Letter to the Editor: Michigan Legislature Must Deal With “Period Poverty”
by Lysne Tait
Anyone who has had a period knows that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you don’t have the products you need when you need them. Being a teen is already hard enough, but lack of menstrual products…
Ann Arbor City Council Virtue-Signalling: Why the Kathy Kozachenko Statue Doesn’t Make Sense
by Thomas F. Wieder
The Ann Arbor City Council’s recent passage of Its Resolution to Initiate a Statue to Honor Kathy Kozachenko is one of the odder and most ill-conceived Council actions that I have observed in more than a half-century…
Violent Crime and Growing Homelessness Are Destroying Ypsilanti and Its Small Businesses
9/20/23: This story was edited to remove a mention of the Ypsilanti Public Library.
by Monica Ross-Williams
“I’m 83-years-old, have lived in Ypsilanti all my life and I’m afraid to visit downtown Ypsilanti,” an Ypsilanti community…
Police Investigating Former Ypsi City Manager for Alleged Crimes Related to Use of City Credit Card
by P.D. Lesko
In response to tips from Ypsilanti city employees, The Ann Arbor Independent submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act requests about the credit card usage of former Ypsilanti City Manager Frances McMullan. A Sept. 12…
Rep. Carrie Rheingans Introduces House Bill 4947 That Will Allow Rent Control in Michigan
Correction: Rheingans was running against Jenn Cornell in the Ward 5 primary election, not Erica Briggs. Rheingans was opposed in the Democratic primary election for the House seat.
by P.D. Lesko
Ann Arbor, MI Rep. Carrie Rheingans…
Ypsi Twp. Clerk Heather Jarrell Roe “Heartbroken” Over Criticism That Anonymous, Unsupervised Felons “Patrol” Ypsi Township
Note: This article was made possible by the Ann Arbor Independent's FOIA Fund. To donate to the FOIA Fund, click here.
by P.D. Lesko
On Tuesday, August 15 the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees’ meeting agenda included Resolution…
Man Who Robbed Ann Arbor T-Mobile Store is Sentenced to 8 ½ Years in Prison by Federal Judge
On Aug. 21, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds sentenced Deon Bell to 8 ½ years in prison, his longest sentence to date. Bell, a Michigan resident, robbed a T-Mobile store in downtown Ann Arbor, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison…
U-M Grad Workers Approve New Contract That Guarantees 20 Percent Salary Hike, Not 60 Percent
by Kyle Davidson
Graduate student employees gathered Friday on the steps of the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan to celebrate the ratification of their new contract, following a five-month-long strike.
The…
County Commissioners Forcing Ypsi Township to Accept “Dispatch and Patrol Services” Provided By Violent Felons Violates Michigan Law
by Monica Ross-Williams
For decades, Washtenaw County and its government were models for what good governance could look like.On Tuesday, August 15, 2023 that changed, when four Washtenaw County Commissioners, Annie Somerville …
Is Ypsi Twp. Targeting a “Black-Owned Business,” or Protecting the Township From a Dangerous Public Nuisance?
by P.D. Lesko
At the Aug. 24 hearing on the matter of Ypsilanti Twp. vs. Ardis Lewis, Jr., Men Like Us and Lily Investments, Inc. before the Honorable Timothy P. Connors in the Washtenaw County Trial Court, the podium was crowded. The…