Education Beat: Flint School Board fiscal scrutiny of Williams legal services and Lambert public relations firm intensifies
By Harold C. Ford “It’s going to get ugly … I’m ready for the fight … This man here [former Flint school board attorney Kendall Williams] making a million dollars. Unbelievable.” –Joyce Ellis-McNeal, Oct. 13, 2021, Flint school board meeting Fees charged to Flint...
Commission aims to give residents a voice – no more gerrymandering as voting districts are redrawn
By Tom Travis Residents stood up and spoke up Tuesday at a public hearing at The Dort Federal Event Center on Lapeer Road with their thoughts and comments about redistricting in Michigan. Standing at a podium, residents addressed the new 13-member Independent...
Village Life: Memories burned into Washington School’s demise: “This one hurts the most”
By Gary Fisher She was nearly half a century old by the time I showed up. Creaky wooden windows, stifling forced heat, so thick you could taste it, zero air conditioning, lead paint everywhere, and asbestos-covered pipes. The ancient bathrooms with the old radiators...
Tendaji Talk: “The Deep Sting of Slavery”
By Harold C. Ford “It’s really not enough to say, ‘Those were horrible days and let them pass.’ Uncovering this buried history … could also help ease the kind of intergenerational trauma that silence can mask, trauma that can seep through entire communities.”...
Education Beat: Flint School Board votes unanimously to talk with Mott Foundation CEO Ridgway White about abandoned Central-Whittier campus
By Harold C. Ford On Wednesday, Oct .20, near the end of another long meeting (four hours and 22 minutes), the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) voted 6-0 to invite C. S. Mott Foundation CEO Ridgway White to visit and talk about the future of the long-abandoned Flint...
Commentary: Secure MI Vote petition won’t secure your vote — or democracy
By Paul Rozycki A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation on the right to vote to a large number of prospective election workers at City Hall. As I looked out over the audience, I realized that almost none of those present could have voted when this nation...
Education Beat: Flint Cultural Center Academy survived COVID, construction and start-up challenges to make it to third year
By Harold C. Ford In its third year of operation, Flint’s newest school, the nonprofit charter Flint Cultural Center Academy (FCCA), has managed to survive and continue adding grades despite adjustments to COVID, construction at the nearby Sloan Museum and Flint...
Councilperson Monica Galloway leads Michigan Municipal League as its president
City Councilperson Monica Galloway (7th Ward) was elected the 2021-2022 president of the Michigan Municipal League (MML) at the non-profit's annual convention held in Grand Rapids last month. The MML's 18-member Board of Trustees met and elected Galloway. Sterling...
Neighborhoods on Flint’s east side site of this week’s mobile vaccination unit: free lunch, shots offered Thursday and Saturday
By Tom Travis A new community collaboration is bringing Covid vaccines, water, meals and other resources to Flint neighborhoods again this week, with free lunch and COVID-19 vaccines available in the neighborhoods near Davison Road and North Franklin Ave area...
Dale Kildee, Flint’s Congressman for 36 years, dies at age 92
By Paul Rozycki Dale Kildee, who served as Flint’s congressman for 36 years, died Oct. 13 at age 92. He was one of the longest serving members of Congress and was reelected to the U.S. House 18 times, retiring in 2012. Kildee, who had considered entering the...
Neighborhoods in Beecher site of this week’s mobile vaccination unit: free lunch, shots offered Thursday and Saturday
By Tom Travis A new community collaboration is bringing Covid vaccines, water, meals and other resources to Flint neighborhoods again this week, with free lunch and COVID-19 vaccines available in the neighborhoods in Beecher on Thursday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 16...
Review: One weekend only of The Rep’s first show, an absurdist comedy, reminds audience of humans’ dark predicaments
By Patsy Isenberg The Rep made a surprising choice for the first play of the 2021-22 season. It was the absurdist comedy, “Happy Days,” a two-act play by Samuel Beckett, written in 1961. Theatre of the Absurd “Theater that seeks to represent the absurdity of human...
Bill to change “Good Time” policy for incarcerated prisoners focus of Michigan Justice Advocacy event Saturday, Oct. 9
By Tom Travis In the last 40 years, Michigan's prison population has ballooned 71 percent, with State expenditures on prisons and the incarcerated also jumping from $330 million to $2.4 billion -- an average of $44,000 per prisoner per year. These are among facts that...
The East Village Magazine – October 2021
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download here: [pdfjs-viewer url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eastvillagemagazine.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F10%2FEVM_October_2021_web.pdf" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true...
Neighborhoods surrounding N. Saginaw and E. Pierson Roads and Whaley Park site of this week’s mobile vaccination unit: free lunch, shots offered Thursday and Saturday
By Tom Travis A new community collaboration is bringing Covid vaccines, water, meals and other resources to Flint neighborhoods again this week, with free lunch and COVID-19 vaccines available in the neighborhoods surrounding Saginaw Street. and E. Pierson Road on...
Education Beat: busy Flint Community Schools board settles teachers’ contract, fills board vacancies, addresses bats and black mold as teacher attrition continues, enrollment dips below 3,000
By Harold C. Ford It took more than four hours, but the remaining five members of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) got work done at their Sept. 29 meeting, including settling a contract with the teachers' union, filling the two board vacancies created by recent...
Commentary: City Council election crucial to Flint’s future — Vote Nov. 2! Don’t put it off!
By Paul Rozycki Update: EVM has learned that Chris Del Morone is a write-in candidate in Ward 6. We have added his name below and apologize for this omission. Recently a scheduled forum hosted by write-in candidates Tanya Rison (1st Ward), and Lakeisha Tureaud (7th...
Mt. Morris site of this week’s mobile vaccination unit: free lunch, shots offered Thursday and Saturday
By Tom Travis A new community collaboration is bringing Covid vaccines, water, meals and other resources to Flint neighborhoods again this week, with free lunch and COVID-19 vaccines available in the neighborhoods of Mt. Morris from 12 noon until 3 p.m. Thursday,...
Priority Waste contracted for $19.7 million through 2024 for residential waste collection
By Tom Travis The City Council passed a new waste service provider contract that will begin Oct. 1, 2021 with Priority Waste that will include waste collection every week for trash, recycling and yard waste. The contract is for $19.7 million for waste pick-up through...
Flint Repertory Theatre returns to the stage Oct. 8 with Beckett absurdist comedy
By Patsy Isenberg After eighteen months of no live theatre indoors in Flint, the Flint Repertory Theatre (The Rep) begins its 2021-2022 season with a production of the absurdist comedy “Happy Days.” The play opens with an 8 p.m. Oct. 8 performance, with a run of eight...
MDOT earmarks $300 million to rebuild I-475 through Flint – Public comments invited for next 12 months
By Tom Travis The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has announced it will invest $300 million to rebuild I-475 from Bristol Road to Carpenter Road, estimating the work will begin in the Fall of 2023. The proposed project is an eight-mile span of road and...
Memories of Jack Minore, Michigan, Flint, and East Village
By Paul Rozycki There have been many official obituaries, tributes, and memorials written about Jack Minore, the offices he held, the causes he championed, and the commitment he had to the state of Michigan and the Flint community. Most political leaders in the area...
Max Brandon Park site of this week’s mobile vaccination unit visits: free lunch, shots offered Thursday and Saturday
By Tom Travis A new community collaboration is bringing Covid vaccines, water, meals and other resources to Flint neighborhoods again this week, with free lunch and COVID-19 vaccines available at Max Brandon Park noon to 3 p.m. Thursday. Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept....
City council in a 5-4 vote drops a proposal allowing McLaren Hospital to reduce their Water Crisis Settlement amount from $20 million to $5 million
By Tom Travis Grappling with the most recent development in the Flint Water Crisis Settlement the City Council had a heated discussion for over two hours of their nearly nine hour meeting on Monday. The discussion centered around a resolution to amend the Flint Water...
Education Beat: Uncertain leadership, uncertain infrastructure challenges roil Flint Community Schools board
By Harold C. Ford Flint schools superintendent Anita Steward files lawsuit against board of education Kevelin Jones appointed interim superintendent Two board of education members abruptly resign Doyle-Ryder building closed due to presence of black mold; $440,000 roof...
