FOIA

Editor's Note: Ward One City Council candidate Rebecca Arends used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain public records to try to understand why, several years after City Council allocated more than $3.5 million to shape and implement…

by P.D. Lesko Scio Twp. resident Pam Boyd submitted a FOIA request to obtain a copy of "the note" several months ago. Boyd's FOIA request was approved by Scio Twp. Clerk Jessica Flintoft, but the Clerk did not provide Boyd a copy of the…

by Michael D. LaFaive Attorney General Dana Nessel said in June that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was stonewalling her department’s investigation into a $20 million state grant. The corporation has a long history of…

On Sept, 11, 2024 and Sept. 13, 2024 two Freedom of Information Act requests for 2023 financial records were submitted to Billy Cole, President/CEO of the local, county-funded non-profit Supreme Felons, Inc. Cole answered both FOIA…

by P.D. Lesko Miller Johnson attorney James A. Buster faced three incredulous Michigan Appeals Court judges. The first question asked of Mr. Buster was telling: "Why isn't this moot?" Buster offered no arguments why his appeal on…

by P.D. Lesko On June 3, 2024, the Ann Arbor Independent filed a FOIA lawsuit in the Washtenaw County Trial Court against Washtenaw County. The suit was filed to compel the County to release the background check done on Sheriff’s…

Motion to Disqualify JudgeDownload by P.D. Lesko On Feb. 18, 2024, the newspaper received an email from Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Tracy E. Van den Bergh's clerk stating that, in response to a Motion to Disqualify…

by P.D. Lesko Washtenaw County recently hired former Sheriff's Dept. employee Derrick Jackson as the County's Racial Equity Officer. He began the job on Dec. 16. Jackson's hire is proof positive that cronyism is still a very serious…

by P.D. Lesko In the space of just a few weeks, the Washtenaw County Trial Court has been asked repeatedly by attorneys to sanction The Ann Arbor Independent for the publication of two investigative articles. In the latest instance,…

NOTE: This reporting was made possible by the Ann Arbor Independent's FOIA Fund. Donate today! by P.D. Lesko In March 2024, the Ann Arbor Independent made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Washtenaw County for the…