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…
AAPS Administrator Contracts—Annual Bonuses, Golden-Handcuff Payments & 43 Paid Vacation Days
THE ANN ARBOR Independent used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get copies of the employment contracts between the AAPS Board of Education and the school district’s top-level administrators, including Superintendent Dr.…
Food Gatherers Announces $50,000 Matching Gift Challenge
A LOCAL ANONYMOUS donor has offered to match, dollar for dollar, financial gifts made to Food Gatherers up to $50,000 through Monday, March 31. With the match in place, donations to Food Gatherers of one dollar will provide enough food for…
Critics Allege Secondhand Drug Money Helped Finance Sabra Briere’s Reelection To City Council In November 2013
IN HER 2013 City Council race, almost half of Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere’s 2013 campaign funds came from money donated by the owners of medical marijuana dispensaries. The owner of a local dispensary held a fundraiser for Briere…
THE ENVIRONMENT: John Hieftje’s Legacy—Ann Arbor’s Neglected Infrastructure—Water Main Breaks, Sewage Spills
YELLOWSTONE DRIVE is approximately 1/3 of a mile long, a quiet side street located between Green Road and Bluett, on the city’s northeast side. It takes about 10 minutes to stroll from one end of Yellowstone to the other. According to…
OP-ED: The Selection Of The University Of Michigan’s 14th President And 13th White Male
DR. MARK SCHLISSEL, a former Provost from Brown University and a long-time Dean of Biological Sciences from UC-Berkleley, will take over from Dr. Mary Sue Coleman. Whether Dr. Schlissel will prove to be the Board of Regents’ own RichRod…
ARTS & LEISURE: Looking To Make The World A Better Place? Read Crime Fiction
by Ken Wishnia
Sometimes the only place where bankers go to jail for their criminal activities is in the pages of crime fiction.
LET’S FACE IT: some of the most ideologically committed people rarely read fiction, even socially…