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Opinion
SafeHouse Board Members Should Embrace Transparency, Not Fight FOIA and Public Attendance at Board Meetings
Michigan's sunshine laws (the Open Meetings and the Freedom of Information Acts) apply to governmental entities and, under certain circumstances, non-profits. In Nov. 2021, The A2Indy submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for…
We Must Continue to Support Michiganders Hit Hardest by the Pandemic
by Monique Stanton
As an organization that has been working to improve public policy for more than a century, we certainly have to adapt with the times.
From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, the influenza pandemic…
How the Loudest Voices in the Room Can Distort Democracy
You can’t hear other voices in a pluralistic democracy if a disruptive minority, amplified by money and noise-making technology, has the dial on their amp turned up to 11.
by Matthew Jordan
After Canadian truckers upset with…
Letter to the Editor: Local Governments Must Face Upcoming Fiscal Crisis
by Donnelly Wright Hadden
Our State government is in a frenzy to spend money and cut taxes, because it has a temporary budget windfall. Michigan officials had better save some of that money to bail out local governments next year,…
A2Politico: County Residents Deserve Leadership, Not Gaslighting from Ann Arbor County Commissioners
by Patricia Lesko
County Commissioner Ricky Jefferson. Photo | Washtenaw County
Let me preface this by saying that in 2013, when our son was diagnosed with whooping cough, we received excellent support and supervision from the…
Confronting Antisemitism in Michigan in the Wake of Colleyville
To Claim Our Hero, We Must Also Own Our Hate
by Jay Saper
While we as Michiganders may take pride in Ann Arbor-educated Rabbi Cytron-Walker having heroically helped his fellow congregants held hostage at his Colleyville, Texas,…
Don’t Let Jokes about Mark Schlissel’s Firing Distract from U-M’s Problems
by Claire Hao
(This column originally appeared in Medium.com, an open-source blog site)
#BREAKING: Mark Schlissel is down horrendous. To quote one of the best jokes I’ve seen floating around, “it started out with a knish, how…
A2Politico: How Utterly Pedestrian– The DDA’s State Street “Redesign” is All About Cars
by Patricia Lesko
Ann Arbor and the environment need expanded non-motorized transportation infrastructure. The need is particularly acute on Main St., State St., and Liberty. When the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) came…
County Administrator Greg Dill Gaslights & Misleads Community With His “Statement on SafeHouse”
Editor's note: On October 17, 2021, The Ann Arbor Independent published an editorial in which we called for the Washtenaw Board of Commissioners to fire Greg Dill for his role in putting domestic violence victims and their children in…
Hospitals are Overrun by the Unvaccinated. What Happens to the Rest of us?
by Susan J. Demas, Michigan Advance
I never fully transitioned back into a post-COVID world after getting vaxxed and even boosted, because I understood that reality didn’t exist for millions of immunocompromised people, seniors and…