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

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, AADL officials turned over 1,307 pages of incident reports generated by library staff during 2013. A total of 160 of the incidents involved patrons sleeping on library premises. ON…

by Jill Richardson I KNOW I shouldn’t be, but I am shocked by Americans’ laziness. We look for the closest parking spot to the gym so that we don’t have to walk those extra few steps. We indulge in watching more cooking shows, yet…

by J.H. Mae I HATE IT when people talk about the weather. It’s such a dull, over worn topic, but here I go, talking about the weather myself.Winter doesn’t bother me, especially now that I work from home. But even when I didn’t – even…

by Jill Richardson KRIS HOMME, A retired engineer, did not know what was happening to her. At age 33, she was diagnosed with macular degeneration — a disease that usually does not appear until old age. Not one to give up, she somehow…

by Cliff Weathers WHEN WE THINK of counterfeit products, we may envision cheap watches, sunglasses, or handbag knock-offs sold by edgy street vendors or shadowy guys in trench coats. These are harmless enough as far as ripoffs go, with…

by David Roberts RICHARD LOUV IS an anecdote machine. As we milled about awaiting lunch-hour seating, he kept up a constant stream of witty, telling stories — about “no running” signs on playgrounds, clueless environmental leaders,…

SINCE NOVEMBER 2013, City Council members have shown they are prepared to more closely scrutinize proposed appointees to city boards and commissioners. Council’s newly-found backbone—comprised primarily of council members Mike Anglin in…

IN JANUARY 2011 Ann Arbor District Library Trustee Prue Rosenthal sent this email in response to news from the Library’s Executive Director that there had been two heroin overdose victims discovered at the Downtown Library: “Scary to think…

A MENTALLY DEMANDING  job may stress you out today but can provide important benefits after you retire, according to a new study. “Based on data spanning 18 years, our study suggests that certain kinds of challenging jobs have the…

by Jude Isabella TO LIVE A dementia-free life, exercise, have at least one friend, live an interesting life, don’t fret, and bring your library books back on time. Well, it’s not so much about bringing the books back on time as…