Interview: Ingrid Ault Talks About Why You Should “Think Local First”
1. Talk a little about Think Local First and how the organization has grown since its inception.
In 2003 our founder Lisa Dugdale gathered the original 25 businesses that started Think Local First of Washtenaw County. In the past ten…
Council Members Sending Private Electronic Communications During Open Meetings
WARD 5 COUNCIL member Chuck Warpehoski, in violation of Council rules and, perhaps, Michigan’s Open Meetings Act law, has used email and Twitter on multiple occasions during the months of November and December during open meetings. At the…
“Retired” Ann Arbor City Employees Earning $100K+ While Collecting Taxpayer Funded Health Care/Pension Benefits
AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2012, Ann Arbor city engineer Homayoon Pirooz “retired” with a pension funded by the taxpayers of Ann Arbor. However, in a scenario that has become common, Mr. Pirooz did not retire. He took a new job—a full-time position…
Deliverance: Charter Schools, Political Payback & Union Busting
by Warren Liverance
OUR LEGISLATURE AND governor set their sights on the reform of the public education system. According to a Free Press article “more than 50 percent of high schools have fewer than 10 percent of their students…
GOP Leaders Teach That Educators Are Costly Parasites. Are Americans Really Uneducated Enough To Believe It?
by Chris Savage
TO SAY THAT Republicans are on a mission to destroy unions in this country is not an understatement. Across the country, and particularly in the Midwest, Republican legislators and governors have spent the past three…
A2Politico: The New Jim Crow
by P.D. Lesko
MY TWO SONS have been, at various times, advanced in social studies, reading, mathematics and science, according to their scores on the MEAP tests. During the past two years, their overall proficiency scores dropped…
Emails Reveal Editor of Local News Site And Council Member Crossed Ethical Lines With Communications
NO THEY’RE NOT exchanging racy comments. However, a Freedom of Information Act request uncovered 130 pages of emails between David Askins, the editor of a local news site called AnnArborChronicle.com, and Ward 1 City Council member Sabra…
Urban Exile: Food Stamp Cuts Hurt Children, Education and the Economy
by Michael J. Brennan
MICHIGANDERS ARE feeling the sting of a slow economic recovery — especially throughout Greater Detroit — and the lingering effects of the Great Recession are hitting families each night around the dinner table. As…
America’s Dumbest Idea: Creating A Multiple-Choice Test Generation
A FEW YEARS ago, I met with my former high school social studies teacher to catch up over drinks. “Miss F” was one of my favorite teachers and we hadn’t seen each other in about 12 years. As we reminisced about our field trips, my other…
The Number Of Rapes and Forcible Fondling Complaints At The University of Michigan Rose Sharply In 2012
THE NUMBER OF forcible rapes committed on the University of Michigan’s campus and/or reported to the University’s police dropped from a high of 75 in 2005 to a low of 8 in 2010.
Between 2011 and 2012, however, the number of forcible…