Featured

by P.D. Lesko Washtenaw County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum is a Democrat. He sat on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners from 1983–1988, and was a Washtenaw County Commissioner from 2000–02. In 2004, he was elected as the Washtenaw…

Politicos who miss campaign finance deadlines often make headlines. How politicos handle their own campaign finances is seen as a relevant gauge to determine how honest and responsible they'll be if put in charge of taxpayer money and…

Charles R. Eisendrath directs the Knight-Wallace Fellows program in journalism at the University of Michigan. He's a former Washington and foreign correspondent for Time magazine. Suffice it to say that Eisendrath has not shied away from…

by P.D. Lesko Over the past 24 months, AnnArbor.com has seen the departure of most of its experienced reporters to more prestigious and higher paying surroundings—such as the Detroit Free Press. There are media analysts, however, that…

Ward 1 City Council member Sabra Briere recently voted to kill a resolution intended to protect parkland from de facto sale through leasing—a strategy being used by John Hieftje and his Council pals to try to "repurpose" a several acre…

By P.D. Lesko In 2007, Ann Arbor City Council passed the Public Art Ordinance that sets aside one percent of funds from all public construction budgets for art projects — to a maximum of $250,000 per project. On the City of Ann Arbor web…

by P.D. Lesko Groupon was founded and is headed by graduates from the University of Michigan. In January 2012, former AnnArbor.con business reporter Nathan Bomey wrote a glowing piece about Groupon, its founders and their connection to the…

by Rob Smith Michigan Rising (formerly the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder) tried twice to collect enough signatures to put the question of whether to recall Governor Rick Snyder on the ballot. Twice the group failed. Such signature drives…

by P.D. Lesko When I taught college, one writing assignment I most enjoyed was having my students compose letters to their elected officials. One woman chose to write a letter to the President. A couple of weeks later, she found her…

by P.D. Lesko The meeting room at the Traverwood Library is modern, with plenty of light and clean lines. The room was full, with about 70 people in attendance to hear the candidates answer questions for 90 minutes. It was there that Ward…