The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team 2253 posts 224 comments

MICHAEL WOODYARD is either Gandalf or Saruman, it just depends on whom you ask. He challenged Judge Timothy Connors for his seat on the 22nd Circuit Court last year, a seat Connors has either warmed, or filled admirably, depending on whom…

Christopher Taylor:  Campaigning as “collaborative”: Four current Council members endorsed against him. POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: U-M employs Taylor’s wife, Eva Rosenwald, full-time. Accepted $4,000 campaign donation from U-M…

SUE MCCORMICK’S woes started with former Ann Arbor Chief of Police Barnett Jones. In January 2013, the Detroit Free Press caught Jones serving as both the full-time Chief of Police in Flint, Mich. and head of McCormick’s department of…

TRACY VAN DEN Bergh comes into Sweetwater’s in Kerrytown a bit before 10 a.m. on a Saturday. She’s holding an empty iced coffee and looks casually caffeinated. She’s 44- years-old, and wears her age well. Considering she’s competing in a…

by David Alexander Juvenile Justice Part III: Washtenaw County— County Prosecutor Brian Mackie Talks About The Prosecution of Teenagers as Adults Over the past 30 months, in Washtenaw County, 12 of 1,353 juveniles were charged as…

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS recently filed suit against the University of Michigan Board of Regents for allegedly violating the state’s Open Meetings Act statute. The allegations are based on analyses of over a year’s worth of votes taken by the…

by Derik Hertel A PROJECT WHICH is in support of President Obama’s BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative, will combine research on the basic mechanisms of memory function with the development of…

Women Must Have Access to Safe Abortions and Contraception My father-in-law graduated from Rush Medical School (now the U. of Illinois) in 1935. Interning at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital he had patients who’d almost bled to death…

REP. ADAM ZEMKE, a Democrat, has chosen to endorse in the Ward 2 City Council Democratic primary election. We believe this is not only misguided, but demonstrates a singular lack of leadership from a state-level representative. Mr. Zemke’s…

by Ken Wachsberger I TURNED 65 in the middle of Ann Arbor Art Fair week. I’m a senior now under probably any definition of the word that has nothing to do with formal schooling. I’ve reached one of life’s major landmarks: I get to…