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

ON SEPT. 4,  Michigan’s minimum wage will rise to $8.15 from $7.40. Back on May 28, Michigan legislators passed The Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, under the auspices of which the state’s minimum wage will increase from $7.40 to $9.25 per…

by Holly Eagleson Shockbox helmet sensors are bringing football-safety technology to high schoolers around the country. AS PRESEASON games get under way on gridirons across the country, there’s been unusually positive news about…

AS THE LARGEST city in U.S. history to declare bankruptcy and home of the infamous Eight Mile Road, Detroit might not be the first place that comes to mind if you’re a writer looking for community. But in the wake of a decades-long exodus…

by P.D. Lesko THE U-M FOIA official sent a letter requesting $60 to examine one month of that institution’s FOIA log. This was after I received a handwritten list of FOIAs submitted to U-M that covered a two week period and a letter…

by Helen Aminoff A FRIEND OF ours gave me a copy of an article that appeared in The Ann Arbor Independent’s 23 July issue, written by Donna Nevel entitled “The Problem With Israel: The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians.”  I would like to…

FORMER ANN ARBOR City Council member Tony Derezinski (D-Ward 2) is launching a bid for a spot on the Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees. Derezinki, who once batted around the idea of running for mayor, was defeated in the 2012…

ANN ARBOR PUBLIC Schools recently received a poor rating from the Michigan Department of Education on that district’s school reportcard. Local officials argued that the district’s “high diversity” makes it difficult to meet the state’s high…

A new budgeting strategy which Dr. Bellanca says aligns spending with the college’s strategic priorities has faculty up in arms. The college’s latest budget ups funding for instruction and instructional support by 1.4 percent while funding…

OVER THE PREVIOUS week, there were 62 crimes reported by the AAPD. That’s up from 54 crimes reported the preceding week. Assault, fraud, theft/larceny topped the list of crimes reported. Over the past six months, theft/larceny (513 crimes…

ANN ARBOR NATURAL  Area Preservation (NAP) works to protect and restore Ann Arbor’s natural areas and to foster an environmental ethic among its citizens. This involves conducting plant and animal inventories, ecological monitoring, and…