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Crime
“Men Like Us” Club Founder Asked County for $70K Grant to “Deter Youth Violence”; His Ypsi Twp. Club the Site of Assaults, Shootings, Attempted Murder
According to police records, since late-2021, the Men Like Us club building owned by Ardis Lewis, Jr. has been the site of shootings, assaults, attempted murder and an alleged sexual assault. In Mar. 2022, Lewis applied to the County for a…
Ypsilanti Superintendent Says County Contractor Sent Felons to Middle School Without Permission
by P.D. Lesko
Correction: YCS School Board member Dr. Celeste Hawkins was inadvertently identified as the YCS spokesman who contacted The Ann Arbor Independent on March 14 by phone and spoke on the record. The article has been updated,…
County Administrator Implicates Himself and Commissioners in Misappropriation of Federal Funds
by P.D. Lesko
Long-time Detroit News crime reporter George Hunter picked up the Ann Arbor Independent's reporting on the fraudulent grant application submitted to Washtenaw County by local non-profit Supreme Felons, Inc. for $1.2…
Non-Profit Supreme Felons, Inc. Owed Thousands in Fines to IRS When County Commissioners Awarded $1.2M Grant
by P.D. Lesko
Supreme Felons, Inc., a local non-profit that was awarded $1.2 million in federal funding by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in July 2022, has never filed state or federal tax returns, public records show.…
Assailant Who Allegedly Tried to Stab Local Restauranteur Scheduled For Competency Hearing
by P.D. Lesko
On Nov. 3, 2022 Javon Trevail Williams appeared before 15th District Court judge the Honorable Miriam A. Perry. At that hearing, it was decided that Williams, who is currently being held on a $150,000 cash bond, will be…
Assaulted Part 3: My Assailant Isn’t Getting the Emoni Bates Concierge Service Prosecution
by P.D. Lesko
On Dec. 23, 2021, I was the victim of a hate crime. Today, the County Asst. Prosecutor informed me that the charge of misdemeanor assault facing the assailant will be dropped. This is good news. Replacing the charge of…
Judge Miriam Perry Orders Man Who Allegedly Attacked Restauranteur Sava Lelcaj Farah Held on $150,000 Bond
by P.D. Lesko
In an email sent the day his wife was allegedly attacked by a knife-wielding man in downtown Ann Arbor, William Farah told County Prosecutor Eli Savit, "LOCK HIM UP. Don’t be soft on him. None of this ‘cashless bond’…
Michigan Bar Association Needs to End the Legal Careers of Judges and Lawyers Who are Domestic Abusers
by Sterling George
A recent video showed Jason Kolkema, a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan and nominee for a judicial candidate for the Circuit Court judge in Muskegon County, allegedly whipping his girlfriend with his belt.…
Ann Arbor Restauranteur Sava Lelcaj Farah Attacked by Knife-Wielding Man in Downtown Ann Arbor
by P.D. Lesko
On Oct. 25, a knife-wielding man allegedly attacked long-time downtown restauranteur Sava Lelcaj Farah near Sava, her restaurant on State Street in Ann Arbor. According to an email sent by William Farah (Sava's husband) to…
Public Records Suggest County Commissioners Defrauded the Federal Government By Awarding $1.2M Grant to Supreme Felons, Inc.
by P.D. Lesko
Public records, including from the State of Michigan's Business Licensing Bureau (LARA), the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the Michigan Dept. of Education, comments from superintendents of the Ypsilanti Public Schools and…