In recent years, public works has cleared only “major” streets. But in December, city council approved a contract with Saline’s KBK Landscaping for up to $500,000 worth of “supplemental plowing” whenever four or more inches of snow are predicted.
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“Law enforcement tows” by the sheriff’s office and AAPD generated $436,500 in fees in 2023, not including extras like storage. “They make so much freaking money off towing,” says Clayton. “And we regulated how much they could charge for this and that. Enough for ’em to make money—they’re all making a ton of money—but they’re not gouging the people” whose cars are towed.
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Prop C, which would have eliminated partisan labels and primary elections, earned just 28 percent of the vote. Prop D, to create public funding for council and mayoral candidates, went down 30–70 percent.
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The 22nd Circuit Court’s Tim Connors’ term expires in January and the 15th District Court’s Joseph Burke plans to retire at the end of December. Both seats are for six-year terms, but the job usually winds up being for life or until mandatory retirement at seventy, because sitting judges seldom face challengers. When they do, they almost never lose.
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Wilczewski, a vendor at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, was responding to a question about the latest plan to “reenvision” it. Indeed they have.
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The historic contest between Democratic vice president Kamala Harris and Republican former president Donald Trump at the top of the November 5 ballot is expected to draw huge numbers of voters on Election Day. But with no city council seats contested, the most impactful items locally are proposals near the end of the packed ballot—particularly Ann Arbor proposals A, to create a city-owned “sustainable energy utility,” and C and D, which would make city elections nonpartisan and provide public funding for council and mayoral candidates.
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Wozniak is executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. It was founded in 1999, she says, “to address some of our state’s most egregious problems regarding the air we breathe, the water we drink, and protecting public health and the natural environment.”
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The U-M’s $631 million dorm complex on the old Elbel Field isn’t even finished, and Evan Pratt is already worried about its future. That’s because Allen Creek flows underground beside the property—and with Ann Arbor getting wetter, the county’s outgoing water resources commissioner says, it’s getting harder to keep it there.
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That quote from a 2023 memo by then-deputy city administrator John Fournier has since become the unofficial motto for Ann Arbor’s new $5.25 million election center and studio space for Community Television Network.
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Morgan Foreman handily won the Democratic nomination to replace Felicia Brabec as representative for Michigan House District 33—and she did it with half as much money as her opponent, Rima Mohammad.
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Despite little sleep and no coffee, Dyer was “very excited” the morning after the election. “It took until late that night for the county clerk to determine the winner,” she says, and when she finally learned she’d won, it “was just such a relief!”
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In June, the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI) celebrated the fourth anniversary of A2Zero. The $1 billion climate action plan, which aims to attain community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030, was approved unanimously by the city council after Ann Arbor declared a climate emergency in 2019.
Read MoreLarry Kestenbaum was first elected clerk in 2004 by defeating the Republican incumbent, and he’s defeated every challenger, Democrat or Republican, since then.
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Felicia Brabec, who represents Michigan House District 33, is stepping down after two terms to prepare to run for state senate in 2026. That leaves the district encompassing southern Ann Arbor, the city of Saline, and all or portions of Pittsfield, Saline, Lodi, York, Bridgewater, and Scio townships open for a new representative.
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By waiting until after the deadline to withdraw, McClary ensured that Lamelle-Sharp will be unopposed in the August 6 primary—and, given the heavily Democratic makeup of the county’s electorate, is all but certain to win the office.
Read MoreQ. I think it is great that the city is providing public restrooms, but when I loaded the app on my phone I wondered why it required personal information and phone location.
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If you’ve done a double-take lately when an Ann Arbor police vehicle whizzed by, you’re not alone. In recent months, the AAPD has been backdating the look of its fleet.
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June 30 marks one year since the law banning “manual use” of cell phones in cars took effect. At their discretion, officers can give warnings or issue citations; the consequences can range from fines to community service to mandatory driving-improvement courses.
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Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton is retiring after four terms. Three candidates are vying to take his place in the August 6 Democratic primary.
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