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Please note: Kai Petainen is a member of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board by P.D. Lesko ANN ARBOR SPARK is once again under fire for discrepancies in its job creation claims. Forbes.com writer Kai Petainen uncovered a…

WARD 3 COUNCIL member Stephen Kunselman repeatedly alleged that a resolution brought to Council’s June 2, 2014 meeting by Mayor Hieftje, Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere, Ward 3 Council member Christopher Taylor, Ward 4 Council member…

by Muhammad Kahn A DETROIT NEWS report revealed that Education Achievement Authority (EAA) Chancellor John Covington used credit cards issued to him by the EAA for personal expenses. Nearly $240,000 has been charged to two credit cards,…

ACCORDING TO DATA compiled by the Ann Arbor Police Department, during the month of May there were 338 crimes, total, reported. The homes of 26 residents were invaded by thieves. Of those break-ins, 12 were forced entries, or almost half of…

by P.D. Lesko “PLEASE, CALL ME Lily,” says the woman on the phone, with a warmth that doesn’t betray the obvious fact that she has extended the same invitation to scores of interviewers. She was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 1,…

by David Alexander DURING THE MIDDLE of the last century, the intersection of Ann Street and North Fourth Avenue, in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, was the crossroads of the African American business district. Saturday, it played host…

by P.D. Lesko ANN ARBOR City Attorney Stephen Postema was dressed down in a 17-page opinion penned by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Zatkoff in May. The judge concluded city officials had no legal justification to keep Bob Dascola…

CITY ADMINISTRATOR Steve Powers answers directly to City Council. The city’s Charter requires the 11-member group to annually review the City Administrator’s performance. Council sets his pay and has the ultimate authority to fire him. …

IN THE JUNE 2014 issue of The Ann Arbor Observer, writer Jan Schlain reports, “So drivers will be hitting this year’s bumper crop of potholes for a while. They just shouldn’t expect any compensation from the city when they do so.” Ward 2…

by Donna Iadipaolo Please note: Donna Iadipaolo has volunteered as a Science Olympiad coach every year for the past four years. THE LARGEST SCIENCE Olympiad in the nation occurs each year in Ann Arbor thanks to the efforts of…