Rick Snyder

Please note: Kai Petainen is a member of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board. ON DECEMBER 4th Ann Arbor SPARK CEO and President Paul Krutko sent a letter to local elected officials, as well as the Ann Arbor City Administrator Steve…

by Warren Liverance OUR LEGISLATURE AND governor set their sights on the reform of the public education system. According to a Free Press article “more than 50 percent of high schools have fewer than 10 percent of their students…

ON NOVEMBER 8th, Huff Post Politics writer Ashley Woods posted a piece titled, “Michigan Governor Poll Shows Close Race Between Rick Snyder, Mark Schauer.” In her piece Woods writes, “The contest for Michigan’s governor’s race may be closer…

Please Note: Kai Petainen is a member of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board. ANN ARBOR CITY Administrator Steve Powers (below) sits on the Executive Committee of Ann Arbor SPARK. SPARK is funded with public money from both state…

by Rob C. Smith IN DECEMBER 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’…

Editor’s Note: Kai Petainen serves on the Editorial Board of The Ann Arbor Independent. THESE ARE THE facts: 1.  Between June 2009 and November 2013, the City of Ann Arbor gave Ann Arbor SPARK $5.1 million dollars from its General…

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 ThinkProgress, Progress Michigan, and just about every politically progressive organization in Michigan have been holding their collective breath while sending out scads of mass emails urging Michigan voters to urge Governor…

by P.D. Lesko Who doesn't want to get a mention in Rolling Stone magazine? You, Adam Levine, Lady Gaga and Nicki effing Minaj rubbing elbows in print. What could be cooler than that? Michigan made the pages of Rolling Stone in a June 27,…

“John Hieftje has the strongest environmental record of any Mayor in the Midwest. He’s championed the city’s Greenbelt, the clean energy initiative, commuter rail, bicycling and our terrific parks system. These programs set Ann Arbor apart.…