Education Beat: Flint Ed Board badly divided on two “safety” issues — clear backpacks, legal reimbursement
By Harold C. Ford “Enhancing safety measures, such as a clear backpack policy, should not need debate, nor should it take months to implement.” – Bruce Jordan, Michigan Education Association UniServ Director, reacting to a Flint Board of Education vote rejecting a...
Commentary: MSU, Mass shootings, and guns. Will anything change? What’s next?
By Paul Rozycki Two days. That’s all it took for the horrific shooting at Michigan State University to become old news and be replaced by the newest shootings. In the two days following the Feb. 13 shooting that killed three MSU students, sent five to the hospital,...
Promise of a “bold, strategic, transformative” future laid out by deans at UM – Flint town hall
By Jan Worth-Nelson "Here at the University of Michigan - Flint, we dare to dream big. With market analyses, stakeholder engagement, and program economics, we have envisioned a bold, strategic and transformative future that is like nothing this university has ever...
Sen. John Cherry hopeful about legislative agenda: “We can get that done”
By Jan Worth-Nelson and Tom Travis When somebody texted John Cherry at home early in the morning after election night Nov. 8 to tell him the Democrats had taken the majority in the Michigan Legislature, he says he "literally started crying." The next morning, he...
Education Beat: Flint School Board votes unanimously to reopen talks with Mott Foundation about new building(s)
By Harold C. Ford “That door to work with our partners in the community is open … I need partners to build a new building,” –Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, at a Feb. 9, 2023 community forum At its Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on Feb....
UMF Chancellor mum on Strategic Transformation at Regents meeting; professor, student critique process
By Jan Worth-Nelson University of Michigan - Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta offered no news or comments about the downtown Flint campus's "Strategic Transformation" process in his 3:50 minute presentation to the University of Michigan Regents at their regular monthly...
Effort to repeal State’s emergency manager law gains steam but is delayed by Flint City Council bickering
By Tom Travis An effort by Michigan Democrats to repeal Michigan's much-contested emergency manager law hopes to gain strength through a resolution from Flint City Council (FCC). On Feb. 1, 2023, House Bill 4065 (H.B 4065) was introduced in the Michigan House of...
UM – Flint offers public Town Hall on “Strategic Transformation” updates as decisions approach
By Jan Worth-Nelson A town hall offering updates on the progress of the University of Michigan - Flint's "Strategic Transformation" process has been scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at the Riverfront Conference Center, Chancellor Deba Dutta has announced....
Education Beat: Flint Ed Board committee signals readiness to move on vacant properties and Mott Foundation partnership
By Harold Ford “We haven’t been able to move; that’s been an issue for us.” –Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, citing the unwillingness of the previous Flint Board of Education to move on vacant properties, Jan. 30, 2023 The Finance and...
Village Life – Blissfully single in community
By Tom Travis It's called "cuffing season." I quite hate that term. The term "cuffing" refers to the restrictive and restraining purpose of handcuffs. If you don't know about cuffing season it begins sometime in October and culminates up to the egregiously capitalized...
Sports Beat: Steve Schmidt surpasses 1000 games in his 32nd season as Mott CC’s men’s basketball coach
By Harold C. Ford If successful sports coaches are measured by longevity, wins, and winning percentage, then Steve Schmidt, men’s basketball coach at Mott Community College (MCC), is, at present, one of the most successful coaches in America at any level in any era. ...
The East Village Magazine – February 2023
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: [pdfjs-viewer url="https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EVM_Feb_2023.pdf" attachment_id="35150" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true...
Education Beat: Threat at ALA prompts backpack review; parliamentary woes continue to plague Flint school board
“Sunlight or prison walls: I’m going to go with sunlight and having windows.” –Kelly Fields, principal, Accelerated Learning Academy, Jan. 18, 2023 “There was nothing that happened here (ALA) on campus … The campus has been safe and secure.” –Keiona Murphy, assistant...
African-American artwork celebrated in three galleries at FIA
By Tom Travis Three exhibits honoring and celebrating work by African-American artists will be featured at The Flint Institute of Arts (FIA) over the next few months. The FIA's Contemporary wing will exhibit works from the FIA's permanent collection of...
UM-Flint Chancellor gets 15% raise; dozens top $100K in diverse salary picture as Strategic Transformation decisions appear close
By Jan Worth-Nelson The University of Michigan - Flint's top executive, Chancellor Debasish Dutta, received a 15% pay raise for the 2022-23 fiscal year, bringing his yearly salary to $469,000, according to publicly available sources. On average, the rest of the Flint...
City of Flint allocates $15.6 million for Community Grants from ARPA funding; applications open now
By Tom Travis Editor's note: This article has been updated to include information about a webinar provided by the City of Flint on Feb. 2 for those wishing to apply for an ARPA Community Grant. The City of Flint has allocated $15.6 million of the city's American...
Dysfunction and Democracy from Flint to Washington. Is Flint a model for the nation?
By Paul Rozycki For much of the 20th Century Flint was a leader for much of what mattered in the nation. It was home for one of the largest manufacturing corporations in the world. It was the place where one of the most progressive and influential labor unions in the...
Education Beat: New leadership team for Flint Board of Education all first-timers
By Harold C. Ford “Sometimes you’ve got to pivot.” – Melody Relerford, newly-elected Flint Board of Education trustee, Jan. 11, 2023 A new leadership team was impaneled at the annual organizational meeting of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) on Jan. 11, 2023. ...
Early cancer detection to save lives highlighted at MLK Jr. Day Berston celebration
By Tom Travis "Dr. King once said that injustice in health was the most inhuman form of inequality because it leads to death that could have been prevented. Earlier detection of cancer should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay...
Michigan Speaker Rep. Joe Tate considers economic development with Flint business, housing leaders
By Tom Travis Housing was a key factor considered in an economic development round-table held Monday upstairs in Flint's Farmers Market. The meeting was organized by recently-elected State Representative Jasper Martus and his special guest the new Speaker of the House...
Mott Foundation grants $16.5 million to support a new YMCA and mixed-use space in downtown Flint
Construction is scheduled to begin in March on a mixed-use facility in downtown Flint that will feature a new home for the YMCA of Greater Flint and residential rental space. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation granted $11 million to the YMCA and $5.5 million to the...
Flint residents can apply for WRAP water bill assistance Thursdays at City Hall
By Tom Travis The City of Flint is encouraging Flint residents to apply for the Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP)—a two-year program that provides assistance to eligible, low-income households through water bill credits, arrearage assistance, and water...
UM – Flint “people’s” group critiques “top down” Strategic Transformation process and challenges “employers as customers” approach
By Jan Worth-Nelson University of Michigan - Flint assistant professor Kimberly Saks adamantly declares she is not "unAmerican." At a virtual community town hall last week sponsored by a loosely-organized group of faculty, staff, students and alumni who call...
East Village Magazine December 2022 – January 2023
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here:z [pdfjs-viewer url="https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/EVM-Dec_Jan22-23.pdf" attachment_id="34023" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px...
“From Crisis to Recovery” and a call for unity, are the themes of Mayor Neeley’s State of the City address
By Paul Rozycki For the first time since the COVID pandemic Mayor Neeley gave his state of the city address to a live audience at the Capitol Theater. Because of the pandemic the previous two state of the city address were given virtually. He said “I’m excited to...
