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Savaged: Mainstream Media’s Love (Free Content) Hate (Scooped Again!) Relationship With Citizen Journalists
By Chris Savage
By some estimates, there are close to two hundred million blogs in the world, about half of which are in the United States. This number is growing each year. At the same time, the size and number of what are considered…
30? 40? 50? — Ann Arbor School Officials Have No Idea Exactly How Many Kids Are In District Classrooms
by P.D. Lesko
Class size: one time when size does matter. Research on the success of K-12 students has concluded definitively that class sizes impact the performance of all students. Kids learn better in small classes. According to…
The Parent Trap: Should Pre-Teens Date?
by Betsy McMillin
Definition of tween dating: "Awkwardly walking down the hall at school together."—an anonymous (but very cool) tween
So.... when can I, technically, "date?"
This from my almost thirteen-year-old son. Okay, I'll say…
The Culture Vulture: Movie Review—The Descendants
by William Belle
I'm repeating myself. (Repeating yourself is a sign of senility. If I've said that once, I've said it a thousand times.) The best films I've seen do not necessarily involve a car chase scene. The special effects are…
Savaged: Michigan Supreme Court Quietly Affirms Access to Courts Is Based On Ability To Pay
By Chris Savage
In late November of this year, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a tersely worded order (pdf) that said simply this: On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the July 19, 2011 judgment of the Court of…
Pure Michigan: MSU Survey Shows Governor Snyder Has Lowest Approval Ratings in the Nation
by P.D. Lesko
For the past year, Governor Rick Snyder has been getting pretty much everything he wanted from the state's Republican-controlled legislature. Together, the state's Republicans have been accused of legislatively sucker…
Local Politico to City’s Voters: You’re “Xenophobic,” “Old,” “Selfish” and “Stingy.”
by P.D. Lesko
DDA Board member and former Second Ward City Council member Joan Lowenstein (right) is having a really tough time of it, politically speaking. Should you care? Absolutely. It's a better show than "Real Housewives," but with…
New Ward 2 Council Member Jane Lumm Scores Spots on Powerful City Council Committees
by P.D. Lesko
City Council committee appointments are out, and it looks as though newly elected Second Ward Council member Jane Lumm worked some black magic to get herself spots on two of the most powerful Council committees.
For…
Ann Arbor Politicos Dish Up Millions in Public Money & Give SPARK Pals A Pass On Public Accountability
by P.D. Lesko
I read a Tweet from Ann Arbor SPARK on November 17th: "Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK's CEO, speaking at the VC breakfast in San Jose, California. http://twitpic.com/7felds."
Krutko was the Chief Development Officer for the…
The Parent Trap: Errors In Co-Parenting
Sophia van Buren
I resisted the urge to look up and scan the audience, but the temptation was just too great. At least it didn’t take long to find her. She was sitting alone and motionless in the stands about 30 rows above the high…