Urban Exile: Lifestyles of the Down and Out—Tent Cities in America
by Erika K.
“To be shelterless and alone in the open country, hearing the wind moan and watching for day through the whole long weary night; to listen to the falling rain, and crouch for warmth beneath the lee of some old barn or rick, or…
Who Are Ann Arbor’s Own 1 Percent? Hint: Many Work for Local Nonprofits & In the Public Sector
The New York Times recently published a feature about the 1 Percent. Reporters Shaila Dewan and Robert Gebeloff write: "Now, the colossal gap between the very rich and everyone else — the 1 percent versus the 99 percent — has become a…
Residents Say “No Go” to Mayor’s Plan To Pay For County-Wide & Regional Transit With City Millage
by P.D. Lesko
The public speaker, an older woman who rides the bus regularly, recounted a conversation with a friend who lives outside of Ann Arbor: "My friend said to me that she wished the AATA buses would run near her house so she could…
MoveOn.org Urges Ann Arbor Residents to Run for Local Office To “Fight Cuts to Crucial Services”
by P.D. Lesko
MoveOn.org sent out a mass email this afternoon to thousands of members of the group's Ann Arbor email list. The first sentence of the email reads: "If you were mayor of Ann Arbor, what would be the first thing you'd do? Make…
Council Members in Open Revolt: Challenge Mayor & Insist Transit Proposal Is Seriously Flawed
by P.D. Lesko
Third Ward Council member Stephen Kunselman has been a pain in John Hieftje's butter dish ever since Kunselman knocked off Leigh Greden in the 2009 stunner of a primary election. While Kunselman won by a 6 vote margin, Greden…
Michigan Rising: Aiming to Recall Snyder—While Disgruntled Former Volunteers Target Michigan Rising
by Chris Savage
Michigan Rising, the group formerly known as the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder (CRRS), was unsuccessful in its bid to recall Michigan's governor last year. The challenges the group faced, discussed in my previous piece,…
Head of AATA Admits in Email That “Many Folks” Prefer That Millage Money Fund Existing City-Wide Transit, Not Proposed County-Wide Plan
by P.D. Lesko
In September 2011, former Ann Arbor News reporter Tom Gantert did what he does best: published the truth. In point of fact, writing for Michigan Capitol Confidential, Gantert published information about the pay of staffers at…
Politico Who Understated City Debt By $215,000,000 In Open Letter To Newspaper Complains About “Misinformation”
by P.D. Lesko
Fifth Ward Council member Mike Anglin sent out an email on January 15, 2012 in which he urged Ann Arbor residents to vocally oppose John Hieftje's proposal that Ann Arbor enter into a regional transportation agreement under…
Via Email Blast Local Politicos Urge Public To Rise Up & Stop Mayor’s Anti-Democratic Scheming
by P.D. Lesko
In 2004, the Ann Arbor News Editorial Board published an endorsement of Hieftje's mayoral opponent that included this zinger, preserved for posterity by Google:
“Hieftje’s largest failure is not one of vision, but leadership.…
The Culture Vulture: Movies That Deserve A Sequel
by Nick Leshi
Entertainment Weekly had a cool little article about movies that were produced full of potential to become huge franchises, but plans for sequels fizzled with their miniscule box-office performance. It lists Dune, …