Poet and Writer Naomi Shihab Nye Set Her Latest Middle-Grade-Fiction Novel, “The Turtle of Michigan,” in Ann Arbor
by Jenn McKee
Naomi Shihab Nye is best known for her poetry—she was chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2010-15, and the Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate from 2019-21.
So perhaps it’s no surprise…
Michigan Senate Passes Red Flag, Safe Storage Gun Bills
by Scott McClallen
(The Center Square) –The Michigan Senate passed gun legislation on party lines Thursday.
The bill package aims to expand background checks, enact safe storage requirements, and add red flag laws.
The bills…
Ypsilanti Superintendent Says County Contractor Sent Felons to Middle School Without Permission
by P.D. Lesko
Correction: YCS School Board member Dr. Celeste Hawkins was inadvertently identified as the YCS spokesman who contacted The Ann Arbor Independent on March 14 by phone and spoke on the record. The article has been updated,…
Whitmer Copies the Failed Corporate Giveaway Initiatives of Her Predecessors
by Jaime A. Hope
From green energy to college credits, Whitmer plays the classics from the Snyder and Granholm eras
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a habit of repeating some actions of her immediate predecessors, despite their problems.
…
In 2012, Council Decimated the Forestry Dept., Officials Now Ask for “Patience” as Branches Remain Uncleared
The City of Ann Arbor has contracted Davey Tree Expert Company to augment city staff efforts to pick up branches from the recent ice and snow storms. Streets, sidewalks, trash collection, trees in the right-of-way, water and sewers are all…
City Council Votes to Crack Down on Scofflaws Parking in Bike Lanes–Including Delivery Drivers
by P.D. Lesko
Ann Arbor recently applied for and was awarded Gold-level status by the League of American Bicyclists. Cities self-report bicycling infrastructure (i.e. whether bike lanes are cleaned and plowed) in an application for…
Foolmoon Celebration to Return to Kerrytown on April 7
Correction: Jennifer Goulet did not found the WonderFool Productions. She was the organization's Executive Director.
by Stephanie McIntyre
The foolish fun kicks off with a “Month of Making” – March is full of workshops and…
Sen. Jeff Irwin’s Proposed Elimination of “Assets Based Test” for State Food Assistance is Not Good Enough
Note: According to a Feb. 27 article in MLive.com, "Senate Bill 35 introduced in January would delete the asset testing requirement used by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to determine eligibility for the…
DTE Can’t Tree Trim its Way to Reliability
After ice storms and thundersnow cause mass outages, DTE must admit: Burying power lines underground is the answer
By James David Dickenson
DTE will never trim enough trees to avoid mass power outages in Southeast Michigan.
Every…
Michigan Senate Passes Historic LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Protections
by Laina Stebbens, Michigan Advance
A key civil rights bill on Wednesday cleared the Michigan Senate, marking a key step toward solidifying protections for LGBTQ+ Michiganders that advocates have been waiting for decades to see adopted.…