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

ACCORDING TO A new report titled “Monitoring the Culture of Sustainability at the University of Michigan,” dated Fall 2013, despite being provided with free rides on city buses, fewer than 10 percent of U-M’s 6,431 faculty and 35,846 staff…

CHRISTINE STEAD IS the Vice President of the AAPS Board of Education. She comes to her interview dressed conservatively. She is not an Ann Arbor Birkenstock Board Bohemian. She is warm, smooth—not smarmy—in her answers and the definition of…

by Donna Iadipaolo THIS FALL, HAISLEY Elementary School became the first school in the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) to participate in the national “Little Free Library” (LFL) program. The Little Free Library movement began in 2009…

MORE THAN 7,200 people who won at least $1,000 in the Michigan Lottery last year were living in households that received public assistance, according to a state report. According to DHS director Maura Corrigan’s 3-page report, “In 2013,…

A majority of Michigan voters prefer a candidate that supports action on climate change and clean, renewable energy, according to a new poll released today by the national League of Conservation Voters, NRDC Action Fund and NextGen Climate…

by P.D. Lesko Veronique Liem has lived in the U.S. for 40 years, but she has a European sensibility. During the primary election season, unlike Probate Court candidate Tracy Van den Bergh, Liem made campaign donations to a number of…

THE WHITMORE LAKE Public Schools may be a short distance from Ann Arbor just up US-23, but the two school districts are plagued by the same financial woes and the Whitmore Lake district’s student performance as measured by the MEAP, SAT and…

With just days to go in the race to fill four seats on the AAPS Board of Education, Deirdre Piper has withdrawn from the crowded field of 10 candidates. She sent this statement is response to a question about her withdrawl from the race:…

I’m writing to you because I am passionate about the fact that we need someone as our next U.S. Senator that understands how important the Great Lakes are to Michigan’s economy and way of life. I firmly believe the person for the job is…

Editor: Democratic candidate for mayor Christopher Taylor has repeatedly commented on the need to encourage “young people to choose Ann Arbor.” We sent our 17-year-old high school intern, Micaela Stevenson, to the League of Women Voters…