Ann Arbor News

WEMU AS WELL AS The Ann Arbor News recently reported on data contained in a Peer Comparison Report released by Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority officials which focuses on a comparison of per passenger costs with “peer public transit…

FROM A TRAIN STATION to sidewalks, the city’s 2015-2020 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is jam-packed with projects that city staff suggest will “provide for large, physical improvements that are permanent in nature that are needed for the…

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…

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…

AT THE NOVEMBER 18th City Council meeting, five Council members and Mayor John Hieftje voted to elect Ward 4 Council member Margie Teall Mayor Pro Tempore. Teall, who has served on City Council since 2002, has the worst meeting attendance…

Please note: Kai Petainen sits on The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board. SINCE 2009 ANN Arbor’s elected officials have given Ann Arbor SPARK over $5.1 million dollars in public money. In addition, a Washtenaw County tax has…

ROBB WOULFE, THE Executive and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, will be stepping down from his role to take up a new post in Colorado. He will become the new Chief Executive Officer of cultural arts for the city of…

AT THE NOVEMBER 7th City Council meeting, Ward 4 City Council member Margie Teall made an observation: She said that Ann Arbor locals shop at big box stores and that downtown is supported by “tourists.” It should be noted that Teall did not…

ANN ARBOR CITY Attorney Stephen K. Postema has represented the City Council as its legal eagle since 2003. He advises the Mayor, City Council, City Administrator and oversees the City Attorney’s Office, with a staff of 10 attorneys and a…

MAYOR JOHN HIEFTJE’S propensity to populate the city’s boards and commissions with what City Council members allege are his political cronies has long irked political insiders. This, among other reasons, is why there is a quiet movement…