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

CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS are preparing themselves for the Battle of the Budget. There is a $450,000 “surplus,” over which Council members are expected to compete. This petty cash, as it were, distracts from the reality that Council members must…

THE DISCIPLINE GAP. Put simply, the term describes the gap between the number of minority students (primarily Black and Hispanic) and white students who are formally disciplined and/or expelled from the public schools they attend. Data from…

ANN ARBOR’S CITY Administrator Steve Powers, in explaining why a snow emergency had not been called in order to facilitate faster more efficient clearing of the 11 inches of snow that fell between January 4-5 claimed “a snow emergency has…

The Influenza A (H1N1) virus, which became pandemic in 2009-2010 with at least 18,138 global deaths, has staged a comeback in the U.S., including Ann Arbor. IT WAS RECENTLY reported that, “Health officials at University of Michigan…

by Warren Liverance LATELY, BOTH LIBERAL and conservative blogospheres are abuzz with discussion of the “The Common Core.” It seems that for once, the majority of both sides oppose something that would be bad for the country. Since this…

There were at least 49 book bannings or removals from the classroom in 2013. CENSORSHIP OF BOOKS is increasing across the United States.  A new report by the Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP), an initiative of the National Coalition…

IN A RECENT issue of The Ann Arbor Independent, the newspaper published an article which identified a cluster of Ann Arbor elementary schools at which fewer than 10 percent of the fifth grade students have scored “Advanced” on the MEAP in…

GOOD NEWS FOR struggling writers: the key to sustaining your lifestyle is to go to a city that’s struggling more. A new nonprofit organization called Write-A-House, located in Detroit, Michigan (which, earlier this year, became the…

ON SECOND THOUGHT, perhaps the revolution will be televised. And “Liked.”  And “Tweeted.”And commemorated with an emblazoned equality sign via millions of Facebook profiles. And co-opted by Smirnoff vodka.  And then blessed by Her Lady of…

by P.D. Lesko THE WINTER CLASSIC hockey game that drew over 109,000 people to Michigan Stadium for a match-up between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs showed off the best of Ann Arbor and the worst of Ann Arbor. Having…