The African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County is having an Underground Railroad Bus Tour on Saturday, October 15, 2011 from noon-3:00 p.m. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes, hidden places, determined citizens and self-liberated people of color seeking freedom. Two essential routes to Detroit and ultimate safety in Canada crossed in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. […]

My good friends at the Washtenaw Community Action Team are hosting a film series and social forum called “The Power of Working People”. Their announcement follows. Highly recommended! The Washtenaw Community Action TeamPresents The Power of Working PeopleA Film Series and Social Forum The Washtenaw Community Action Team (WCAT) announces — The Power of Working People – A Film Series […]

Last night Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan held a beer-tasting fundraiser at Ann Arbor’s Arbor Brewing Company. I posted a few photos from the event HERE and there are many more below from my wife, Anne C. Savage. I had a chance to talk with Rene Greff, co-owner with her husband Matt, of Arbor Brewing Co. and the […]

By now you’ve surely heard about the Occupy Wall Street protest rally happening in New York City. The rally cry of “The Other 99%” is resonating across the country as these protesters, many coming in from far away, protest the Wall Street firms and individuals that ran our country into an economic black hole and came out shiny clean and […]

Not surprisingly, there is a huge push to “Buy Michigan” to help our local economy these days. For example, there is Buy Michigan Now, BuyMichiganProducts.com, Buy Michigan First, and Think Michigan Made. With all of this, I was shocked to see this on my parking ticket last weekend: Click for a larger version Really, Ann Arbor? You’re outsourcing the processing […]

My latest piece at A2Politico gives an illuminating look at the number two administrator in the Snyder administration in charge of our state’s Emergency Managers. His name is Roger Fraser and, until earlier he was the City Administrator for Ann Arbor, Michigan’s sixth largest city, a position he held for nine years. He currently has the position of Deputy State […]

Yesterday, Borders Books announced that it was going out of business and liquidating its assets. This will put another roughly 11,000 people out of work including many right here in Michigan. It’s a huge loss both in terms of jobs and in terms of having a good bookseller around. But P.D. Lesko at A2Politico points out, there is at least […]

This is from our good friends working hard to repeal the anti-democratic Emergency Manager law, P.A. 4 (aka, “the Financial Martial Law Act”.) Calling All Recall and Repeal Heroes, 500,000 folks will visit Art Fair next week. The Recall Snyder and Repeal PA4 (emergency managers) campaigns are linking arms to make the Ann Arbor Art Fair the biggest petition-signing event […]

Dude, give it up. Andrew Shirvell doesn’t believe he did anything wrong in his time as an assistant state attorney general for Michigan. And even if he did, he doesn’t think he deserved to get fired, according to filings with the state Civil Service Commission. Shirvell was fired in early November amid controversy surrounding his blog that attacked then-University of […]

The effort to repeal Public Act 4, the Financial Martial Law Act, in Michigan got a great jump start yesterday when nearly 100 local activists, concerned citizens and organizers got together for an informational townhall meeting. The event was put on by the Washtenaw Community Action Team, a group that describes itself as “a coalition of local unionists, activists, students, […]

This Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. is an informational townhall meeting on the effort to repeal the Financial Martial Law Act recently passed by the Republicans in Michigan’s legislature. I will be a featured speaker in the Michigan Forward-sponsored event, talking about the history of the law and what it does. Here are the details from their press […]