OP-ED: Comcast’s Takeover of Time Warner Is A Horrible Deal For Consumers
By Dan Gillmore
AS COMCAST PUSHES regulators to approve its just-announced deal to buy out Time Warner Cable, it’ll make one essential point: the acquisition won’t visibly change the competitive landscape for TV and internetcustomers.…
THE PARENT TRAP: Child-Centric Parents: What to Do About Them
By Jason Hill
I LOVE KIDS. Honestly. For years I dreamed of adopting one, but my partner has no interest in being a parent and, truth be told, the happier I became with my own life the less I wanted a child. We have a lot of friends with…
HOUSE CALLS: Ann Arbor’s State Representative Discusses Lowering The Income Tax Rate Versus Entitlements
Representative Jeff Irwin, a Democrat, served for a decade as a Washtenaw County Commissioner. In January 2013, he began his second term in the Michigan House of Representatives. In his column, “House Calls,” The Ann Arbor Independent poses…
Deliverance: I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke
by Warren Liverance
IN THE FIRST few days following The Superbowl, the narrative consisted of the demonization of the people who were offended by “the Coke ad.” The one in which America the Beautiful was sung in several languages…
Ann Arbor District Library Surveys Patrons As Part Of Beefed Up Communications Plan
IN FEBRUARY 2014, Lansing-based EPIC-MRA began contacting 500-600 Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) residents about their satisfaction with the library. EPIC-MRA will be paid $25,000 to conduct the survey.
According to Nancy Kaplan, who…
Better Transit Now Group Launches In Opposition To AAATA Request For Tax Hike
Please note: Kathy Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board.
SUPPORTERS OF LOCAL transit argue that Mayor John Hieftje has pushed everything but local transit—trains to Howell, park and rides and bus service…
Op-Ed: The Four Most Profound Ways Privatization Perverts Education
by Paul Buchheit
PROFIT-SEEKING IN the banking and health care industries has victimized Americans. Now it’s beginning to happen in education, with our children as the products. There are good reasons - powerful reasons - to stop the…
Partners For Transit Group Backs AAATA Tax Hike Proposal—A Look At Who’s Who In The Coalition
A COMMITTEE CALLING itself Partners For Transit (PFT) filed papers to register with Washtenaw County’s Elections Division in 2010; the date the committee was formed is listed on the Statement of Organization as November 18, 2009. The…
Between 2009 and 2013, Cell Phone Allowance Costs For City Employees Rose 46 Percent
It appears that not only is Ann Arbor paying employees the total cost of their cell phone plans, but in some instances pays employees almost 2.5 times more than the monthly cost of popular cell phone/texting plans.
CELL PHONE COSTS paid…
A2Politico: The Ann Arbor Observer—“As you know, we made a serious error in reporting…”
by P.D. Lesko
IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when I opened the February 2014 issue of The Ann Arbor Observer and discovered my photo. The title of the piece? “A $250,000 Election: This Year’s City Council Race Is Shaping Up As The Most Expensive…