The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team 2228 posts 224 comments

Editor's Note: Ward One City Council candidate Rebecca Arends used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain public records to try to understand why, several years after City Council allocated more than $3.5 million to shape and implement…

by Sydney Bleh For millions of Americans, having a criminal record can feel like a life sentence. In Michigan, there are 32,411 people in prison as of December 2025. That is enough to fill about one third of the Big House in Ann Arbor.…

Updated May 1, 2026 with a comment from Tegwyn John of A2P2. by P.D. Lesko Ann Arbor for Public Power (A2P2) is a local group circulating petitions to gather 6,500 signatures to put the question to local voters of establishing a…

by P.D. Lesko In March 2025, State Reps. Jason Morgan, Jimmie Wilson and Carrie Rheingans submitted requests for pork spending to benefit Ann Arbor, Superior and Scio Twps. The Reps., along with local elected officials, want Michigan…

by Van Abbott The war is not won. It is not even close. President Trump says otherwise. That claim is not a mistake. It is a necessity. Acknowledging failure would expose the truth this administration cannot afford to…

by P.D. Lesko A FOIA request by Michigan Capitol Confidential revealed that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, whose mission is to foster economic development in the state which creates jobs, doled out $248 million in grants…

by Mel Gurtov Donald Trump has turned the presidency into a vanity project, putting his name and image all over Washington (most recently, a banner of him atop the department of justice), campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, pimping…

by Doug Reith Spring is coming--time to plan conservation improvements to your property. Whether you are looking to reforest an area, naturalize landscaping, create a wind barrier, protect the soil, reduce runoff, establish wildlife…

by Ari Levaux When I first made the acquaintance of tofu, it did not go smoothly. A first grader with a soft spot for animals, I had only recently learned where meat comes from. After internalizing this barbaric truth, I announced to my…

Ryan Bartholomew, policy director for State Representative Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor), has announced his candidacy for Ann Arbor City Council in Ward 3. On Feb. 18, 2025 Ashley Hall, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners’…