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

Michigan is known as the Great Lakes State for a reason. However, if we continue to allow deep drilling endeavors there will be little reason to claim this namesake. Hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking,” places the resources of…

AT ITS MOST recent meeting, the Ann Arbor City Council once again showed a deplorable lack of respect for transparency, process and the public, as did City Administrator Steve Powers. At the September 2 meeting, an item to approve $75,000…

by Emily Schuster Wachsberger INFANT MORTALITY Awareness Month is observed nationally every September. In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder has fine-tuned that designation and proclaimed September as Infant Safe Sleep Awareness Month.…

A NEW POLL shows the Michigan Senate race is tightening, with Republican Terri Lynn Land gaining ground, but Democratic Rep. Gary Peters still holds a solid lead. The poll, conducted by EPIC/MRA for WXYZ-TV 7 and the Detroit Free Press,…

by Stephen Lange Ranzini SINCE I LIVE downtown immediately next to the newly constructed section of Huron between Ashley and Main, I have carefully observed the management of the Jackson Road reconstruction project and want to express my…

by P.D. Lesko THE EXECUTIVE Committee of the Ann Arbor Dems recently voted on a proposal put forward at the group’s most recent meeting to “close the books” on Chair Mike Henry’s $6,000 in cash withdrawls. The group voted to accept…

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES rose in 30 states last month, even as employers in two-thirds of the states stepped up hiring. The trends reflect an increase in job hunters nationwide as an improving economy encourages more people to seek work. The…

OVER THE PREVIOUS week, there were 76 crimes reported by the AAPD. That’s up from 62 crimes reported the week of Aug. 18-25. Fraud and theft/larceny topped the list of crimes reported. Over the past six months, theft/larceny (527 crimes…

THE NATIONAL GROUP Attendance Works released state-by-state school attendance data and data for the nation’s 21 large, urban districts. In the report issued last week, the authors say school absenteeism is a national challenge. Almost a…

All Michiganders should be alarmed about frack waste coming from other states, not just residents who live near the receiving landfill.  Citizens should be alarmed even if the load doesn’t glow, like the one from Washington County,…