Drew Saunders
LightNews LightNews
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Drew Saunders
@drew-journalist93.bsky.social
31 followers 19 following 95 posts
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist looking for full time employment. In May 2025, he won an environmental journalism award from the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

drewsaunders.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
AI requires so much power & data that constructing massive data centers has become the one big thing propping up the American economy right now. So what happens when one comes to your community? My latest tells Washtenaw County's story

concentratemedia.com/data-centers...

Image credit: Doug Coombe
January 30, 2026 at 4:17 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
If you define the success or failure in education by how well they prepare kids for jobs, then AI presents one of the most interesting challenges since Covid. This second of three pieces that I've done for Concentrate looking into how Washtenaw County's adapting

concentratemedia.com/ai-is-creati...
AI is creating rapid change in Washtenaw County education, from elementary school to higher ed – Concentrate
AI has had transformational effects in education throughout Washtenaw County.
concentratemedia.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:35 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
AI is changing how business is done in the 2020s as it props up the American economy, however precariously. Read my latest in how it's transforming Ann Arbor for Concentrate.

concentratemedia.com/ai-has-trans...

#AI #annarbor #college #artificialintelligence #um #emu #jobs #businessjournalism
AI has transformed Ann Arbor's tech sector, but what will businesses do if the bubble bursts? – Concentrate
Many in Ann Arbor are working to leverage the community's creativity, academic excellence, and humming tech sector to land on the soft side of AI's economic whirlwind.
concentratemedia.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The City of #annarbor has no absolutely zero intention of stopping its strategy to make the community #greener. On Jan 27 the downtown library will be hosting the first of five free #sustainability forums.

www.ecurrent.com/green-corner...

#localnews #environmentalism #politics #community #a2
Downtown Ann Arbor Library to Hold First of Five Sustainability Forums - Current Magazine
The movement for environmental sustainability is at a complicated juncture right now. But no one should think that the movement isn’t still very much active. After all, the Ann Arbor Office of Sustain...
www.ecurrent.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:51 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The Washtenaw County Commission passed a resolution banning #ICE from using county property. My latest from Current:

www.ecurrent.com/feature/wash...

Washtenaw County Building. Image credit Ann Arbor District Library creative commons

#washtenawcounty #a2 #annarbor #michigan #immigration #politics
Washtenaw County Commission Passes Resolution Banning ICE From Using County Property - Current Magazine
Immigration and how immigration laws are enforced in this country has defined much of the last decade of America’s political and cultural life. The latest chapter in it in the context of Washtenaw Cou...
www.ecurrent.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:40 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The 49th annual Ann Arbor Folk Fest starts on January 30 at Hill Auditorium. Here is my preview for Current Magazine!

www.ecurrent.com/music/greens...

Inside of Hill Auditorium. Image credit: Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

#folkfest #annarbor #michigan #music #hillauditorium #folkmusic
January 21, 2026 at 7:01 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Data driven insights about the most pressing problems that #American society faces meet finely crafted #woodwork whenever Alex Monte-Sano gets involved. Find out what I mean in my coverage of the latest #openingreception at the Chris Nordin gallery!

www.ecurrent.com/art/alex-mon...

#art #data #a2
January 18, 2026 at 4:33 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Ann Arbor Restaurant Week starts in two days and one of the participants is Bori. This Korean restaurant is the latest edition to Main Street and I have the review for it for Current Magazine. There's even a #karaoke booth!

www.ecurrent.com/food/bori-de...

#annarbor #korean #finedining #review #a2
Bori Delivers Fantastic Korean food with Impeccable Attention to Detail - Current Magazine
Bori Korean Kitchen, a new edition to Main Street Ann Arbors’ restaurant scene, resides from a familiar place. The second floor of the Jolly Pumpkin has disappeared—and in its place is a Korean restau...
www.ecurrent.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:15 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Winter is a hard time for sit down restaurants. That is why Main Street Ann Arbor has coordinated with dozens of restaurants across Ann Arbor to provide some fantastic deals! Read my preview of what is available where for Current!

www.ecurrent.com/food/ann-arb...

#annarbor #restaraunt #preview
Try Something New at Ann Arbor Restaurant Week 2026 - Current Magazine
Restaurants know better than anyone that people don’t like going out when it is cold. That is why so many of them are teaming up with Main Street Ann Arbor for the 2026 Restaurant Week from January 18...
www.ecurrent.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Renee Nichole Good was shot dead in Minnesota on January 7. Three days later, hundreds of people in Ann Arbor marched from the Diag to City Hall. Here's my coverage for Current Magazine.

www.ecurrent.com/music/hundre...

#reneegood #reneenicholegood #ice #annarbor #a2 #minneapolis #trump #protest
Hundreds March in Protest of Renee Nichole Good’s Death, from Diag to City Hall - Current Magazine
Renee Nichole Good was killed after a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a Minneapolis street on January 7. Three days later, Ann Arbor Indivisible had managed to drum up severa...
www.ecurrent.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:06 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Renee Good was a busy 37 year old American mom when she woke up in her Twin Cities home on the morning of January 7 2026. By that afternoon, she was dead. Two nights later, hundreds filled Ann Arbor's Liberty Plaza to protest her death, ICE, and the Trump Administration's behavior.

lnkd.in/gY8atv2A
Vigil Held for Renee Good in Liberty Plaza on January 9 - Current Magazine
Renee Good was a busy 37 year old American mom when she woke up in her Twin Cities home on the morning of January 7 2026. She was no longer a busy American mom by that afternoon, when the SUV she was ...
lnkd.in
January 13, 2026 at 7:35 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Episode 5 of The Roaring Lion had so much to go over. But I think that Samori I managed to cover Renee Nichole Good in Minneapolis, Maduro in Venezuela and so much more!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGas...

#reneegood #ice #maduro #trump #venezuela #minneapolis #reneenicholegood #ice #caracas
Episode Five: Trump and Maduro
YouTube video by Roaring Lion
www.youtube.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:07 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Trump has launched an attack on Venezuela claiming that Nicolas Maduro was running a narco state. Protestors in Ann Arbor have differing opinions on why Trump did this now. Be part of the conversation with my latest for Current Magazine!

www.ecurrent.com/feature/ann-...
January 8, 2026 at 3:55 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
President Trump just launched an attack on the capital of Caracas and captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Does this remind anyone of Iraq in 2003? That's what it reminds me of.

AP News:
apnews.com/article/vene...

#venezuela #trump #maduro #iraq #usa
US captures Venezuela's leader and his wife in a stunning operation and plans to prosecute them
The United States has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flown him out of the country in a stunning military operation that plucked a sitting leader from office following months of escal...
apnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:51 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
So much has happened in 2025 that it is hard to put it into one podcast episode. This final episode of The Roaring Lion for this year tries to do it anyway. Watch it here on YouTube!

#sports #politics #podcast #america #politicaljournalism #mamdani #trump #news

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPWD...
Roaring Lion Episode Four: Mamdani, Trump, and Sherrone Moore
YouTube video by Roaring Lion
www.youtube.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Ann Arbor has lots of art gallery receptions, but this is the first one I have ever been to that elevated the work of students to the level of their teachers. Read my review of Anna Gersh's show at CultureVerse for Current here - Artists & Their Teachers!

www.ecurrent.com/art/anna-ger...

#art #a2
Anna Gersh’s “Artists and Their Teachers” Opens at Former CultureVerse Gallery - Current Magazine
Art galleries host opening receptions in Ann Arbor all the time. What sets the new show at the former CultureVerse gallery apart is that it isn’t just about the art. “Artists and Their Teachers: The P...
www.ecurrent.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Ann Arbor does not have enough art gallery space for the sheer amount of talent that lives there. That at least is the opinion of Kim DeBord, Thea Eck & Chien-An Yuan, longtime Michigan fine artists who have created CLUSTER.

www.ecurrent.com/art/cluster-...

#annarbor #art #gallery #fomeart #review
December 8, 2025 at 11:17 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The breaking news part of the Rockin' for the Hungry drive that 107ONE is doing for Food Gatherer's this year is that they're trying to get donations for 1.5 million meals. That is a 50% jump in #foodinsecurity from last year in #A2!

www.ecurrent.com/feature/rock...

Image credit: Food Gatherers
December 5, 2025 at 7:58 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The cost of living means that Thanksgiving was light for a lot of people & Christmas is likely to be the same. That's why the latest food drive for Food Gatherers is so important!

www.ecurrent.com/music/findin...
Finding Female Friends Holds Food Drive to Help Food Gatherers - Current Magazine
It can be easy to forget at this point a time when families across the world weren’t getting squeezed by food prices that have only ever managed to seem to get more expensive. And with the Department ...
www.ecurrent.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:48 AM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The longest federal government shutdown in history might be over. But food insecurity still affects 1,409,763 people in Michigan alone according to the state. That is why I created this list detailing where food banks and soup kitchens are across Metro Detroit.

www.hourdetroit.com/health/metro...
Metro Detroit Food Banks and Services to Support Year-Round
If you are food insecure, or you're interested in helping those in need, reach out to one of these metro Detroit food banks and services.
www.hourdetroit.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:35 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The most surprising thing I have uncovered in my reporting in 2025 is that the old West Side Books is only fifty years old. I would have thought it was much older!

www.ecurrent.com/literature/w...

#annarbor #books #michigan #puremichigan #independent #bookstore #a2 #bookworm #businessjournalism
West Side Book Shop Turns 50 - Current Magazine
“After 50 years in the book business, we’re getting old enough that we don’t have to have our misadventures labeled ‘mid-life crisis,’” That is what Doug Price, the longtime employee of the West Side ...
www.ecurrent.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
The cost of living was already making finding enough food hard enough for so many seniors. Ypsi seniors have a new option to making sure they have enough to eat. Details are in this piece for Current:

www.ecurrent.com/music/lincol...

#Senior #food #affordable
Lincoln Golden Ages Brings Back Senior Lunch Program - Current Magazine
Two perennial problems that seniors face all too often are loneliness and reliable food access. The Lincoln Golden Ages Senior Center recently announced that it is bringing back a free meals program t...
www.ecurrent.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Jaye Schlesinger's new show at the Washington Street Gallery is all about Points of View, hence the name. Read my interview with her for Current Magazine!

www.ecurrent.com/music/jaye-s...

#annarbor #michigan #finearts #q&a #interview #artgallery #localart #a2 #americana #artjournalism #localnews
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Imagine a version of #AnnArbor where everyone can afford to live there. That's the goal of Neighbors for More Neighbors, but are their ideas going to actually work? Read my latest piece for Concentrate & decide!

#affordability #A2 #housing

Photo by Doug Coombe
concentratemedia.com/neighbors-fo...
Neighbors for More Neighbors: Group's vision of denser, more affordable Ann Arbor advances with draft city plan – Concentrate
Ann Arbor's draft comprehensive land use plan would result in a denser city with more housing and transit options.
concentratemedia.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
drew-journalist93.bsky.social
Lincoln Golden Ages has brought back its lunch program for seniors in need in & around Ypsilanti. Details on how you can participate are in my review.

www.ecurrent.com/music/lincol...

#Ypsi #Senior #food #foodaccess #hungerrelief

Image credit: Jewish Community Services of Washtenaw County.
Lincoln Golden Ages Brings Back Senior Lunch Program - Current Magazine
Two perennial problems that seniors face all too often are loneliness and reliable food access. The Lincoln Golden Ages Senior Center recently announced that it is bringing back a free meals program t...
www.ecurrent.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM