All News

This is a feed of all news articles within all categories. At the end of the list, please find a link for “Older Entries” to load the next 50 articles. 

Education Beat: Could-be Flint students take $100+ million in state aid to other school options each year

Posted by on 10:00 AM in Features | Comments Off on Education Beat: Could-be Flint students take $100+ million in state aid to other school options each year

Education Beat: Could-be Flint students take $100+ million in state aid to other school options each year

By Harold C. Ford Flint Community Schools (FCS) enrolls just 20 percent of the school-age students that reside within the district’s boundaries, resulting in a loss of $100 million annually as the other 80 percent of its possible students take state funding elsewhere. Other educational options for those students include: Schools of Choice, wherein public-school students can attend other public schools outside of the district they live in; nonprofit and for-profit charter schools; private schools, such as those offered by the Roman Catholic...

read more

An update on downtown Flint’s ‘LiveWell’ development

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on An update on downtown Flint’s ‘LiveWell’ development

An update on downtown Flint’s ‘LiveWell’ development

By Kate Stockrahm At the one year mark since its groundbreaking, “LiveWell on Harrison,” a mixed-use development that will relocate the YMCA and Crim Fitness Foundation and boast 50 new apartments, is taking shape amid the downtown Flint skyline. The development is helmed by HWD Harrison, Inc. which Joe Martin, Director of Development at Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (URC), described as “an affiliate” of URC that “also includes membership from the YMCA.” The housing component of the building is five stories tall and includes studio,...

read more

Flint Book Review: Phil’s Siren Song

Posted by on 7:00 AM in Book review, Features | Comments Off on Flint Book Review: Phil’s Siren Song

Flint Book Review: Phil’s Siren Song

By Jan Worth-Nelson Just to get it on the table right up front, I’m pretty crazy about Flint native Tim Lane’s new novel, “Phil’s Siren Song.”   I know, I know: another book about a tribe of 20-something blue-collar Flint underachievers — this time in the 80s — straggling from one beloved downtown hangout to another, coming and going from attempted romances and the halls of academe, getting drunk and sometimes drugged up on Flint’s east side? No thanks.  Regardless of what resistance you might have toward another Flint quasi-memoir, you...

read more

Flint City Bucks receive warm welcome from organization, community at downtown reception

Posted by on 10:00 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Flint City Bucks receive warm welcome from organization, community at downtown reception

Flint City Bucks receive warm welcome from organization, community at downtown reception

By Kate Stockrahm Though the Flint City Bucks’ season opener isn’t until May 25, the semi-professional soccer team’s founder, Dan Duggan, is already predicting a winning season ahead. “Moving this team to Flint was an absolute home run,” Duggan said from the podium at a Bucks welcome reception on May 13, 2024. “We’ll have our own conversations about what we’re going to do on the field, [but] I can tell you one thing ladies and gentlemen: we’re going to win.” The Bucks have been around for nearly 30 years, starting out in...

read more

Will third parties and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decide the 2024 election?

Posted by on 8:04 AM in Features | Comments Off on Will third parties and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decide the 2024 election?

Will third parties and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decide the 2024 election?

By Paul Rozycki Unhappy with the Republican and Democratic candidates for president this year? You have many third party options, but making those choices could have consequences you don’t like. Third parties have never elected a president of the United States. We’ve had Democrats, Republicans, Whigs, and Federalists as presidents, but we’ve never elected a Libertarian, Socialist, Green Party, Prohibitionist, or Communist party member to the White House.  But that doesn’t mean that third parties haven’t played a major role in who gets elected...

read more

The East Village Magazine – May, 2024

Posted by on 1:00 AM in Features, Print Edition | Comments Off on The East Village Magazine – May, 2024

The East Village Magazine – May, 2024

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: View...

read more

Flint Farmers’ Market pavilion to open this Saturday

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Flint Farmers’ Market pavilion to open this Saturday

Flint Farmers’ Market pavilion to open this Saturday

By EVM Staff The Flint Farmers’ Market is ready to celebrate spring with the opening of its outdoor pavilion this weekend. Market Manager Karianne Martus said the pavilion’s opening day on Saturday, May 11, promises over a dozen vendors offering flowers, vintage clothing, baked goods, and produce, with additional vendors joining the outdoor ranks as spring turns to summer. “More will be coming by mid-June,” she explained, citing growing seasons and vendor availability for the pavilion’s ramp-up period. Martus added that the pavilion will be...

read more

Flint’s 9th Ward residents elect Jonathan Jarrett to City Council

Posted by on 9:27 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Flint’s 9th Ward residents elect Jonathan Jarrett to City Council

Flint’s 9th Ward residents elect Jonathan Jarrett to City Council

By Kate Stockrahm Jonathan Jarrett will soon take his seat as the new 9th Ward Flint City Councilperson, according to early election results from the Genesee County Clerk’s Office. Jarrett received 247 votes, nearly 52% of votes cast, in a recall election on May 7, 2024. His opponents, Page Brousseau and Kathryn Irwin, received roughly 30% and 18% of the remaining votes, respectively. “I’m certainly thankful to God and to all of those that supported me — family, friends, voters alike — particularly the voters that have...

read more

The New McCree Theatre does doo-wop for its May musical

Posted by on 12:30 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on The New McCree Theatre does doo-wop for its May musical

The New McCree Theatre does doo-wop for its May musical

By Kate Stockrahm The New McCree Theatre is reprising its signature musical, “Sincerely: the Musical Odyssey of an Original Moonglow,” from May 9 to May 25, 2024. The show originally opened to sell-out audiences nearly two decades ago in 2006, which its writer, the theatre’s executive director Charles Winfrey, told East Village Magazine he hopes to see again. “Actually, it was one of our most well received productions,” Winfrey said. “In our 20 year history, we haven’t done anything yet to surpass the audience response to ‘Sincerely.’”...

read more

James Avery named new executive director of Berston Field House

Posted by on 4:29 PM in Features | Comments Off on James Avery named new executive director of Berston Field House

James Avery named new executive director of Berston Field House

By EVM Staff James Avery, a Flint native and current Genesee County Commissioner, has been selected as the new executive director of Berston Field House. He will start on May 13, 2024. Avery will be succeeding Valorie Horton, who has served as Berston’s interim executive director since the unexpected passing of Bryant “BB” Nolden in December 2022. He is joining Berston after six years with the Flint and Genesee Group, most recently as Director of Education and Talent. According to a May 1 press release from Berston, Avery “brings...

read more

City of Flint Service Center to host free estate planning event

Posted by on 11:30 AM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on City of Flint Service Center to host free estate planning event

City of Flint Service Center to host free estate planning event

By EVM Staff The City of Flint will host a free informational presentation for residents on estate planning, wills, and end-of-life planning at the city’s new service center at 2 p.m. on May 1, 2024. The free three-hour presentation, happening in partnership with the Mallory, VanDyne & Scott (MVS) Bar Association, will cover topics such as selecting beneficiaries and a personal representative, powers of attorney, selecting guardians for minors, important documents to keep safe, burial wishes, and the differences between a will and a...

read more

UM-Flint welcomes new tenure-track faculty union

Posted by on 10:15 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on UM-Flint welcomes new tenure-track faculty union

UM-Flint welcomes new tenure-track faculty union

By Paul Rozycki It was a cool, breezy day for an outdoor rally, but the gathered University of Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint) faculty had the wind at their backs as they welcomed a new tenure-track faculty union on April 23, 2024. The faculty had gathered at McKinnon Plaza to announce the University of Michigan-Flint American Federation of Teachers-American Association of University Professors Local 5671, their newly formed union. The union is made up of over 150 tenure-track faculty at UM-Flint, and many organizers, other union leaders and...

read more

Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?

Posted by on 6:30 AM in Analysis, Features | Comments Off on Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?

Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?

By Gordon Young Technically, the Michigan Times still exists, but it’s probably not what you think it is. When the University of Michigan – Flint student newspaper let its domain name lapse last year, it was a clear sign that the Michigan Times was in trouble. The publication that covered the downtown campus for more than 60 years is now officially “sunsetting” and will shut down completely at the end of the academic year, a victim of declining student interest and, some argue, university budget cuts. The domain...

read more

Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College, to retire in May

Posted by on 9:25 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College, to retire in May

Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College, to retire in May

By EVM Staff Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College (MCC), is set to retire at semester’s end, as confirmed during a MCC Board of Trustees meeting on April 22, 2024. At the conclusion of that meeting, Trustee Michael Freeman read aloud the following statement: MCC Employees, Students, and Friends: This evening the Board of Trustees has been presented with an agreement for the retirement of our seventh Mott Community College president, Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea. We appreciate her ten years of service to the...

read more

FIM Flint Repertory Theatre to host free New Works Festival

Posted by on 9:59 AM in Local News, Special Events | Comments Off on FIM Flint Repertory Theatre to host free New Works Festival

FIM Flint Repertory Theatre to host free New Works Festival

By EVM Staff The FIM Flint Repertory Theatre will put on its 2024 New Works Festival from April 26-28, 2024. The Rep’s annual New Works Festival is a three-day event presenting staged readings of new plays, during which audience members get a chance to experience new work before anyone else and “meet the artists working to bring the future of American theatre to life,” according to an April 18 press release. This year’s lineup includes new plays by Lilly Camp, Bernardo Cubría, Elise Kibler and a musical by Michael Koomand and...

read more

Commentary: Recall the Flint City Council? But at what cost?

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Commentary, Features | Comments Off on Commentary: Recall the Flint City Council? But at what cost?

Commentary: Recall the Flint City Council? But at what cost?

By Paul Rozycki Within the last year, all but one elected Flint City Council member has faced the possibility of a recall. The late Councilman Eric Mays (Ward 1) saw two recall petitions approved for circulation before he died in February, Council President Ladel Lewis (Ward 2) is currently navigating a fourth recall attempt in a little over six months, and Councilmembers Quincy Murphy (Ward 3), Judy Priestley (Ward 4), Jerri Winfrey-Carter (Ward 5), former Council President Allie Herkenroder (Ward 7), Dennis Pfeiffer (Ward 8) and Eva...

read more

Education Beat: Details of Flint schools-teacher union settlement revealed

Posted by on 1:10 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Education Beat: Details of Flint schools-teacher union settlement revealed

Education Beat: Details of Flint schools-teacher union settlement revealed

By Harold C. Ford Details of a sweeping settlement of grievances and other issues that divided Flint Community Schools (FCS) and the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) in recent months are now public. The specifics were revealed in April 11, 2024 press statements and posts to the district’s website, in which the two sides pledged “to amicably resolve grievances and other litigation” as well as “rectify, restore, and make whole teachers in the Flint Community Schools for all past concessions made.”   At the heart of the settlement agreement...

read more

Former Flint golf course to be transformed in $1.4 million undertaking

Posted by on 9:00 AM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Former Flint golf course to be transformed in $1.4 million undertaking

Former Flint golf course to be transformed in $1.4 million undertaking

By Kate Stockrahm Pierce Park is preparing for a major transformation in late summer, including introducing wetlands, meadows, reforestation, and accessibility paths to the 67-acre former golf course. Bounded by Interstate-69, Dort Highway, Gilkey Creek, and residences on the south side of Flint’s College Cultural neighborhood, the park has lived a host of lives since it was donated to the City of Flint by the Pierce family in the 1940s. “It’s got a restricted deed,” explained Pierce Park Nature Preserve (PPNP) president Mike Keeler on...

read more

Looking to create an underground broadband system, Genesee County asks for residents’ help

Posted by on 8:40 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Looking to create an underground broadband system, Genesee County asks for residents’ help

Looking to create an underground broadband system, Genesee County asks for residents’ help

By Kate Stockrahm Genesee County officials aim to expand broadband access across the county through federal funding, but first they need residents’ and business owners’ help. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity where bipartisanship has worked in Washington,” said Dr. Beverly Brown, Genesee County Commissioner for District 4, of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Funding for BEAD passed as part of President Joe Biden’s massive 2021 infrastructure bill, which allotted $42 billion to make...

read more

Meet the candidates running for the 9th Ward Flint City Council seat

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Features, Local News, Print Edition | Comments Off on Meet the candidates running for the 9th Ward Flint City Council seat

Meet the candidates running for the 9th Ward Flint City Council seat

By EVM Staff A recall election for Flint’s 9th Ward City Council seat will be held on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.  With incumbent Councilwoman Eva Worthing electing not to run in the recall, three candidates are vying for 9th Ward residents’ votes next month: Page Brousseau, Kathryn Irwin, and Jonathan Jarrett. To get to know each candidate a bit better, East Village Magazine (EVM) asked all three the same five questions. Here’s what they had to say about the needs of the ward they call home and why they’re the best person for the council job. What...

read more

The East Village Magazine – April 2024

Posted by on 3:38 PM in Features, Print Edition | Comments Off on The East Village Magazine – April 2024

The East Village Magazine – April 2024

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available fore download and viewing here: View...

read more

Mott Community College to host Flint, Genesee County housing crisis summit

Posted by on 10:50 AM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Mott Community College to host Flint, Genesee County housing crisis summit

Mott Community College to host Flint, Genesee County housing crisis summit

By EVM Staff Mott Community College (MCC) will host a day of discussion on Flint and Genesee County’s housing crisis with a “Housing Summit 2.0” event Thursday, April 18, 2024 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The summit will take place in college’s event center on its main campus in Flint, Mich. The conference comes at a time when Genesee County is 7,000 units short of its needed affordable housing, or housing available to residents making zero to 30% of area median income (AMI). According to MCC’s April 9 press...

read more

Crossover Outreach reopens in new building in Flint’s Grand Traverse District

Posted by on 9:00 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Crossover Outreach reopens in new building in Flint’s Grand Traverse District

Crossover Outreach reopens in new building in Flint’s Grand Traverse District

By Canisha Bell After eight years of planning and four months of construction, Crossover Outreach opened the doors to its new building on April 8, 2024.  The day’s open house event kicked off at 414 W. Court St. with speeches from Crossover’s board president Lionel Wernette and executive director Denise Diller.  “Most of you know we work with other agencies in the community who refer their clients to us,” Diller said from the new building’s large warehouse area, filled with shelves of kitchenware, children’s toys, and plastic tubs of...

read more

Flint City Council now has ‘official’ YouTube channel

Posted by on 4:53 PM in Features, Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Flint City Council now has ‘official’ YouTube channel

Flint City Council now has ‘official’ YouTube channel

By Kate Stockrahm Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue has shared a new way to watch Flint City Council meetings: an official YouTube channel. “I am happy to announce the formal launch of the Flint City Council’s YouTube Channel: Official Flint City Council,” Donahue said in a press release on April 3, 2024. “All meetings of the City Council will be broadcast live on this channel.” When reached for further comment, Donahue told East Village Magazine that she decided to launch the channel after learning of public “confusion” following the end of a...

read more

City of Flint, EGLE respond to spill on the Flint River

Posted by on 10:00 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on City of Flint, EGLE respond to spill on the Flint River

City of Flint, EGLE respond to spill on the Flint River

By EVM Staff The Genesee County Health Department is recommending no contact with the Flint River, including fishing and recreational activities, from Dort Highway to Riverbank Park, after a spill was reported around 10 p.m. on April 3, 2024. According to a City of Flint press release on April 4, the city’s sewer department was notified of an “oil spill” into the Flint River at Whaley Park and Dort Highway, with outfalls on the east side of the river. The city said it “immediately responded,” and Michigan Spill...

read more

Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement

Posted by on 4:37 PM in Analysis, Features | Comments Off on Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement

Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement

By Harold C. Ford After months of labor unrest, Flint Community Schools (FCS) and the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) have arrived at a settlement of issues, though details of the new agreement have not yet been made public. The agreement follows a “sick-out” and near-unanimous strike vote by teachers last month, and it was arrived at, according to Flint Superintendent Kevelin Jones, after 16 hours of bargaining during the district’s spring break, March 25 to 29, 2024. The issues that divided the two sides – negotiated during...

read more

Marriage On the Rocks at The Rep: A Review of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Features, Reviews | Comments Off on Marriage On the Rocks at The Rep: A Review of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’

Marriage On the Rocks at The Rep: A Review of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’

By Patsy Isenberg Two couples engage in a late night drinking fest — all the while dangerously dissecting their marriages — in Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” now playing at the Flint Repertory Theatre. The play opens on the hosts of the evening’s festivities, George and Martha, who have just returned home from a faculty party given by the president of the university where George teaches history. Already pretty boozed up, the doorbell rings and a younger couple that Martha invited over for (even more!) drinks saunters in....

read more

John Sinclair, Flint ‘poet/pot activist,’ dead at 82

Posted by on 9:10 AM in Features, Poetry | Comments Off on John Sinclair, Flint ‘poet/pot activist,’ dead at 82

John Sinclair, Flint ‘poet/pot activist,’ dead at 82

In honor of Flint-born marijuana activist, poet, and music producer John Sinclair’s passing, we’re republishing one of our favorite stories on the incredibly storied man: ‘Poet/pot activist John Sinclair comes briefly home, still paying dues in ‘Trumpville,” by Jan Worth-Nelson — originally published on April 3, 2017. Sinclair died of congestive heart failure on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Detroit, Mich. He was 82.   Of course, the reading at Totem Books was scheduled to start at 4:20, cannabis lovers’...

read more

Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint

Posted by on 8:30 AM in Analysis, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint

Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint

By Gordon Young The Michigan Times, the student newspaper at UM-Flint, is officially “sunsetting.” That’s the sort of euphemism a good editor would slash and replace with something more clearcut. It’s a nice way of saying the publication that has been covering the downtown campus since 1959 is all but dead. The Times hasn’t published a print edition this year. Its website and online archive have disappeared. All of its social media feeds are dormant. Confusingly, another publication calling itself The Michigan...

read more

Nominating petitions now available for 1st Ward Flint City Council seat

Posted by on 9:37 AM in News Briefs | Comments Off on Nominating petitions now available for 1st Ward Flint City Council seat

Nominating petitions now available for 1st Ward Flint City Council seat

By EVM Staff Nominating petitions for the 1st Ward Flint City Council election are now available, Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue announced in a press release on March 27, 2024. The petitions can be picked up from the City Clerk’s Office from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the exception of March 29, when City Hall will be closed from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in observance of Easter. Petitions are due back to the clerk by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23. “Per the Flint City Charter, candidates for this position are required to...

read more

UM-Flint student highlights Urban Renaissance Center for graduation project

Posted by on 8:30 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on UM-Flint student highlights Urban Renaissance Center for graduation project

UM-Flint student highlights Urban Renaissance Center for graduation project

By Linkin Carlson University of Michigan-Flint social work student Bryce Aguilar is teaming up with the Urban Renaissance Center (URC) for his graduation project, and residents are encouraged to come see the outcome on Saturday, March 30, 2024 from noon to 4 p.m. Aguilar said he grew up in and out of Flint, and after visiting the URC he wanted to use his project “to show people what they have in their own backyard.” The event will be onsite at URC and will feature all of the equipment and knowledge available to the public, for free, at the...

read more

Rotary Club of Greater Flint Sunrise offers grants to support youth in Genesee County

Posted by on 10:15 AM in Features, News Briefs | Comments Off on Rotary Club of Greater Flint Sunrise offers grants to support youth in Genesee County

Rotary Club of Greater Flint Sunrise offers grants to support youth in Genesee County

By Kate Stockrahm The Rotary Club of Greater Flint Sunrise plans to award around a dozen grants to groups and organizations committed to helping Genesee County’s historically underserved children and their parents or caregivers facing challenges in their homes, schools and communities. The grants will range from $500 to $1,000 according to the grant application, which is already open and due by Friday, April 26, 2024 at 5 p.m. Allen Tucker, Club Secretary, told East Village Magazine that while the rotary club’s priority is to...

read more

Flint Clerk’s Office announces updated list of 1st Ward City Council applicants

Posted by on 12:08 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Flint Clerk’s Office announces updated list of 1st Ward City Council applicants

Flint Clerk’s Office announces updated list of 1st Ward City Council applicants

By EVM Staff Flint’s Office of the City Clerk has released an updated list of applicants to fill the 1st Ward vacancy left by the death of Councilman Eric Mays in late February. In a press release the evening of March 20, 2024, the office listed nine “qualified applicants,” in alphabetical order: 1. Linda Anthony; 2. Leon El-Alamin; 3. Liberty Bell; 4. Cynthia Haynes; 5. Torrell Dewayne King; 6. Freddie Eugene McCoy; 7. Rosemary Morrow; 8. Nadine Roberts; and 9. D. Eric Walker. Bell, Haynes, King and Roberts are all new to...

read more

The East Village Magazine – March 2024

Posted by on 6:22 PM in Print Edition | Comments Off on The East Village Magazine – March 2024

The East Village Magazine – March 2024

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: View...

read more

Village Life: Let’s get to important things, again

Posted by on 5:14 PM in Print Edition, Village Life | Comments Off on Village Life: Let’s get to important things, again

Village Life: Let’s get to important things, again

By Kate Stockrahm In the first ever issue of East Village Magazine on July 3, 1976, our late founder Gary Custer got straight to the point. “It’s customary for a new publication to justify its existence by running a long list of idealistic goals in its premier issue,” he wrote. “We’ll pass up that tradition.” In that early editorial, entitled “Let’s get to important things,” Custer said EVM wouldn’t waste precious space on expounding journalistic concepts. Instead, he wrote, “we suggest that you read East Village Magazine and form your ideas...

read more

University of Michigan – Flint faculty union wins recognition by university administration

Posted by on 1:37 PM in Features | Comments Off on University of Michigan – Flint faculty union wins recognition by university administration

University of Michigan – Flint faculty union wins recognition by university administration

By Jan Worth-Nelson A union for University of Michigan – Flint tenured and tenure-track faculty has come one step closer, with university administration agreeing March 13, 2024, to recognize the bargaining unit.  Union organizers from the nascent UM – Flint AFT-AAUP, AFT Local 5671, notified members via email on March 14 of the administration’s decision. “We are so happy to be able to send this message today,” the email read. “Last night we were informed that the University has agreed to recognize our bargaining unit. This is...

read more

Is Donald Trump a Marxist? Maybe, but which one?

Posted by on 6:00 AM in Commentary, Features, Print Edition | Comments Off on Is Donald Trump a Marxist? Maybe, but which one?

Is Donald Trump a Marxist? Maybe, but which one?

By Paul Rozycki After several presidential primaries, it’s clear the 2024 election will be a rerun of the 2020 contest between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump. But while the candidates are familiar, their campaign rhetoric seems even more intense this time around. One of Trump’s common attacks is to claim that his opponents are Marxists or Communists. The charge resonates with his most avid supporters as he slams Democrats, liberals, social activists, establishment Republicans and many others...

read more

Funeral arrangements announced for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

Posted by on 2:06 PM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Funeral arrangements announced for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

Funeral arrangements announced for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

Funeral plans for Flint City Councilman Eric Mays, who passed in late February, were announced today via a press release from Lento Law Group, the law team for Mays’ son, Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays. The following details were shared in the March 14 release: Friday, March 22 Viewing – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. House of Prayer Missionary Church 1851 W. Carpenter Road Flint, Mich. 48505 Saturday, March 23 Funeral service – 11 a.m. House of Prayer Missionary Church 1851 W. Carpenter Road Flint, Mich. 48505 The law firm’s...

read more

Flint Board of Ed pledges to continue negotiations with Flint teachers after sickout, strike vote

Posted by on 9:32 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Flint Board of Ed pledges to continue negotiations with Flint teachers after sickout, strike vote

Flint Board of Ed pledges to continue negotiations with Flint teachers after sickout, strike vote

By Harold Ford A whirlwind day of intense labor relations in Flint Community Schools (FCS) on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 began with an early-morning “sick-out” by teachers that closed all 11 of the district’s in-use school buildings. (Holmes students are currently housed in a wing of the Southwestern building as renovations are underway at the Holmes campus.) Later in the day, during an afternoon meeting at the Michigan Education Association (MEA) building, 121 members of the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) voted to authorize a strike. The vote...

read more

Wellness expo geared toward Flint’s Black families scheduled for March 15

Posted by on 3:00 PM in News Briefs | Comments Off on Wellness expo geared toward Flint’s Black families scheduled for March 15

Wellness expo geared toward Flint’s Black families scheduled for March 15

By EVM Staff Hamilton Community Health Network and Flint Area Links, Incorporated will host a wellness exhibition geared toward Flint’s Black families on March 15, 2023. The “Black Family Wellness Expo” is set to run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Hamilton’s main clinic, located at 2900 N. Saginaw St. in Flint. In a March 12 press release, organizers noted the expo will include safety preparedness training, COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, behavioral health education, chronic kidney disease education, blood pressure and glucose screenings, and the...

read more

Global Flint Initiative: ‘making Flint a welcoming and engaging community’

Posted by on 9:15 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Global Flint Initiative: ‘making Flint a welcoming and engaging community’

Global Flint Initiative: ‘making Flint a welcoming and engaging community’

By Harold C. Ford “Immigrants are a breath of fresh air.” – Jennifer Alvey, University of Michigan-Flint, March 5, 2024 On Tuesday, March 5 a diverse group of more than 40 people from the Flint area gathered at the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library to launch the Global Flint Initiative (GFI), a cross-organizational effort to make the city “a welcoming community” to immigrants. “It’s really important work that we are all embarking on … being a welcoming community,” Jim Ananich, vice president of GFI and former state legislator, said in his...

read more

Final phase of Flint’s Saginaw Street restoration project to begin March 11

Posted by on 7:05 AM in Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Final phase of Flint’s Saginaw Street restoration project to begin March 11

Final phase of Flint’s Saginaw Street restoration project to begin March 11

Saginaw Street will be closed between First Street and Kearsley Street beginning Monday, March 11, 2024, as the final phase of the city’s downtown brick restoration and infrastructure project gets underway. The project will see the restoration of Flint’s main thoroughfare “brick-by-brick” as well as upgrades to all underground utilities from Court Street to the Flint River, including water main replacement, electrical upgrades, running conduits for lights and meters, the replacement of two gas mains, tree grates, and...

read more

Christopher Paul Curtis, author and Flint native, wins lifetime achievement award

Posted by on 10:30 AM in Features, Print Edition | Comments Off on Christopher Paul Curtis, author and Flint native, wins lifetime achievement award

Christopher Paul Curtis, author and Flint native, wins lifetime achievement award

By Canisha Bell In late January, acclaimed novelist and Flint native Christopher Paul Curtis received the 2024 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.  The award is presented every even-numbered year to an African American author, illustrator, or author/illustrator who has made a significant contribution with their published books for children or young adults.  Curtis has authored eight novels, and is perhaps best known for childhood staples like “The Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963” and “Bud, Not Buddy,” though...

read more

Community Foundation of Greater Flint makes final push for 2024 neighborhood small grant applications

Posted by on 7:30 AM in Features, News Briefs | Comments Off on Community Foundation of Greater Flint makes final push for 2024 neighborhood small grant applications

Community Foundation of Greater Flint makes final push for 2024 neighborhood small grant applications

By Kate Stockrahm The deadline to apply for the Community Foundation of Greater Flint’s (CFGF) 2024 Neighborhoods Small Grant Program is fast approaching, with all applications due March 15 by 3 p.m. The available grants, which range from around $1,000 up to $25,000, are intended to encourage community members to “actively engage in community change efforts,” “view themselves as stakeholders that can partner with institutions to address critical issues,” and “have pride in their neighborhoods and the motivation to continue their work,”...

read more

City of Flint to hold vigil for late Councilman Eric Mays, Clerk’s Office shares interim appointment information

Posted by on 5:45 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on City of Flint to hold vigil for late Councilman Eric Mays, Clerk’s Office shares interim appointment information

City of Flint to hold vigil for late Councilman Eric Mays, Clerk’s Office shares interim appointment information

By EVM Staff The City of Flint will host a candlelight vigil in memory of Flint City Councilman Eric Mays, who passed away on Feb. 24, 2024. The vigil will take place in front of Flint City Hall at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, according to a city press release on March 1. “A voice like Councilman Mays’ can never be replaced,” said Mayor Sheldon Neeley, whom Mays had often disagreed with publicly and sued multiple times in the last four years. “In this moment when many are grieving the loss of Councilman Mays, who meant so much to them, I send...

read more

Helpful information for today’s Presidential Primary in Flint

Posted by on 9:04 AM in Features, News Briefs | Comments Off on Helpful information for today’s Presidential Primary in Flint

Helpful information for today’s Presidential Primary in Flint

By EVM Staff It’s Election Day in Flint. According to a City of Flint press release, parking adjacent to Flint City Hall will be free today, Feb. 27, 2024, to support residents voting in the Presidential Primary election. Voting precincts, including City Hall, opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Flint has 29 voting precincts. The most up-to-date map of those precincts can be found by clicking here, and the voting location for each of those precincts can be found here. Voters who elected to vote absentee but have not mailed their...

read more

Flint City Councilman Eric Mays dies at 65

Posted by on 8:48 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Flint City Councilman Eric Mays dies at 65

Flint City Councilman Eric Mays dies at 65

By Kate Stockrahm Flint City Councilman Eric Mays has passed away at age 65. The City of Flint confirmed the 1st Ward councilman’s death late on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 in a press statement, which also noted that the Flint City Hall flag would be lowered to half-mast beginning Feb. 26 in Mays’ honor. “I am so going to miss My Colleague, My Friend,” Councilwoman Tonya Burns posted to Facebook after news of Mays’ passing broke. “The City of Flint lost the ‘Realest Councilman’ in the world who...

read more

Education Beat: Teachers continue protests; no settlement yet with Flint school district

Posted by on 10:46 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Education Beat: Teachers continue protests; no settlement yet with Flint school district

Education Beat:  Teachers continue protests;  no settlement yet with Flint school district

By Harold C. Ford “We’ve got a heck of a job ahead of us.” – Joyce Ellis-McNeal, president, Flint Board of Education, Sept. 21, 2024 Following a five-hour meeting of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) on Wednesday, Feb. 21, no settlement was reached on a new agreement with the United Teachers of Flint (UTF). About half of the meeting was spent in closed session with Timothy Gardner, an attorney with the East Lansing-based Thrun Law Firm that is advising the school district during this period of negotiations with the UTF. As during the...

read more

$400K paid so far to 350 Flint moms in first month of pathfinding Rx Kids program

Posted by on 1:27 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on $400K paid so far to 350 Flint moms in first month of pathfinding Rx Kids program

$400K paid so far to 350 Flint moms in first month of pathfinding Rx Kids program

By Miriam Zayadi More than $400,000 has been paid to approximately 350 mothers in Flint in just over the first month of pathfinding program, Rx Kids, the program’s coordinators announced at a celebration Feb. 14. The initiative, which launched Jan. 10, is the first city-wide maternal and infant cash prescription program in the nation and was designed by pediatrician and public health advocate Mona Hanna-Attisha and Luke Shaefer, inaugural director of poverty solutions at the University of Michigan. Aiming to reach and support every expectant...

read more

Education Beat: Teachers’ unrest hits Flint school board, ALA building next one to close

Posted by on 2:57 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Education Beat: Teachers’ unrest hits Flint school board, ALA building next one to close

Education Beat:  Teachers’ unrest hits Flint school board, ALA building next one to close

By Harold C. Ford “I was kind of overwhelmed today.” –Michael Clack, Vice President, Flint Board of Education “Obviously tonight, and the past couple of weeks, are very emotionally charged.” –Dylan Luna, treasurer, Flint Board of Education At the Feb. 14 meeting of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) ,  scores of teachers protested a scuttled tentative settlement of a grievance filed by the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) against Flint Community Schools (FCS). A crowd of UTF members and supporters, estimated by the union at about 200, picketed...

read more