Ann Arbor News

by P.D. Lesko At the moment, Ann Arbor City Council members are trying to assert their Charter-mandated authority over the Board of the Downtown Development Authority like a parent trying to discipline a hopelessly out-of-control toddler…

by P.D. Lesko Today, Jack Eaton announced his candidacy first via email to a loosely-organized group of neighborhood activists, city and county politicians. He wrote, "I wanted all of you to hear it from me, because so many of you have…

UNDER FORMER CITY administrator Roger Fraser, the amounts paid out in tax dollars for cell phone allowances increased almost 95 percent between 2009 and 2012. By 2012, 196 of the city's 693 full-time employees had been given cell phone…

In Ann Arbor, despite repeated cuts to services, cuts to police and fire, and hikes in fees for parking, parking fines, water, sewer, solid waste and city programs, cell phone allowances for city staffers, many of whom have desk jobs,…

John Hieftje and his political pals have a reputation of ignoring public opinion. Perhaps the most egregious example was a 2008 Council meeting at which petitions with 6,000 signatures were presented to Council to urge them to put the…

by Rob Smith On December 12, 2012 Governor Rick Snyder was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying that "Michigan is well-positioned for a comeback." A few days later, for the third year, Forbes Magazine ranked Michigan 47th in Forbes’…

REPUBLICANS, TEA PARTIERS and malcontents have blamed Obamacare for the rise in health insurance premiums. Republicans in Washington complain that Obamacare will result in soaring costs for health care providers. Progressive Washington DC…

by P.D. Lesko Freedom of Information Act requests are governed by the notion that public government has the obligation to err on the side of transparency. It is also governed by the principle that if public records released would benefit…

by P.D. Lesko On November 6, 2012 the firmament trembled in Ann Arbor—the political landscape opened up and swallowed local politicos and their monied donors whole, casting the owner of Main Street Ventures, members of the Downtown…

by P.D. Lesko Librarians are all about the numbers—exact numbers: Dewey decimals, due dates, number of copies, and call numbers. The Executive Director of the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) is all about numbers, too. However, her…