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Trio of Council Members Brush Aside City Staff Concerns, Push to Award Contract to Recycle Ann Arbor
by Patricia Lesko
Chip Smith (D-Ward 5), Zach Ackerman (D-Ward 3) and Jason Frenzel (D-Ward 1) have put forward a Council resolution that would require city staff to negotiate a contract with Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA)—a subsidiary of the…
Ecology Center/Recycle Ann Arbor & The Landfilling of Our Recycling
by Patricia Lesko
I recently received a long email with the Subject line: City of Ann Arbor Action - MONDAY NIGHT!! from someone named Doug Selby. In his email, Mr. Selby urges me to attend the next City Council meeting to pressure Council…
Sierra Club Endorses Anglin, Eaton, and Kunselman for Ann Arbor City Council
The Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group, and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter today formally announced several endorsements of incumbent City Council members, each facing challengers in the Democratic primary in August.
"We are very pleased to…
A2Politico: Doing Less for Longer—A Politician’s Dream
by P.D. Lesko
KIRK WESTPHAL CAUSED the political firmament to tremble (convulse, really) when he was just rumored to be prepared to pitch the idea of changing the length of City Council members’ terms from two to four years. The…
Deer Management Consultant’s Work Draws High Praise and Harsh Criticism
by P.D. Lesko with reporting by Maddie Fetchiet
BETWEEN DEC. 2014 and June 2015, Project Innovations, a Farmington Hills, Mich. consulting firm owned by Charlie Fleetham, was paid slightly less than $40,000 total by Ann Arbor. Despite…
Feds: WCC IGNITE Job Training Program Spent $788K and Issued No Certifications
by P.D. Lesko
In 2012, WCC was awarded a federal grant totalling $2.99 million to implement a program under the auspices of which the college would recruit and train students for IT careers. A Dept. of Labor review dated Feb. 2015 cited…
Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act Subsidies—Including for 676,000 Michigan Residents
by P.D. Lesko
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the defendant in King vs. Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et. al.
The United State Supreme Court upheld the ability of millions of Americans who've used the…
Backyard Beekeeping in Ann Arbor—It’s the Bee’s Knees
by Christian Usera
“NO BEES, NO FOOD,” proclaimed the neon orange and white bumper sticker. (I knew then I was in the right place.) I tail the SUV to the parking lot, where an older gentleman with a beard hops out of his car. He walks…
The AAPS M-STEP Student Testing Opt-Out Controversy
by Donna Iadipaolo
JEFF GAYNOR IS what you might call the epitome of a veteran teacher. Gaynor has worked for the Ann Arbor Public Schools for more than 30 years: 20 years as an elementary teacher and the last 17 years at Clague Middle…
Funding Still a Challenge for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival/Top of the Park
by Christian Usera
IT’S JUNE IN Ann Arbor which means the ubiquitous Ann Arbor Summer Festival (A2SF) is set to kick off on June 12 with over 140 events. The much anticipated 32-year-old festival has featured music legends such as Johnny…