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

MICHIGAN RESIDENTS who buy from Amazon, Overstock and some other online retailers will be forced to pay the state’s 6 percent sales tax starting in October, a move to close what backers say is a loophole that has left traditional businesses…

by P.D. Lesko At the Jan. 5, 2015 Council meeting, speakers at two public hearings urged officials to lower the maximum height in a zoning change proposed by city staff to accommodate a property owner whose 1.6 acre parcel borders a…

by P.D. Lesko FROM SETBACKS TO obscure acronyms such as D-1 and D-2, it might be tough to understand how 11 adults could possibly have anything to snipe at each other about while discussing zoning regulations. However, on Jan. 5, the…

IN 2010, MICHIGAN passed a law that made it illegal to text and drive. The results of this policy change are in and they’re disappointing. In the May 2014 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers published the results of a…

by Donna Iadipaolo A LONG-TIME ANN Arbor resident and former traditional, brick-and-mortar classroom science teacher, is transforming the way thousands of teachers, students, and the general public think and learn about physics through…

FIRE CHIEF LARRY Collins was welcomed to his new job at a ceremony held last Friday. He was sworn in and feted at a reception. It was an event attended by City Council members, as well as members of the Ann Arbor Fire Department and the Ann…

by P.D. Lesko CHRIS GOOD IS a former People’s Food Co-op staff member. He also served as the President of the Co-op’s Board of Directors. In 2013, he brought together 50 businesses and musicians for the “Buy Local” music video project.…

By Lou Glorie I’M NOT CHARLIE. It seems that almost every day some outrage is reported that sends one into a tail-spin of despair for the human soul.  The brutal attack on the Charlie Hebdo office was one of those events that seems to…

The City of Ann Arbor strives to maintain roads in the winter in order to provide a driving surface that is safe to use at reasonable speeds. The city does not follow a bare pavement policy. DEFINITIONS: Trunk line: defined by state…

OVER THE PREVIOUS six months, there were 2,328 crimes reported by the AAPD. In 2013, there were a total of 6,440 crimes reported by the AAPD to the Michigan State Police. In 2012, there were 6,836 crimes reported by the AAPD to the Michigan…