The East Village Magazine – September 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%2F09%2FEVM_Sept_2021_web.pdf" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true download=true...
Commentary: Flint loses 20,000 residents. What does it mean for the city?
By Paul Rozycki With the current census, the city of Flint has lost Grand Blanc, Davison, Swartz Creek, and Montrose. I don’t mean that those places are gone. They are still here in Genesee County and doing fine. But the City of Flint has lost enough population to...
“This is a message from the residents of the City of Flint” – Activists deliver two petitions to the City Clerk
By Tom Travis A group of seven Flint residents gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday to announce they had collected more than 1,000 signatures on two separate petitions. The group was led by activist and Flint water warrior, Claire McClinton, who said she was...
Education Beat: Flint Schools leadership besieged by aging infrastructure in buildings averaging 70 years old
By Harold C. Ford Students in Flint Community Schools (FCS) will miss six days of school in the just-started 2021-22 school year due to the heat. FCS ordered schools closed the entire week of Aug .23-26; an instruction day had not been scheduled for Friday, Aug. 27....
Sports Beat: Team Handball Emerging at Flint’s Berston Field House
By Harold C. Ford “This sport is so cool. There’s gotta be a way that America can get good at this sport.” —Mike Tirico, NBC’s anchor for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, commenting on team handball The venerable Berston Field House — the nearly 100-year-old facility on...
“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer
By Tom Travis Robert Widigan, 31, has joined the City of Flint's finance department as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Widigan is a Flint native and attended Mott Community College and transferred to the University of Michigan - Flint graduating in 2014 with a...
Education Beat: Two central administrators charge Flint Ed Board Treasurer Laura MacIntyre with “hostile work environment”
By Harold C. Ford Two central administrators of the Flint Community Schools (FCS) — Superintendent Anita Steward and Ayunna Dompreh, FCS executive director of finance — have both charged Laura MacIntyre, FCS board treasurer, with creating a “hostile work...
Education Beat: Hot Buildings Keep Flint Students at Home
By Harold C. Ford For the second time in the just-started 2021-22 school year, Flint Community Schools (FCS) closed its doors to students due to the heat. This time it was by order of the FCS Board of Education. By a vote of 5-0, the Flint board closed its schools...
After $2 million renovation, Greater Flint Health Coalition moves into donated downtown building
By Tom Travis The Greater Flint Health Coalition (GFHC) celebrated its newly renovated three-story headquarters in downtown Flint Monday with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The 12,000 sq. ft. facility is next to the northern end of Buckham Alley at 120 W. First St. At a...
Mobile COVID vaccination units available Thursday, Aug. 19 and 26 on Flint’s south side
Mobile COVID vaccination units will be in the Burton area and the surrounding neighborhoods of Hemphill Road and Saginaw Street on Thursday, Aug. 19 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The vaccination units also will be in the surrounding neighborhoods of Atherton Road and Dort...
Book Review: Connor Coyne’s mighty opus compels in URBANTASM: Book Three — The Darkest Road
By Robert Thomas Urbantasm is categorized as a magical teen noir serial novel composed of four books. The Darkest Road is Book Three of the series created by Flint writer Connor Coyne. But it is much more than a teen novel. It is a massive creation from Coyne's...
Mobile COVID vaccination units available Saturday, Aug. 14 on Flint’s south side
Mobile COVID vaccination units sponsored by The Greater Flint Health Coalition (GFHC) in partnership with Genesee Community Health Center, Genesee County Community Action Resource Department (G.C.C.A.R.D.), and the United Way of Genesee County will be in the Lincoln...
Genesee County at 52.5 percent COVID vaccination rate; Flint ranks among the lowest in state at below 35
By Tom Travis Shatarian Aliger, 35, an entrepreneur/fashion designer, said she overcame her COVID vaccination hesitancy out of concern for her family. Thursday, she got her second Moderna shot in the Flint Township office of Dr. Bobby Mukkamala. She had received her...
Public opposition growing against proposed Ajax asphalt plant in northeast Flint
By Harold C. Ford “It literally stinks.” – Father Phil Schmitter, St. Francis Prayer Center, Aug. 11, 2021 Public opposition to a proposed asphalt plant on the northeast side of Flint was launched by a coalition of groups and individuals opposed to its construction at...
In a bi-weekly crime update the Mayor announces that all city parks will close at 9 p.m. in an effort to reduce crime
By Tom Travis In the wake of three homicides in Flint over the weekend, Mayor Sheldon Neeley announced at press conference Monday that he is launching bi-weekly updates on the state of crime in the city. Neeley also announced that all city parks will now close at 9...
Infrastructure work, environmental justice “can’t wait another generation,” Kildee and activist panel agree
By Jan Worth-Nelson As the U.S. Senate was voting to approve the American Jobs Plan 69-30 Tuesday morning, with 19 Republicans joining all Democrats, a group of Genesee County activists from environmental justice, health care, and education spoke out forcefully to...
Education Beat: Flint Summer Enrichment Programs conclude as students return to school buildings and balanced calendar
By Harold C. Ford Students enrolled in Flint Community Schools (FCS) returned to school Aug. 4 for a third consecutive year under a "balanced calendar" that was adopted by FCS at the start of the 2019-2020 school year. A balanced calendar features an earlier start to...
With eight percent turnout for Flint city council primary, most incumbents advance to the general election
By Paul Rozycki As voters turned out in surprisingly low numbers for Tuesday’s city council primary, a number of new faces emerged to challenge incumbents in City Hall. Yet, with about eight percent of the voters casting ballots, only one incumbent found himself in...
The East Village Magazine – August 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%2F08%2FVM-August-2021_web.pdf" viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true...
Education Beat: Mott Foundation CEO White pauses, then restores, grants to Flint Schools; 200 at packed Ed Board meeting signal community divides
By Harold C. Ford The dramatic twists and turns reflected by and from the leadership teams—elected and appointed—at Flint Community Schools (FCS) deepened when Ridgway White, CEO of the Flint-based C. S. Mott Foundation, announced a pause of FCS grant funding on July...
Flint Home Improvement Fund offers low- and no-interest loans up to $20,000 to homeowners of all income levels
The Flint HIF (Home Improvement Fund) has released updated information on the progress of the program. Home renovation projects underway through the Flint Home Improvement Fund The Flint Home Improvement Fund, launched in February 2021, generated a lot of interest...
Commentary: After the water crisis and the pandemic, what’s next?
By Paul Rozycki It looked like the Flint water crisis was over…and it wasn’t. It looked like the pandemic was over...and it wasn’t. The water crisis In Flint, as July ended, nearly all of the lead pipes in the city had been replaced, a court settlement was on track,...
From San Francisco to Chevy-in-the-hole – the Chevy Coupe helped to move America
By Teddy Robertson “Je-zus Christ!” Stress on the first syllable and heavy elongation of the “z” sound. I blurted out one of my father’s favored expletives. My mother had slammed on the brakes and I tumbled off the bench seat of our old Chevy coupe and hit the floor...
At five-year milestone Flint water tests at 3 ppb for lead – the lowest yet: EGLE says, “We know that trust was broken”
By Tom Travis "From EGLE's perspective and my own perspective, we know that trust was broken. We know that what we need to do is to deliver results to the people of the City of Flint," said Liesl Clark, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes...
Sports Beat: Bucks booted From USL2 postseason playoffs by 1-0 loss to Des Moines
By Harold C. Ford “The reigning champions Flint City Bucks have been eliminated out of this year’s United States League Two.” —Ami Rabiai, game announcer, CISN (Central Iowa Sports Network) The hometown team was booted from the USL2 postseason playoffs by Des Moines...
