Jeff Irwin

THE MAJORITY OF the new and returning members of the Michigan House of Representatives can boast perfect attendance records with respect to the 534 roll call votes taken between January and December 2013. Michigan legislators earn $71,865…

ANN ARBOR OFFICIALS who serve in Lansing recently voted on reform bills that require those who apply for welfare and unemployment benefits to be tested for illegal drug use. Those who test positive for illegal drug use would be denied their…

Editor’s Note: Representative Jeff Irwin contributes to the newspaper’s “House Calls” column. 52nd District State Representative Gretchen Driskell is planning to run for re-election in 2014. Over the past year, Representative Driskell…

Editor’s Note: Kathy Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board. THE WASHTENAW BIKING and Walking Coalition, a small local alternative transportation advocacy group, recently launched an online petition drive to…

THE HOUSE JUDICIARY Committee recently approved House Bill 4770, which among other things, attempts to define what a journalist is to restrict access to motor vehicle accident reports for a period of 30 days after the accident. The…

A2P Notes: This piece originally ran in April 2011. In the interim, much has changed, politically, in our state. The Michigan GOP and Governor Rick Snyder have waged a relentless war on unions, teachers, reproductive rights, gays, voting…

by P.D. Lesko When I taught college, one writing assignment I most enjoyed was having my students compose letters to their elected officials. One woman chose to write a letter to the President. A couple of weeks later, she found her…

by P.D. Lesko Saline's mayor, Gretchen Driskell, formed an "exploratory committee" in February 2012 to see if she could have a snowball's chance in hell of winning back the 52nd District State House seat from Repblican Mark Ouimet. The…

by P.D. Lesko The public speaker, an older woman who rides the bus regularly, recounted a conversation with a friend who lives outside of Ann Arbor: "My friend said to me that she wished the AATA buses would run near her house so she could…

By Chris Savage On November 2, 2011, the Michigan Senate passed Senate Bill 137, a bill they called "Matt's Safe Schools Law." The bill, sponsored by Republican Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, passed on a 100 percent party line vote with no…