Annexation Failure
“We have work to do with our community,” AAPS superintendent Jeanice Swift says, “to see what they want in their schools.”In November, Ann Arbor voters decisively rejected a ballot proposal to annex the...
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Fast Trains Coming
The prospect of seeing trains fly by at 110 miles an hour has been a hot topic of conversation along the Detroit-Chicago railroad line for several years. In Chelsea, train talk heated up again in October, when crews went to work...
Read MoreThe contrarian vote
In his successful mayoral campaign, Democrat Christopher Taylor got 27,979 votes. Independent Bryan Kelly got just 5,141. Measly as it is, that 15 percent showing was in line with those of other recent independent mayoral...
Read MorePower Pruning
Mundane as it sounds, pruning dead and overgrown branches is the number-one goal of the city’s first-ever urban forestry plan. The trees lining city streets and in parks have “been under a tremendous amount of...
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Tax dollars at work 2014
“Before 2005, the city never had any real program to monitor and inspect sidewalks,” recalls former city project manager Homayoon Pirooz. But in 2004, the Center for Independent Living sued, arguing that bumpy...
Read MoreContrarian for Mayor
Ann Arbor elects a mayor every two years. But because local voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, the only election that usually matters is the August primary. Mayor John Hieftje won the last four general elections with at least...
Read MoreAnn Arborites Run for Regent
Near the end of the November 4 ballot, far below the hotly contested races for governor and the U.S. Senate, is another contest: with, arguably, even greater impact on Ann Arbor–two Democrats and two Republicans are...
Read MoreTaking the Pledge
The meeting in July was amazing enough: all four mayoral candidates in the August Democratic primary faced 500 homeless people and their advocates at Genesis of Ann Arbor, the interfaith partnership between St. Clare of Assisi...
Read MoreThe Greenbelt at Ten
With its rows of golden corn and deep green soybeans leading to a big red barn, Bur Oaks Farm in Webster Township is a picture-perfect farm.”Crops this year are generally excellent,” emails Tom Bloomer, who bought...
Read MoreNo oil in Scio
“Everybody’s jumping for joy,” says Scio Township supervisor Spaulding Clark. He’s referring to the departure of a Traverse City-based oil exploration company which had drilled an exploratory oil well...
Read MoreWCC Election
For two of the eight candidates on the November 4 ballot, the biggest issue is making tuition more affordable for more students. For one, it’s improving “collaboration between the faculty and local employers”...
Read MorePost-Party Politics
Kirk Westphal was puzzled. In October 2013, he got a mass email from Chuck Gelman inviting people to “attend the democratic [party] meeting and support jane lumm or the candidate of your choice. this [meeting] is an...
Read More(Not a) burning issue
The city’s in no hurry to hire a new fire chief. Since Chuck Hubbard retired abruptly in January after just two years on the job, two deputy chiefs have run the fire and police departments, with police chief John Seto...
Read MoreThe Trials of U-M Football
Michigan football is in the throes of a three-year slide, with last year’s outcome mirroring Rich Rodriguez’s 2010 swan song. In Rich Rod’s third year the Wolverines won seven regular-season games, then lost...
Read MoreThree and out
State representative Jeff Irwin figures his chances for winning a third term this November are good. “Ann Arbor is a pretty Democratic town,” says Irwin, a former Washtenaw County commissioner first elected to the...
Read MoreNew Balance
More than twice as many people–7,073–voted for Taylor as for any other candidate. Sabra Briere was second in the four-way race, with 2,971 votes, followed by Steve Kunselman’s 2,448 and Sally Hart...
Read MoreSave or spend?
When Washtenaw County closed the books on 2013, it recorded a $3.9 million surplus. Now the question is what to do with it.From her perspective, “it needs to go into reserves,” says county administrator Verna...
Read MoreFour for Mayor
The August 5 Democratic mayoral primary marks the end of one era and the start of another.After an unprecedented seven terms, John Hieftje is retiring undefeated. Since 2000, he has faced ten opponents in primary and general...
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