the Civil Rights movement: the Montgomery bus boycott, which stretched over a 381-day period until a federal court declared the city’s bus segregation laws unconstitutional.

“If nothing [else], this is a good story to tell, I never tire of telling it,” says Norris, who also grew up in the church and is an active member of what remains, today, a vibrant congregation of nearly 250 members.

Early days

Located in the heart of Montgomery, Ala., just a few yards from the Alabama State Capitol, the church got its start back in 1877. That’s when a group of congregants splintered off from what was then known as “First Colored Baptist Church” to establish their own congregation.

Visitors share a quiet moment inside Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Photo: L. Singh

The plot of land they chose, purchased for the lump sum of $270, offered that start. Its location came with echoes of a still unsettled history. Less than two decades before, the city had served as the first capital of the Confederacy. (On same avenue stands an office building from which a telegram had been sent, giving the order to fire the opening shots at Fort Sumter.)

In the years to come, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church gained a well-known place in the city’s social fabric. By 1900, it included many academic elite members of the African American community, with individuals who taught at the nearby Alabama State University, one of the first historically black universities in the state.

King takes the pulpit

Years later, in 1954, King was recruited by Senior Deacon Robert D. Nesbitt. You can still feel that history as you settle into the pews, in use for more than 120 years now, and look ahead at the very same pulpit from which King preached, up until 1960.

Part of a still active congregation, church members worship in the original pews, over 120 years old (Photo: L. Singh)

At Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the same pulpit still stands from which Dr. King preached from 1954-1960. Photo: L. Singh

That immediacy helps explains the church’s lingering place in the public mind. The day I give Norris a call, she fields additional calls every few minutes. (January through September is especially busy, as school groups and organizations book tours.)

“It’s very gratifying that people are still inspired by what happened here — people are inspired that ordinary individuals chose this place and that time to stand up for what was good for all people,” says Norris. “That delights me.” And keeps her telling the story.

We’ll return in January 2011 with more stories to share!

Workers cleaning up a statue by Marshall Fredericks titled 'The Spirit of Detroit.' Photo: Lisa Singh

Detroit has always been a trailblazer. Even when it comes to being the first to crash the economy.

So, it’s no surprise that the city — which now ranks as the first metropolis in U.S. history to see its population drop below 1 million — has become a cautionary tale. For some, of big business; for others, “bad” government. The latest to weigh in is Newt Gingrich. The other week, the former Speaker of the House offered this eye-opening suggestion for the city’s woes: Make it a total tax-free zone. For 10 years.

I’m not saying he’s right, and I’m not saying he’s wrong. (For that, check out takes here and here.) But at least one bit of Newt’s advice didn’t exactly come across as a news flash. “Put on the table the future, not the past.”

It’s something that Detroiters are already doing — something I saw, first-hand, during my own visit to the city. Sure, investors seem to have given up on the city. Within one square mile of downtown, you won’t find any national restaurant chains, except one lone Hard Rock Café. But the locals are still forging ahead.

About 125 locally owned bars and restaurants call the city home. What’s really eye-catching is how many of these establishments are run by Detroiters under the age of 40. People like Jeanette Pierce, who helped launch a tour guide company about four years ago. And, Tim Tharp, owner of Forans Grand Trunk Pub, which serves up some 15 varieties of Michigan beer.  Then there’s Torya Blanchard, a former French teacher who launched a creperie business two years ago, and now has two new locations on the way.

“What people don’t get is the resilience of Detroit and the surrounding metro area — we’re a very resilient people,” says Blanchard.

Tharp, the pub owner, tells me: “There’s a lot of us that have such a strong love for this city because it’s our heritage … it’s given so much.”

Check out the full story here.

You’ll see how Detroiters are putting the future on the table. One beer, and crepe, at a time.

A woman and her granddaughter at the Battle of Selma reenactment sport stickers that read: "We Support Confederate History Month."

SELMA, Ala. — Fake guns go off like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. But there’s no cheering here, not from the crowd gathered at the edge of this field in Selma, Ala. They’re here to watch the Civil War reenactment up ahead. Many are seated in lawn chairs, others on wooden bleachers, or blankets. For this crowd, this is no occasion for a hooting, howling good time. This is serious. This is important. This is their moment to experience history. Their history.

There’s an element of defiance in the air. Like the sulfur from the fake gunfire and cannons that rip through the air, muddying the bright blue sky. Like the Confederate flag up ahead, flapping in the wind. Like the stickers, affixed to the shirts of many in the crowd, with the words: “I Support Confederate History Month.”

Today’s reenactment marks a pivotal turning point in Civil War history: the Battle of Selma, a military engagement near the end of the war that saw Union General James Wilson deliver what would become one of the final, crushing blows to the Confederacy. But this reenactment marks a riff, more immediate, 145 years after the war’s official end, this month. When, week’s ago, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, declared, after an eight-year hiatus in the state, that April would, once again, be called: Confederate History Month. (Different takes here and here.)

Click below for various impressions from members of the crowd — some of their views may surprise you (Mac users: Open in Safari):

Diane Jones of Selma, Alabama, gives her take on the Civil War:

D. Coleman has attended six reenactments of the Battle of Selma. He explains why:

Confederate History Month — What are its enduring lessons?  Slavery? States’ rights? Comments welcome!

The house where MLK had his defining moment, and a civil rights movement was reborn. Photo: Lisa Singh

Well before the March on Washington. Or his “I have a Dream” speech. There was a defining moment for Martin Luther King, Jr. And it came past midnight, in a kitchen, at 309 South Jackson Street, in Montgomery, Alabama.

King was 27 years old, two years into his role as pastor of nearby Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Over the past month, King had been leading the Montgomery bus boycott, a decision that set off a series of death threats delivered via mail and phone to his residence — as many as 30 to 40 calls daily, often at night. Normally, King could put the phone down and go back to sleep. But one call, on the night of January 27, 1956, stood out.

As King’s wife, Coretta, and 10-week-old daughter, Yolanda, slept in the master bedroom nearby, the voice on the other end of the line said: “N, we’re tired of your mess. And if you aren’t out of this town in three days, we’re going to blow up your house and blow your brains out.” Shaken, King went to the kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, but soon buried his face in his hands. He began to pray aloud: “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right … But … I must confess … I’m losing my courage.”

King later explained what happened next: “I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for truth. Stand up for justice. Stand up for righteousness.’”

The fears ceased. But not the threats. Several days later, around 9 p.m., a bomb exploded on the front steps of the house. No one inside was hurt. All these years later, though, traces of the bomb — gnashes in concrete — are still visible (image, below).

On the evening of January 30, 1956, a bomb exploded on the porch of Dr. King's home. This plaque marks the spot of the explosion. Photo: Lisa Singh

Today, Shirley Cherry (image, below) helps tell the story. For nearly two years, she’s been tour manager of Dexter Parsonage Museum, which served as home to King and his family from 1954 to 1960. “I never thought I’d have the key to open the door where Martin Luther King lived,” says Cherry, who was raised in Georgia and Alabama in the 1940s and ’50s and remembers days spent working at a dry cleaner’s where the Ku Klux Klan sent their robes. Of King, and Dexter Parsonage, she says. “I’m the direct beneficiary of what happened here.”

Martin Luther King lived here: "I'm a direct beneficiary of what happened here," says Shirley Cherry.

A retired school teacher, Cherry is a life member of National Education Association; she also served as chair of one of its national committees at one point. “But before Dr. King I couldn’t have been a member of the NEA because of segregation,” she says.

A tour of Dexter Parsonage shows the ordinary items that served as a backdrop to extraordinary times. In the parlour is a replica of the piano that Coretta Scott King played. Of the piano, Martin Luther King said: “Everybody, from a treble white to a bass black, is significant on God’s keyboard.” In the dining room is the original table that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formulated. Then there’s the kitchen, roughly 10 by 12 feet. It includes the Melmac dinnerware that the Kings actually used, as well as the original caloric gas stove — the same stove that King used the night he got that fateful call, poured himself a cup of coffee, and asked for answers.

That moment of decision — of whether to continue with the Montgomery bus boycott that had just gotten underway — holds significance today, says Cherry. “People need to keep in mind, Martin Luther King didn’t ride buses,” she says. “He never had to ride buses; he didn’t come from that kind of background. But he cared about people who did … for people who were less well-off. What happened that night, in the kitchen, was a lesson for all of us. It’s a lesson in commitment and obedience.”

Share your comments here.

She's got a thing for Detroit: Inside Detroit's Jeanette Pierce. Photo: Lisa Singh

Jeanette Pierce was feeling a little tired the other morning. Then she got to talking. About Detroit.

Watch out!

“I get really excited,” said Pierce, by phone. “Detroit’s kind of my drug of choice … I’m not allowed to have caffeine and talk about Detroit at the same time.”

Before we go any further, let’s get a few things off the table. Yes, Pierce lives in Detroit, and yes, she “loves” it. But, no, she’s not stuck here.

“People think we must be here because we can’t sell our homes,” says Pierce. “That is not the case. If you gave me a million dollars I wouldn’t live anywhere else. The more I travel, the more I love Detroit.”

TIME's Detroit House. Photo: Steven Gray

No matter what the critics say. This past fall, TIME bought a house (right) near downtown Detroit. There, a bevy of journalists camp out in between reporting on the city. So, why the media fixation? The country’s economic and innovative potential — its middle class — largely started here. Then, came the decline. The 1967 riots. The foreign automakers. And the jokes that keep on coming. Like the other night on Conan O’Brien.

None of which shakes Pierce’s belief in the city — or her passion for sharing its story. She’s a third-generation Detroiter (her great-grandparents settled in the area, from Poland.) Along with fellow Detroit native Maureen Kearns, Pierce started a tour guide company, Inside Detroit, four years ago and, get this, 2009 was the company’s best year yet — yes, the same year that brought us more news of the Big Three Auto bailout and a terror attack on a US flight to Detroit.

“If all you do is watch the news, it’s depressing,” says Pierce. “But the life I live is not depressing … every day, when I wake up, I’m happy to be in Detroit.”

Detroit: From the ashes

Detroit's motto since 1806: "We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes."

Part small town, part big city, Detroit’s where community and entrepreneurial spirit meet, and where the latest rebirth is underway, says Pierce. It’s been that way from the start. Back in 1805, the city burned completely to the ground but was soon rebuilt, earning it the state motto, “Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus” — Latin for, “We hope for better things; it shall rise again.”

Pierce isn’t just hoping for better things; she’s helping make it happen. With the North American Auto Show underway, Inside Detroit is offering tours of the city that take on the question: “Is Detroit Really Dying?”

American Detours: What gave you the idea to start Inside Detroit?

Jeanette Pierce: In 2001, I studied abroad in Malaga, Spain. Living in a downtown community where you have access to people and culture showed me the possibilities of walking all over a city. So, when I came back to Detroit, my love for the city — and my desire to live downtown — made me fall in love with the city all over again … the history, the architecture, the small businesses thriving downtown. There wasn’t a great venue for other people to learn those types of things, though. Then I met my business partner, Maureen Kearns. She had realized something similar.

American Detours: What are some surprising finds in Detroit?

Jeanette Pierce: Our architecture. Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the World Trade Center, was in Detroit early in his career; he did a skyscraper here that is similar to the World Trade Center. The Guardian Building, one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire country, is here. Campus Martius Park was voted fourth best public square in North America.

American Detours: What are some misconceptions about Detroit?

Jeanette Pierce: That if you come to Detroit you’ll get shot. Downtown Detroit actually has 37 percent less crime than the national average. There are more businesses opening up than I keep up with. In the last year, we’ve had several projects including Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, a $200 million restoration of a historic hotel and the opening of Iron Chef Michael Symon’s Roast Restaurant.

American Detours: What lessons does Detroit hold for the nation?

Jeanette Pierce: One lesson is to reverse sprawl. Detroit is booming. We have people moving here to build urban farms, anyone can come here and live their dreams. That’s only because people ignored it for so long. There’s 125 bars and restaurants in the one-square mile of downtown Detroit. We have only one national chain, Hard Rock, and even there my best friend from high school is head of sales. So, what’s making Detroit thrive is that we have the strongest sense of community.

American Detours: What’s next for Inside Detroit?

Jeanette Pierce: 2009 was our best year, and 2010 has already started with a bang. We’re about to hire six to eight people. We’re also a 501(c)3 nonprofit. We recently got our first grant through the Hudson Webber Foundation. They have an initiative: 15,000 new residents of greater downtown Detroit by 2015. We’re working with them on that.

American Detours: You’re offering tours throughout the North American Auto Show.

Jeanette Pierce: Yes, we’re offering tours to any journalist. We’ll personalize the tours, and show them the “dying city” they so desperately want to find. But we know, when they’re done, they’re going to have a whole new perspective on Detroit. We’re also doing a public bus tour and a pub crawl. But we warn you: Be prepared to fall in love and want to move here, because that happens a lot.