The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team 2249 posts 224 comments

MIDWESTERNERS HATE conflict more than we hate freezing rain, haughty vegans and screaming kids/ineffectual parents in the grocery store. We smile. We’re solicitous. We want to get along. We want other people to get along. The truth of the…

IN CASE YOU haven’t noticed, January 12-17 is Ann Arbor Restaurant Week, an event put on by the Main Street Area Association. It’s the fifth winter Ann Arbor Restaurant Week, and 57 restaurants are participating; that’s up from 26…

FORMER REPRESENTATIVE Pam Byrnes has taken aim at the U.S. Congressional seat held by Republican Tim Walberg. Byrnes, back from two years in China working as the Executive Director at the University of Michigan Shanghai Jiao Tong University…

THE AAPS 2012-2013 audit represents the best of times and the worst of times. When auditor Plante Moran delivered the audit to the Board of Education on November 13th the BOE discovered that the AAPS has a $9.42 million fund balance. Prior…

CITIZENS OF ANN ARBOR may just be resting on Alan Haber’s laurels. In 1960 Haber was the first president of the radical student group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). SDS has been an important influence on student organizing. The…

THE AVERAGE U.S. adult eats 4.8 meals per week in restaurants, a survey indicates. Mandala Research, found the most popular restaurant meal is lunch, with 2.6 meals eaten on average each week — both carry-out and dining — followed by 1.4…

IN JANUARY 2014, Ann Arbor Fire Department Chief Chuck Hubbard will retire. His departure opens the door for the promotion of Assistant Fire Chief Ellen Taylor to the  top spot in the AAFD. Should she be moved into that job, Taylor will…

THE CITY’S 2015-2020 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) focuses on projects that city staff suggest will “provide for large, physical improvements that are permanent in nature that are needed for the functioning of the community, including…

Please note:  Council member Sally Hart Petersen was informed by Mayor Hieftje of U of M's proposal to purchase the Edwards Brothers property on State Street on November 18th. She attended a November 27th meeting with the owners of the…

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SHOULDN’T be predicated on which of Ann Arbor’s 21 public elementary schools a child attends. The AAPS elementary curriculum is standardized throughout the District, and teachers are uniformly compensated, qualified,…