Tag Archives: Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners

State Representative Jeff Irwin on the “frightened patriots” of the open carry movement, forest ecologist Ben Connor Barrie on local trees he’d love to kill, and Matt Siegfried on the racism of Rosie the Riveter… on episode 9 of The Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | March 16, 2015

This is Michigan State Rep Jeff Irwin, my first guest on this past weekend’s episode of The Saturday Six Pack. Our interview, which started off with a weighty conversation on corporate money, gerrymandering, and tax policy, and how, together, they’ve nearly destroyed our state, ended on a significantly lighter note when a caller by the […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Politics, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged ALEC, Benjamin Franklin, body cameras, Brigid Mooney, charter schools, Chris Sandon, corporate money, crawlspaces, daylight saving time, dismantling of public education, Earned Income Tax Credit, for-profit charter schools, frightened patriot, gas tax, gerrymandering, guns, guns in schools, HP Jacobs, infrastructure, Jeff Irwin, Jim Cherewick, Jordan Miller, Lansing, Local's American Lager, Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan sales tax, Michigan's roads, open carry, parole, Pete Larson, Proposition 1, ribbing, Rick Snyder, rimming, Rosie the Riveter, school funding, sentencing reform, sexual sickness, Shorts Brewing, Steve Irwin, tax policy, tea party, term limits, threats to public education, war on drugs, Wurst Bar | 20 Comments

Why Ypsilanti’s identity, independent of Ann Arbor, is important…. and why we should fight to keep our Convention and Visitors Bureau

By Mark | March 12, 2015

It was made public today that members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners are considering the possibility of forcing a merger between the Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (YACVB) and its counterpart in Ann Arbor. This, as I understand it from my sources, is something that the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Marketing, Rants, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged AAACVB, AAATA, Alicia Ping, Andy LaBarre, Angela Barbash, Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, Ann Arbor SPARK, brand identity, branding, consolidation, consolidation of services, dollar stores, economic development, excise tax, Family Dollar, hotel tax, hotels, identity, Joseph Sefcovic, Linette, mergers, Reconsider, Richard Murphy, Ronnie Peterson, Ruth Ann Jamnick, Saline, Sean Duval, SPARK East, the greater Ann Arbor region, venture LOCAL, Washtenaw County, Washtenaw County Hotel and Motel Association, Washtenaw Development Council, YACVB, YDDA, Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau | 73 Comments

County Commissioner Andy LaBarre attacked by far-right local radio personality Thayrone X for moving to renegotiate union contracts prior to Right-to-Work legislation going into effect

By Mark | February 8, 2013

On the way home from work the other day, listening to our local hate talk radio station, WAAM, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing my friend, County Commissioner Andy LaBarre, called a ‘psychotic lame-brain fascist weenie clown’ by Ann Arbor’s own tea-partying, Michael Savage wannabe Thayrone X. It would seem that Thayrone was less […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Andy LaBarre, collective bargaining, hate speech, lame duck, right-to-work, Thayrone X, unions, WAAM | 24 Comments

Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith clarifies his stance on Emergency Financial Managers

By Mark | February 21, 2012

Yesterday, Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith dropped by the site and left a few comments, as he’s known to do on occasion. Well, one of those comments, which pertained to Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager law, drew quite a bit of criticism, and, to his credit, Smith came back this evening and responded to it. Here, […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Economics, Politics, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Benton Harbor, Busy Dying, Conan Smith, Detroit, Dragon, Ecorse, Emergency Financial Manager, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Flint, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Jennifer Granholm, Lansing, Michigan Suburbs Alliance, PA4, Pontiac | 6 Comments

Good work, Township! You now look like every other chain-glutted strip mall wasteland in America.

By Mark | May 31, 2011

I try not to rant too much here. Believe it or not, I restrain myself for the most part. I try, as best as I can, to limit my posts to subjects where I believe I have positive, constructive things to add. That’s not so much the case tonight, though. There’s nothing positive left to […]