EDITORIAL: Accountability
CITY ADMINISTRATOR STEVE Powers was hired in 2011. His job performance during the past 3 years has not yet been evaluated by City Council. The Charter requires Council to evaluate both the City Administrator and the City Attorney annually.…
OP-ED: Op-Ed: Want To Stop More Mass Killings? Don’t Assume Shooters Are Just Mentally Ill
by Steve Rosenfeld
WHAT COULD HAVE been done? What can be done now? These are the questions on most people’s minds after another senseless mass shooting, this one near the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Southern California…
An Interview With Lily Tomlin—Ernestine, Existentialism & Hope
by P.D. Lesko
“PLEASE, CALL ME Lily,” says the woman on the phone, with a warmth that doesn’t betray the obvious fact that she has extended the same invitation to scores of interviewers. She was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 1,…
Urban Exile: “Walmart Moms” Plan Strikes in 20 Cities, Protesting Lives of Foodstamps and Low Wages
by Karen McVeigh
WALMART WORKERS AND supporters in the trade union movement say they intend to stage a new series of protests over wages and conditions at America’s largest private employer, in which they will target the firm’s…
Huron River Watershed Council & Washtenaw Drain Commission Among Groups Awarded Grants by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
ON MAY 29, the DEQ announced grants totaling more than $3.1 million to improve water quality in Michigan lakes and streams. These grants will help reduce non-point sources of sediment, nutrients and other contaminants. Non-point source…
U-M Lecturers’ Union Prez Calls Administrative Pay Scheme “Opaqueness by design”
The University of Michigan employs 1,500 non-tenured faculty. In 2013, while several top-level administrators were secretly given six-figure incentives, bonuses and pay supplements, unionized lecturers received no salary increase due to…
Large Crowd, Gary Peters & Debbie Dingell Turn Out to Celebrate Ann Arbor African American Downtown Festival
by David Alexander
DURING THE MIDDLE of the last century, the intersection of Ann Street and North Fourth Avenue, in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, was the crossroads of the African American business district. Saturday, it played host…
Ann Arbor Skatepark Grand Opening Celebration Scheduled for June 21
ON JUNE 21 between the hours of 10 a.m.–6 p.m. the city will host the Ann Arbor Skatepark Grand Opening Celebration. Festivities will take place at Veterans Memorial Park, 2150 Jackson Road.
This event will feature a special…
In Two Separate Rulings U.S. District Judges Blast City Attorneys’ Legal Arguments
by P.D. Lesko
ANN ARBOR City Attorney Stephen Postema was dressed down in a 17-page opinion penned by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Zatkoff in May. The judge concluded city officials had no legal justification to keep Bob Dascola…
In Michigan, Lyme Disease is an Emerging Summer Health Danger
AS THE WEATHER warms, it is important to take precautions against mosquito and tick bites. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) recommends that people, especially those spending time outdoors and children at camps, take…