Sports Beat: Beecher and Grand Blanc on path to repeat as state champions
By Harold C. Ford Genesee County comprises about four percent of the state’s population (roughly 400,000 of 10 million people), but two local school districts – Beecher on the north side of Flint, Grand Blanc on the south side – currently claim half/50 percent of the...
Education Beat: Linda Boose to fill vacant Flint Community Schools Board seat
By Harold C. Ford Linda Boose was selected Tuesday by the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) to fill a seat vacated a month ago by Adrian Walker. The decision came after two rounds of interviews lasting nearly 2.5 hours, with five members of the board – Danielle...
11-hour city council session disintegrates into a lecture from the public and EAB president
By Tom Travis Beleaguered for 11 hours, the city council verbally wrestled with each other in Monday night's meeting discussing the topics: "respect, decorum, and censure." Members of the public, council members and the chair of the Ethics and Accountability Board...
“It only takes one person”: historic Mott Park Neighborhood residents come together to rejuvenate abandoned club house and grounds
By Tom Travis "It just takes one person to have that vision or to have that love for their community. And that one person must be brave to step out and take the bull by the horns. It just takes one person and then they'll gravitate and get other people involved. Even...
$9.6 million in federal spending coming to Flint-area organizations, Kildee announces
By Tom Travis Support for a North Flint food cooperative, assistance for affordable housing and blighted property demolition, training for school nurses, criminal justice reform, funding for more critical care hospital beds, and creation of a science and technology...
Laborious eight-hour city council committee meeting tackles council rules, North Flint food market
By Tom Travis It took the city council finance committee eight hours Wednesday evening to tussle their way through a contentious meeting. The agenda contained 10 resolutions to be discussed, but the council spent most of the eight hours discussing, arguing and...
I-475 corridor community input meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 at FIM
By Tom Travis (This article has been updated to reflect a change of venue for the March 22 meeting.) The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has announced another in a series of public meetings for public input on the I-475 corridor for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday,...
The East Village Magazine – March, 2022
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download here: [pdfjs-viewer url="https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/EVM-March-2022_web.pdf" attachment_id="27134" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true...
Ukrainian community gathers to offer prayers and songs for the “homeland” at candlelight vigil
By Tom Travis On a cold wintry Thursday night more than 100 people squeezed into the tiny St. Vladmir's Ukrainian church on West Pasadena Avenue, just outside of the City of Flint border. It was standing room only for a candlelight prayer vigil in support of Ukraine...
“How we find relief” Mott-Warsh Gallery exhibit examines human experience of overcoming stress
By Tom Travis The newest exhibit at Flint's Mott-Warsh Gallery asks the question, "How do people find relief amid life’s daily barrage of challenges?" The exhibit, called, Whatever Gets You Through the Night, explores this many-sided topic, according to a press...
“Hopeless, helpless, sad, and angry,” local Ukrainians react as Putin wages war
By Tom Travis Flint area Ukrainians are urgently contacting friends and relatives still in the embattled country and say they feel hopeless, helpless, sad, and angry. Flint resident Linda Pylypiw, of Ukrainian and Latvian heritage, said she believes the Russians are...
“Art is an outlet” – Jerin Sage, Flint’s interim-placemaker
"By Tom Travis Jerin Sage, the Greater Flint Art Council's interim placemaker, leans forward with a bounce in his voice, his hands flying as he speaks, and exclaims, "Art is not about being the best. It's about giving it your all and putting it out there." In an...
Memories of Woodrow Stanley: student, councilman, mayor, county commissioner, and state representative
By Paul Rozycki Many tributes to Woodrow Stanley have spoken of his dedication to the Flint community, his service on the Flint City Council, mayor of Flint, the Genesee County Commission, and his role in the State House of Representatives. Many have spoken of...
Review: World premiere at The Rep of “Wrong River,” captures one Flint family’s near impossible struggle to survive the water crisis
By Patsy Isenberg “Wrong River” is a story about six people in a home in Flint at the start of the water crisis. It’s intense and delves into each character’s personal reaction and how the water crisis intensifies and complicates their lives. It premiered at The Flint...
Education Beat: Flint School Board acts on new hires, infrastructure repair, temporary deficit relief, strategic plan
By Harold C. Ford In a five-and-a-half hour meeting ending at midnight Feb. 9, the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) worked its way through a packed agenda and acted on a half-dozen key matters. The board's actions covered new hires and compensation packages; critical...
Commentary: Addressing Flint’s racial and economic inequities should be top priority for $94.7 million ARPA funds use
By Linda Pohly On June 1, 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd murder and during the early days of the COVID -19 pandemic, the city council and mayor of Flint adopted a joint resolution declaring that racism is a public health crisis and setting out a plan for...
Five proposed Flint redistricting maps to be considered by Flint Election Commission at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
By Tom Travis The Flint Election Commission has announced a meeting regarding the redrawing of city ward boundaries (redistricting) for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16. The meeting will be held in City Council Chambers on the 3rd floor of City Hall, 1101 South Saginaw...
City Council Beat: Children’s Museum explores new property despite pot facility near by; Flint Police and Fire employees granted premium pay
By Tom Travis The city council Monday unanimously approved an MOU (memorandum of understanding) allowing the Flint Children's Museum (FCM) to purchase from the City of Flint the "old Farmer's Market" property on E. Boulevard Drive. The council also approved a...
Vista gallery, drop-in center provide nurturing space for “healing and trust,” access to resources
By Madeleine Graham Nestled into a corner of the J.C. Penney wing of the Genesee Valley Mall is an art gallery that provides a nurturing environment for those with disabilities, including mental health issues. It is called the Vista Visions Art Gallery, also known as...
Commentary: How COVID has changed us, and what it means for East Village Magazine
By Paul Rozycki It’s been two years. March 10, 2020. That was the day when Michigan saw its first two COVID cases. Ironically, it was also an election day, and the beginning of the widespread shutdown of much public activity in the state. Within days, colleges and...
Profile: “What if he had opened his eyes?” Kelsey Ronan on grief, healing, breaking a curse in “Chevy in the Hole”
By Jan Worth-Nelson Twelve years ago, Kelsey Ronan found her longtime partner Bryan dead of a heroin overdose in their Flint apartment. Out of what she describes as an onslaught of grief, anger, loss, and finally, a hard-won, unsentimental hope, the novel Chevy in...
Book review: Flint, perplexing attractions loom large in Kelsey Ronan’s “thoughtful, fascinating” debut novel “Chevy in the Hole”
By Bob Campbell Reading Chevy in the Hole, the debut novel by Flint-native Kelsey Ronan, a question continued to nag me: What did Monae see in August that would allow such a relationship to take root? He’s a nerdy, recovering drug addict who nearly died after...
The East Village Magazine – February 2022
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download here: [pdfjs-viewer url="https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/EVM_Feb2022.pdf" attachment_id="26479" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true download=true...
Flint Registry reports 16,000 people enrolled in first four years
By Tom Travis As of July 31, 2021, just over 16,000 people have enrolled in the Flint Registry. Nearly 70 percent of those are adults, according numbers just released in a report documenting The Registry's first four years of service. The oldest participant is 104...
American democracy is facing serious threats. Let’s make sure it survives.
By Paul Rozycki “The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board.” -Grover Cleveland “While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile”....
