The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team 2253 posts 224 comments

What in your education and experience make you the best qualified candidate for this position? My degrees in economics and urban planning serve me well in understanding both: 1) the current fiscal demands, and 2) the future promise of…

SHORTLY AFTER BEING nominated to serve on the Ann Arbor Planning Commission by Mayor John Hieftje, Jeremy Peters’s credentials were closely questioned by residents and Council members. Peters (left), Director, Creative Licensing,…

WELCOME TO The Ann Arbor Independent. For the first time in over 110 years Ann Arbor once again has a locally-owned weekly newspaper. The last time our city had a locally owned weekly newspaper was 1902, when the Ann Arbor Argus-Democrat…

Editor’s Note: Ward 1 incumbent Sabra Briere was given the opportunity to participate in this interview and provide answers to these questions. She chose not to do so. A2Indy:  What are the two most pressing issues facing Ward 1 in your…

SINCE DECEMBER 2012, there have been seven raw sewage spills into the Huron River. On August 29, 2013 there was sewage spill into the river at the spot where it runs through the Nichols Arboretum. The spill was not reported by the media…

THE HOUSE JUDICIARY Committee recently approved House Bill 4770, which among other things, attempts to define what a journalist is to restrict access to motor vehicle accident reports for a period of 30 days after the accident. The…

by Manny Lopez Scrutiny and sunshine are great ways of keeping government officials honest. But the effort doesn’t come without occasional conflict. That’s especially true today given the advances in technology and ease with which…

MAYOR HIEFTJE HAS repeatedly told the public that the cost of police and fire service is a strain on the city’s budget. In a 2012 interview he said this about the city’s safety services budget, “...All the water has been wrung out of the…

WARD 1 CITY Council member Sumi Kailasapathy is a CPA. It was Kailasapathy who pushed the Council’s Audit Committee to investigate further after it was revealed City Attorney Stephen Postema had allegedly “double-dipped,” in accepting a car…

A DECADE AGO, the University of Michigan waged a successful U.S. Supreme Court fight to save affirmative action. Now Michigan is learning to live without it. Three years after the court allowed race-based admissions, Michigan voters…