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

Using a tax increment financing scheme, since 2006, over $5 million dollars have been diverted from the cash-strapped public schools and given to Ann Arbor SPARK officials. WHILE ANN ARBOR  Public Schools officials, parents and students…

SPENDING ON LOBBYING was down across the board in 2012, but  the education industry led the way in tightening the purse strings. According to OpenSecrets.org, “In 2011, the industry, which includes both for-profit and nonprofit colleges and…

by Lynn Parramore IF YOU’VE GOT the money, there’s hardly anything you can’t buy in America. You can purchase a cushy upgrade to your prison cell, an internship at a famous magazine, or a fast-track through airport security. You can even…

ANN ARBOR CITY Council member Sally Hart Petersen announced in a press release sent to the media on January 14 that she plans to run for mayor. Petersen, elected to represent Ward 2 in 2012, unseated former state legislator Tony Derezinski…

by Drew Dellinger WHEN MARTIN Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, he did something extraordinary for a speaker mounting a challenge to the existing order: he positioned those in his movement not as outsiders and dissidents,…

A REPORTER FOR The Weather Channel stood in a Minnesota snowstorm, talking about local efforts to move homeless children into heated shelters. “How cold is it supposed to get?” the anchor, back in the studio, asked. The reporter replied:…

THE END IS near! Page-sniffers, mourn the loss of our dog-eared friends! I MEAN … HURRAH for a library that saves trees! (Sob.) BiblioTech is an all-digital public library on the south side of San Antonio, Texas that offers 10,000 titles…

THE ATLANTIC RECENTLY compiled a year’s worth of writing advice from authors like Amy Tan, Michael Pollan, and Stephen King, all condensed into one tidy article. Notably, Pollan credits digging around in the dirt with helping him solidify…

I think you need to check your math. You say the AnnArborChronicle.com received for City advertising about $18,000 during a 30 month period (two and one half years). If the AnnArborChronicle.com has annual revenues of about $100,000,…

by Lynn Parramore CAN ART DO anything for the 99%? The case of Charles Dickens argues that yes—when genius, perseverance, activism, and admittedly, luck, combine, artistic creations can spark fires that burn through encrusted layers of…