“We have to make the city of Flint a better place” Mayor Neeley calls for unity, strength and hope in second swearing-in ceremony
By Tom Travis Themes of love, unity, strength and hope flowed through the remarks at Mayor Sheldon Neeley's second swearing-in ceremony Monday with familiar faces of politicians, community leaders, city officials, activists and city residents. Longtime local news...
Kay Schwartz has retirement plans: time with grandchildren and time “to sit and read” in the library she transformed
By Tom Travis After 24 years at the Flint Public Library and playing a major role in its dramatic renovation, Kay Schwartz has plans for her retirement: spending time with her growing number of grandchildren and going to that library, as a patron this time, to simply...
Mott grants $10 million toward $26.4 million Berston Field House upgrades
By Harold C. Ford Editor's note - East Village Magazine (EVM) and the entire Flint community are deeply saddened at the untimely and sudden death of "BeBe" Bryant Nolden on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2022. EVM wishes to express care and condolences to Nolden's family and...
City Clerk candidates – Guillen and Donohue – to be interviewed Dec. 5
By Tom Travis Out of 24 applicants, two will be interviewed next Monday, Dec. 5, in an open public meeting, for the position of Flint City Clerk - Angela Guillen and Davina Donahue (currently serving as the Interim City Clerk). East Village Magazine (EVM) has reached...
Education Beat: New leadership team likely to take shape on Flint Ed Board following sweep of four incumbents
By Harold C. Ford “You don’t get to be disciplined; you get to be voted out.” –Karen Christian, president, United Teachers of Flint, admonishing the errant behaviors of Flint school board members, Sept. 21, 2022 And so, it came to be in the Nov. 8 general election...
The Who’s Tommy in Concert at The Capitol Theatre
By Patsy Isenberg "Explosive!" That's how the Flint Repertory Theatre's producing artistic director Michael Lluberes described the musical "The Who's Tommy," which played to an almost sold-out audience and nearly brought the house down at the Capital Theatre Nov. 18...
Analysis: UM – Flint wrestling with implications of Strategic Transformation effort: will liberal arts — or the campus itself — survive?
By Jan Worth-Nelson Pressed by a complex mix of serious financial issues, declining enrollment, momentum to supply expected workforce needs, effects of the pandemic, and even socio-cultural shifts, the University of Michigan - Flint is grappling with the likelihood of...
Herkenroder and Lewis voted president and vice-president of Flint city council, city clerk interviews to be Dec. 5
By Tom Travis Councilperson Allie Herkenroder (Ward 7) was selected Monday on a 6-3 vote to be Flint city council president, with Councilperson Ladel Lewis (Ward 2) as vice-president. Councilpersons Eric Mays (Ward 1), Jerri Winfrey-Carter (Ward 5) and Tonya Burns...
UM responds to emeritus faculty: allegations “taken seriously,” Flint campus offers “much promise”
By Jan Worth-Nelson Allegations of an injudicious decision-making process and concerns about top-level bullying at the University of Michigan - Flint have been "taken seriously" and have been responded to "appropriately," University of Michigan spokespersons said...
Election roundup: Whitmer, Benson, Nessel, Kildee, Neeley win; State Legislature goes Democratic; All three proposals approved
By Paul Rozycki Mid-term elections are typically bad news for the party in the White House. Yet, while some final votes are still being counted, the results of Tuesday’s mid-term election were better than expected for most Democrats. In Michigan, Democratic Governor...
As UM – Flint launches changes, emeritus faculty register concern, call for “reasoned decisions”
By Jan Worth-Nelson In a letter to University of Michigan president Santa J. Ono, 21 University of Michigan - Flint emeritus faculty have registered concerns about both the process and substance of changes proposed in a "Strategic Transformation" initiative underway...
Commentary: Are YOU being represented? Flint council members are elected to take a stand. Abstaining shirks their duty
By Christopher Frye Editor of Flint: Our Community, Our Voice Election Day 2022 is upon us. It is the day that We The People make our choices known on various ballot issues and elect Representatives to diverse legislative bodies from local school boards to our...
A Review: Starry Messenger – Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization (2022)
By Bob Thomas To gain a fresher perspective on the state of our current human beingness, I stepped into space with astrophysicist/educator Neil DeGrasse Tyson as my starry messenger. His book opens with an astronaut’s perspective: You develop instant global...
Opinion: Let’s prosecute real criminals, not women and doctors
Letter to the Editor By David Leyton, Genesee County Prosecutor As county prosecutor, it is my top duty to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Genesee County. This is one of the many reasons I am supporting Proposal 3, which restores the right to...
The East Village Magazine – November 2022
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/2022/10/EVM-Nov-22.pdf" attachment_id="32954" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px...
Prop. 3 would “restore Roe — nothing more, nothing less,” for Michigan women, proponents assert
By Jan Worth-Nelson The entire goal of Proposal 3, the "Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative" on Michigan's Nov. 8 ballot, is "to restore Roe -- nothing more, nothing less," representatives from Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA) declared in a panel discussion...
Book review: Persona, place, and poetics in Sarah Carson’s “How to Baptize a Child in Flint, Michigan”
By William Barillas Born and bred, as the expression goes, in Flint, Michigan, poet Sarah Carson has previously published three chapbooks and two full-length books. The provocatively titled book Poems in Which You Die (2014) consists of surrealistic prose poems,...
Gov. Whitmer visits Flint with entourage of powerhouse Democrats
Photos by Tom Travis This story has been updated to include a photo of Flint Attorney Mike Behm running for re-election to the University of Michigan Board of Regents. - Editor Gov. Gretchen...
Village Life: Even Sadie’s puppy love didn’t convince me — I’m fine without a dog
By Tom Travis I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to take care of a dog and three cats. Not one of those little cute lap dogs but a really large, hyper black Lab named Sadie. Albeit Sadie is my brother and sister-in-law’s dog, so kind of like a niece-dog. I...
Michigan’s largest brownfield – former Buick City – to be redeveloped for $17 million, $3.25 million coming from Flint’s ARPA funds
By Tom Travis A resolution that will allocate $3.25 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding towards Ashley Capital’s redevelopment of the Buick City brownfield was approved Oct. 24 by the Flint City Council. The City of Flint administration had submitted a...
A tale of two ARPA budgets – Council approves their ARPA budget and rejects the Mayor’s
By Tom Travis In Monday's meeting City Council approved their version of a budget to spend the remaining $60 million of the $94 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Back in June the Mayor and his administration had presented their version of an ARPA...
Education Beat Analysis: Two board meetings — UM Regents, Flint Board of Education — reveal stark contrasts of function, dysfunction
By Harold C. Ford [Editor’s note: Harold C. Ford, Education Beat writer for East Village Magazine (EVM) for nearly six years, attended two education board meetings within 24 hours. He was present at the University of Michigan (UM) Board of Regents meeting, held in...
Whitmer touts infrastructure, public safety, reproductive rights protection in Flint campaign rally with powerhouse Democratic lineup
By Tom Travis "Are we gonna go backward or are we gonna put our foot on the gas?" Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked a crowd of about 75 gathered for a campaign rally Friday at Union City Ball Park on Torrey Road near Flint's Bishop Airport. Along with Whitmer was a...
Commentary: Facing enrollment and financial challenges, UM-Flint asks, what’s next?
By Paul Rozycki “Academic politics makes me yearn for the simplicity of the Middle East.” -Henry Kissinger Could the University of Michigan-Flint go the way of Auto World? Probably not. But there are more than a few who are worried that the Flint branch of the Ann...
UM-Flint administration lambasted for “bullying,” “chaos,” at UM Regents meeting as heated public comments critique “Strategic Transformation” and call for firing consultant
By Jan Worth-Nelson The University of Michigan Regents got an earful in public comments Oct. 20 from faculty and students concerned about the actions of UM-Flint Chancellor Debasish Dutta, controversial steps underway to respond to challenges on the Flint campus,...
