The Ann Arbor Independent - A locally owned newspaper in Ann Arbor

by Christian Usera “Stones in His Pockets” not only drowned a character during the show, but my expectations as well.  IT’S MARCH, WHICH brings to mind one ubiquitous holiday: Saint Patrick’s Day. It’s that time of year when…

Editor: Zoe Ash is a Junior at Ann Arbor Skyline High School and an intern at The Ann Arbor Independent. Beginning this week, she will be working on a project called Businesses of Ann Arbor. The photo essay project is a riff on the "Humans…

by Bryan Kelly I AM GOING door-to-door gathering signatures for a candidate (who isn’t me) to run for City Council in the partisan election. At least, I’m trying to gather signatures. Often, no one’s home when I visit, or their hiding…

REMOVAL OF GRAFFITI can cost a business owner between $500-$1,000 per incident. The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority Board’s allocation of $3,500 from a $29 million budget to fund $25 “grants” to downtown business owners is an…

ON MAR. 5, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters (Michigan LCV) released its 2013 - 2014 “How Green is Your Governor? Report Card,” assigning Governor Snyder an overall letter grade of “C” for the second half of his first term in…

by P.D. Lesko ON THURSDAY MAR. 12, Rep. Debbie Dingell delivered what was billed as a State-of-the-District speech. She spoke for 35 minutes to a group of around 100 people. At the luncheon, which took place at Weber’s Inn on Jackson Rd.…

This second piece in her High School Heroes interview series, The Ann Arbor Independent’s high school intern Stavi Tennenbaum talks to Pathways to Success Junior Joe Miller about how heroin addiction and recovery have impacted his family,…

by Brianne Recker ONE OF THE pillars of American law and society is the First Amendment, specifically governmental protection of citizens’ freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Another celebrated aspect of our national identity is…

LEGISLATORS SERVING ON the Michigan House Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors have passed three bills out of committee. House Bills 4188 (LaFontaine-32), 4189 (Santana-9), and 4190 (Leutheuser-58) aim to allow taxpayer funded…

by Jared Wadley DOES HAVING A college degree from a highly selective school make a difference in getting a well-paid job? Not if you’re African-American, says a University of Michigan researcher. A popular belief in U.S. society is…