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Solar eclipse big day is coming: Here’s how to see it in Flint

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Solar eclipse big day is coming: Here’s how to see it in Flint

By Jan Worth-Nelson The sun’s greatest show on earth in years will be Monday, Aug. 21, and Flint’s Longway Planetarium, the largest planetarium in Michigan, is ready. Even though the first total solar eclipse in 40 years will reach only 82 percent totality in Flint, Planetarium Manager Buddy Stark reports there are many ways to experience it here. Longway’s events on The Day — many free —  run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., all ages welcome, including telescope observing, live streaming from the path of totality in the planetarium dome,...

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Village Life: Only slightly in mourning, my husband becomes a full-time Flintoid

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Village Life:  Only slightly in mourning, my husband becomes a full-time Flintoid

By Jan Worth-Nelson If you see my husband Ted around town anytime soon, be especially kind. He is going through a trauma. He’s moving on, after four decades as a Californian, to become a fulltime Flintoid. He’s giving up his cherished “AWRDMKR” California license plate – an artifact of the awards and trophy business he founded. He’ll be trading it for…something else – for sure, NOT choosing the options that say “Pure Michigan.” I would not let him. No Flintoid in their right mind would tout that extreme misnomer. Admittedly, his transition...

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Commentary: Murder a harsh dose of reality in East Village

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Commentary:  Murder a harsh dose of reality in East Village

By Paul Rozycki Some years ago, one of our favorite programs was “Murder, She Wrote,” where mystery writer Jessica Fletcher solved the latest murder in the small New England fishing village of Cabot Cove. At the time, my reaction was that for all of Flint’s crime problems, Cabot Cove must have had the highest crime rate in the world. Her little village produced at least one murder a week for a very small population. It just didn’t seem like the place where you would expect such crimes. That may have been an unlikely TV plot line, but for a...

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Pipe replacement crews dig in: “This is personal”

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Pipe replacement crews dig in:  “This is personal”

by Harold C. Ford Almost any day recently on a beat-up block of Copeman Boulevard in northwest Flint, beyond the cacophony of politics, lawsuits, economics, and science that is the Flint Water Crisis, you’ll find a gritty band of workers laboring to resolve a tragedy. Some are guided, in part, by a sense of altruism. Some of them were discovered by a team of East Village Maazine staff during a recent visit on a hot, humid day to the construction sites, accompanied by an out-of-town film crew attempting to document a series of Flint stories....

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Flint “booming in the literary world” as writers convene, commiserate, celebrate

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Flint “booming in the literary world” as writers convene, commiserate, celebrate

By Megan Ockert “There is such a literary presence in Flint,” Carmen-Ainsworth high school teacher and writer Jes Mathews told her audience at the Flint Literary Festival during its inaugural run July 21-22. “People don’t realize that Flint is booming in the literary world.” And one of the festival’s featured writers, Christine Maul Rice of Chicago, lauded the impact of Flint on her work. “I owe everything to Flint,” Rice said from the podium at the Flint Public Library Saturday.  “I have so many incredible memories of this place.”   Her...

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As five water PODs close, officials declare city water “improving” despite trust deficits

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As five water PODs close, officials declare city water “improving” despite trust deficits

By Jan Worth-Nelson Flanked by a handful of state officials, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver announced this week that five of the city’s water distribution sites, called “PODS,”  will be closed by the end of the summer — two Aug. 11 and three more Sept. 5. The closures reflect the news that the city’s water is on the mend, with state officials reporting lead readings from recent testing well below federal “action levels.” However, the surprise news was that the four remaining PODs, one each in the...

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Commentary: Why to vote “Yes” on the Charter: Placing the collective interests of residents first

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Commentary:  Why to vote “Yes” on the Charter: Placing the collective interests of residents first

Placing the collective interests of residents first: an interloper’s support for proposed Charter By Ashley Nickels, Ph.D. On Tuesday, Aug.  8, Flint residents will vote on whether or not to adopt revisions to their city charter for the first time since 1974. As an encouraged interloper, an outsider, a political scientist, I have followed Flint’s charter review and revision process since its origins in 2014. I have attended advisory meetings and listened in at question and answer forums. I have reviewed the proposed charter. If I could vote,...

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Commentary: Why to vote “No” on the Flint Charter revision: existing one already is “masterful”

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Commentary:  Why to vote “No” on the Flint Charter revision:  existing one already is “masterful”

Flint voters will be asked to vote Aug. 8 on whether to approve a new charter for the city.  As Paul Rozycki explained in his July column in EVM, the current city’s charter was last revised in 1974, when Flint’s population was nearly 200,000 and there were still 80,000 well paid GM jobs in the county.  The nine elected charter commission members, chaired by Cleora Magee, have been at work for two years,  and have developed a 77-page document which, despite active efforts by the commission in forums and social media blasts, has...

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Creative neighbors implement plan to water parkway trees

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Creative neighbors implement plan to water parkway trees

By Jan Worth-Nelson Mike Keeler and Andy Everman are two of the city trees’ best friends. Keeler, president of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association, and Everman, a board member of the Genesee Conservation District and ardent advocate for city trees,  are making the rounds now with their water wagon — a contraption devised to make use of water from Gilkey Creek. The combination of two donated 55-gallon plastic barrels, some hose, and a $109 pump paid for out of Keeler’s pocket has enabled the pair to assure that...

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East Village Magazine – July 2017

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East Village Magazine – July 2017

The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:

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This month in The Village: July features storytelling, folk music, Lit Fest, Rumplestiltskin

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This month in The Village:  July features storytelling, folk music, Lit Fest, Rumplestiltskin

Compiled by Meghan Christian “This Month” highlights a selection of interesting events available to our readers — beginning after our hard copy publication date of July 6.  It is not an exhaustive list, rather a sampling of opportunities in the city. Minecraft July 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 29 3 p.m. Flint Public Library, 1026 E. Kearsley St. Admission: Free For ages 10 and up, play Minecraft at the library. To register, call (810) 249 – 2569   Summer Reading Saturdays July 8, 15, 22, 29 2 p.m. Flint Public Library,...

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Village Life: Flint Pride community says, “You are safe here,” offers welcome and celebration

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Village Life:  Flint Pride community says, “You are safe here,” offers welcome and celebration

By Meghan Christian I have always considered myself to be an ordinary person. I did well in school, but wasn’t the smartest kid. I was in theatre and choir, but never got the lead or a solo. I have always had great friends, but I wasn’t one of the popular kids. I figured that I was just a square peg that fit into a square hole and that would be the end of it all. It wasn’t until I was in middle school that I would start to feel a little less ordinary and it wasn’t until high school that I would fully accept my uniqueness wholeheartedly. And...

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Commentary: In Gov. Snyder’s RTAB decision on a tax lien moratorium, more than just finances are at stake

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Commentary:  In Gov. Snyder’s RTAB decision on a tax lien moratorium, more than just finances are at stake

The following essay was written by Dr. Ben Pauli, Ph.D., an assistant professor of social science in the Department of Liberal Studies at Kettering University in Flint.  Thanks to Chris Savage at Electablog, where this essay first appeared, for allowing us to reprint it.  You can see the original here. In a special meeting on May 17, the Flint City Council voted to approve a one-year moratorium on the city’s practice of putting tax liens on properties for overdue water bills. A strong showing of residents spoke in favor of the moratorium. I...

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Book Review: Sing for Your Life, a Story of Race, Music, and Family

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Book Review:  Sing for Your Life, a Story of Race, Music, and Family

 by Harold C. Ford In 1994 at the age of 12, Ryan Speedo Green was taken forcibly to Virginia’s infamous DeJarnette Center after he threatened to kill his mother and his brother. The lowest point for Green at DeJarnette may have been when his downward spiraling behavior landed him in solitary confinement, as related by Daniel Bergner in the 2016 book Sing for Your Life, A Story of Race, Music and Family: “He stood at the door pounding, pounding. ‘I’m going to put my foot up your ass!’ he shrieked at the girl who haunted him. ‘I’m going to...

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Literary Festival to feature acclaimed writers, workshop, book fair and more

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Literary Festival to feature acclaimed writers, workshop, book fair and more

By Megan Ockert The first ever Flint Literary Festival takes flight July 21-22 with a lineup of four acclaimed writers with Flint roots, along with panel discussions, book-signing receptions and a fiction writing workshop. The festival’s featured authors, all acclaimed and much-published, are poet Sarah Carson, novelists Christopher Paul Curtis and Christine Maul Rice, and short story writer Kelsey Ronan. The festival’s workshop for fiction writers will be led by Rice, author of the 2016 novel Swarm Theory The two-hour workshop will be...

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Flint residents face water uncertainty amid council chaos, state lawsuits, indictments

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Flint residents face water uncertainty amid council chaos, state lawsuits, indictments

By Jan Worth-Nelson The month of June delivered a series of blows to progress toward clean drinking water and restoring trust  for the city’s weary residents. At a June 26 meeting, after four hours of raucous infighting, the City Council declined to sign on to Mayor Karen Weaver’s proposal for a 30-year-contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority, an option for continuing water delivery to the city that had been under consideration for several months. Council members contended they had not had enough time to study the implications. Two...

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Commentary: Flint’s Aug. 8 primary affects the city and your life

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Commentary: Flint’s Aug. 8 primary affects the city and your life

By Paul Rozycki In light of recent terrorist threats at Bishop Airport, criminal indictments of state water officials, continuing squabbles between the Flint City Council and the mayor over the source of Flint’s water, the hype over a $50 million election in Georgia, and endless tweets from the president, this August’s election in Flint may seem of little consequence. Perhaps by comparison it is. And I suspect that unfortunately the voter turnout will reflect that. August primaries don’t usually gather much attention or many voters—especially...

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Flint native, photographer Dan White, comes home to capture larger-than-life “Flint Folks”

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Flint native, photographer Dan White, comes home to capture larger-than-life “Flint Folks”

By Jan Worth-Nelson Pulitzer Prize winner Dan White, 60, has spent decades photographing Kansas City jazz musicians, cowboys, the Lost Boys of Sudan, Zapotec women of Oaxaca, and aboriginal peoples of Australia. And now he’s come back to Flint, where he grew up in a well-known extended Vehicle City family, to fall in love again with the faces and stories of his hometown.  He says he hopes his work — to be featured in the Capitol Theater at its opening in September — will make a contribution to the now-troubled city that he...

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The Whiting’s new season opens curtains to live performance, community support

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The Whiting’s new season opens curtains to live performance, community support

By Megan Ockert The Whiting, Flint’s Cultural Center performing arts venue, has announced its 2017/2018 schedule. It features shows such as Kinky Boots, Rain: a Tribute To The Beatles, Peter Pan, and Black Violin. According to Whiting Executive Director Jarret Haynes, the season reflects both an emphasis on live performance and The Whiting’s goal of contributing to Flint in the wake of the water crisis. In sizing up the new season, Haynes said he is passionate about the importance of art and live performances, describing them as “ethereal...

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Review: Why are we killing the planet? “The Myth of Human Supremacy” nails troubling answers

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Review: Why are we killing the planet? “The Myth of Human Supremacy” nails troubling answers

By Robert R. Thomas Human supremacy, according to Derrick Jensen, is a contradiction in terms. In The Myth of Human Supremacy, Jensen’s impassioned and intelligent analysis of the myth that proclaims we humans are superior beings, posits his approach with essential questions like, superior to what and whom? and the how and the why of that? Dedicated to Planet Earth, the book’s opening quote from Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions sets Jensen’s platform: “Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn’t mean we...

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Equality Caucus hosts weekend events, gears up for Flint Pride

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Equality Caucus hosts weekend events, gears up for Flint Pride

By Meghan Christian The Equality Caucus of Genesee County hosted a weekend of events beginning June 9 with Rainbow in Retro, a historical exhibit gathered by Flint native Tim Retzloff, to demonstrate the rich history of LGBTQ people in Flint and ending June 11 with an Equality March downtown. The events served to gain greater visibility for the Flint LGBTQ community–especially significant since June is Pride Month, culminating locally with a festival June 24 at Riverbank Park. The Equality Caucus formed in 2015, after Nicole...

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Five indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in Flint water crisis; sixth charged with obstruction

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Five indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in Flint water crisis; sixth charged with obstruction

By Jan Worth-Nelson Charges of involuntary manslaughter related to the Flint water crisis have been slapped on five past or present state officials for their alleged “failure to act,”  leading to deaths from the Legionnaires Disease outbreak of 2015. Highest ranking among the indicted was the state’s Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Nick Lyon, charged along with four other principals in the crisis, at a packed press conference in downtown Flint today. The involuntary manslaughter charges,...

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East Village Magazine – June 2017

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East Village Magazine – June 2017

The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:

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Commentary: Will a cool spring give us a hot summer?

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Commentary:  Will a cool spring give us a hot summer?

By Paul Rozycki After a fairly mild winter, spring has been rather cool, gray, and rainy. However, what’s been true for the weather may not be true for this summer’s political outlook. More than a few political issues offer the prospect of being very hot. On the national level On the national scene, President Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey, growing rumors of a possible Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign, and the apparent release of classified information to Russian diplomats, have led to demands for special prosecutors,...

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Flint Pride Month celebrates history, struggles of LGBTQ community

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Flint Pride Month celebrates history, struggles of LGBTQ community

By Meghan Christian Since 2000, June has been recognized as “Pride Month,” also National LGBTQ History Month. In Flint, activists annually join in the observance, both by offering a hometown event and by reflecting on the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender life here and nationally. The Flint Pride festival will be held from 2-8 p.m. Saturday, June 24 in Riverbank Park. The seventh annual event, coordinated by Flint Wellness Services, will include live music, food, merchandise booths, children’s activities and educational...

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Three youth programs benefit from $271,000 grant package from a dozen donors

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Three youth programs benefit from $271,000 grant package from a dozen donors

by Aubrey McClain Three programs designed to serve thousands of Flint youth have been granted $271,000 by a group of 12 donors/institutions, the Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce recently announced. The funds will focus on after-school programming, teen employment, and economic development in Genesee County. Recipient programs are YouthQuest, TeenQuest, and Summer Youth Initiative (SYI), all administered by the Genesee Area Focus Fund, the non-profit arm of the Chamber of Commerce. The donors include The Ruth Mott Foundation, the Hagerman...

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Glory days in rearview mirror for Flint high school sports: resurrection might be in the works

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Glory days in rearview mirror for Flint high school sports: resurrection might be in the works

By Harold C. Ford   Flintstones (basketball): The name of the Flintstones rose to prominence during the successful run of Michigan State basketball including three consecutive Final Fours and a national championship. The four (Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, Antonio Smith) made up the core nucleus of the team…played together since elementary school…and made the Spartans team a family off the floor as well. The name has since expanded to become popular to be used to refer to other basketball players, other athletes, and...

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CALENDAR: This month in The Village offers films, music, Flint Pride and more

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CALENDAR:  This month in The Village offers films, music, Flint Pride and more

Compiled and selected by EVM Managing Editor Meghan Christian “This Month:” is a new EVM feature highlighting a selection of interesting events available to our readers –  It is not an exhaustive list, rather a sampling of opportunities in the city. Thursday, June 1 Land of Mine 7:30 p.m. Flint Institute of Arts, 1120 E. Kearsley Admission: $4 – $6  Part of the Friends of Modern Art film series, this drama from Denmark follows two German prisoners of war after WWII that are forced to dig up two million land mines from Danish beaches...

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KWA chief: water decisions mired in parochialism and politics

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KWA chief: water decisions mired in parochialism and politics

By Jan Worth-Nelson Attempting to explain the the City of Flint’s probable move to stay on “Detroit water” for the next 30 years, Genesee County Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright, who also is chief executive officer  of the Karegnondi Pipeline Authority (KWA), said what might once have been options for the city have been made less viable by “emotional damage” and politics. Wright offered his views to the May meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) in a presentation that elicited numerous...

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Andrew Custer awarded a Fulbright for work in Colombia

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Andrew Custer awarded a Fulbright for work in Colombia

By Jan Worth-Nelson Andrew Custer, 27, a Michigan State University graduate from Flint, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to Colombia from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Custer, an alumnus of The Valley School, is the son of Casey and Edwin Custer, EVM’s longtime photographer and distribution director and is the nephew of East Village Magazine’s late founder and publisher Gary Custer. He will be in Colombia from July, 2017 to May, 2018 as part of a program to support the...

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Review: “The Kremlin Playbook” depicts eroding democracies, prompting heebie-jeebies

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Review:  “The Kremlin Playbook” depicts eroding democracies, prompting heebie-jeebies

By Robert R. Thomas While looking for a Canadian hockey channel between the interminable rash of mind-numbing commercials during the final two minutes of a basketball game, I stumbled upon the conclusion to a C-SPAN telecast of a federal intelligence hearing. I never got back to the the game. What caught my attention was mention of a book with a jock title: The Kremlin Playbook. Published in October 2016 as a combined report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for the Study of Democracy, the report is exactly...

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Former Mayor Walling responds to NOVA film: “It was hard to watch”

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Former Mayor Walling responds to NOVA film:  “It was hard to watch”

By Jan Worth-Nelson Former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, an omnipresent and embattled figure in the Flint water crisis until his defeat for re-election in November, 2015,  sat quietly with his wife near the back of the auditorium last week as producers from the PBS science series NOVA unveiled their documentary, “Poisoned Water” to a Flint audience. (See account of the premiere here) “It was very hard to watch,”  he said in an interview after the premiere, “It was very hard to watch what’s now been years of...

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Free chamber music series kicks off June 9 at the FIM

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Free chamber music series kicks off June 9 at the FIM

By Jan Worth-Nelson The annual June chamber music series of the Flint School of Performing Arts and Flint Symphony Orchestra kicks off at 7 p.m. June 9 in MacArthur Hall at the Flint Institute of Music, 1120 E. Kearsley St. The free concerts will continue every Friday in June, as follows: June 9: Strings, feature the Ravel String Quartet June 16: Strings and winds, featuring Walton Façade June 23: Brass and strings, featuring Stravinsky L’histoire du Soldat June 30: Clarinet and String, featuring Mozart Clarinet Quintet Doors open at 6:30...

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“America owes Flint a huge debt of gratitude,” Edwards tells NOVA premiere audience

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“America owes Flint a huge debt of gratitude,” Edwards tells NOVA premiere audience

By Jan Worth-Nelson In Flint for the premiere of the upcoming NOVA production, “Poisoned Water,” towering and sometimes controversial water crisis figure Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech leaned into the near-capacity crowd at the Flint Institute of Arts theater and stated, “America really owes Flint a huge debt of gratitude.” That’s because, he said, “in the aftermath we’ve discovered problems all around the country, especially in our poorer communities.  Almost the only thing unusual about Flint is that...

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First-ever Flint Literary Festival to take flight this summer

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First-ever Flint Literary Festival to take flight this summer

The inaugural Flint Literary Festival will be July 21-22 and feature several noted authors with Flint roots who have achieved critical and commercial success with their writing. Hosted at the Flint Public Library, the literary festival will also include panel discussions, a reading room, a book fair, and an After-Hours Open Mic Night at a local establishment. This free event – a partnership between Gothic Funk Press, the Flint Public Library and East Village Magazine – was created with the goal of lifting together the literary communities...

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City expands water bill assistance up to $350 for one-time match

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City expands water bill assistance up to $350 for one-time match

By Meghan Christian A program to provide one-time “match payments” of up to $350 for water bills has been approved by Flint city officials. Along with some community partners and a donation from the United Way of Genesee County, officials have expanded the Water Bill Assistance program so that more Flint residents impacted by the water crisis would be able to qualify. The program offers either a 1:1 or 2:1 match payment based off of where a resident’s monthly income falls within the national poverty guidelines. Residents within...

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EVM welcomes new managing editor, Meghan Christian

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EVM welcomes new managing editor, Meghan Christian

Meghan Christian has joined East Village Magazine as managing editor. Her responsibilities will include developing story ideas, coordinating assignments, working one-to-one with reporters, and managing the magazine’s social media interfaces. Christian, 23, who graduated this spring from the University of Michigan – Flint with a bachelor’s degree in English, was editor-in-chief of The Michigan Times, UM-Flint’s student-run newspaper. She said she discovered her love of words and editing at UM-Flint, adding that telling Flint stories has...

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Review: From “Flint coney” to “Chevy in the Hole,” Flintstones, Michiganders have unique lingo

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Review: From “Flint coney” to “Chevy in the Hole,” Flintstones, Michiganders have unique lingo

By Jan Worth-Nelson Ted McClellan, author of the regionally hot-selling How to Speak Midwestern from Belt Publishing can utter accents from Buffalo to Minneapolis and dissect how those accents came to be.  He can also spell out origins of dozens of beloved and often sarcastic, often hilarious local phrases, from “Ooey Pooey” to “Bloomingulch” to “Naptown,” — and that’s just three from Indiana. But in his appearance at Totem Books last week McClellan, a Michigan native, focused on Flint and...

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Immigration officer describes ICE processes, but offers few local details

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Immigration officer describes ICE processes, but offers few local details

By Jan Worth-Nelson Editors’ Note:  This story has been modified to include information offered by Valentina Seeley about ICE enforcement actions at “sensitive locations.” If an undocumented person is accused of a crime in Flint or elsewhere,  he or she likely would be deported soon thereafter, even if he or she is found not guilty. In other words, simply being accused of a crime is enough to get an undocumented person sent back across the border. That is one scenario faced by undocumented persons described Thursday by...

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East Village Magazine – May 2017

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East Village Magazine – May 2017

The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:  

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This Month in the Village: May events

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This Month in the Village:  May events

By Meghan Christian Thursday, May 11 Needle in a Haystack: the Story of the Velvelettes 7 p.m. The New McCree Theatre, 2040 W. Carpenter Rd. Admission: $7 – $50  The world premiere event of the original musical telling the story of the Velvelettes. The Velvelettes were a female Motown group from Flint and Kalamazoo. There will be a pre-performance gala reception with hors d’oeuvres. There will also be art and memorabilia on display for viewing before the premiere. Admission for the gala and premiere is $50 and regular performance admission...

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Rodin exhibit offers earthy look at the human condition, with a whiff of controversy

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Rodin exhibit offers earthy look at the human condition, with a whiff of controversy

By Jan Worth-Nelson A roomful of bronze sculptures by the famed artist Auguste Rodin might suggest to viewers that the human condition is full of muscular beauty and also struggle. In a city where toxic water has taken politics right into our bodies, it seems timely to reflect on what those bodies are and what might equip them to survive. The exhibit, Rodin: The Human Experience opened Friday at the Flint Institute of Arts and will continue through July 30.  Consisting of 45 bronzes from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor collection, the exhibit...

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Windy work day yields hopeful results at Pierce Creative Arts Elementary

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Windy work day yields hopeful results at Pierce Creative Arts Elementary

By Jan Worth-Nelson The Pierce hoop house is back.  First a sign of hope, then a source of despair after vandalism, the structure was rescued back to its hopeful role at Pierce Creative Arts Elementary School Saturday.  A work day drew neighbors, community volunteers and representatives from charitable organizations in blustery but sunny weather to resuscitate the structure and its associated gardening projects. Volunteers from the AmericaCorps/Food Corps/Crim Fitness Foundation programs,  along with College Cultural neighbors and...

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Central Park Neighborhood residents still waiting to meet with Flint schools chief

Posted by on 5:48 PM in Local News | Comments Off on Central Park Neighborhood residents still waiting to meet with Flint schools chief

Central Park Neighborhood residents still waiting to meet with Flint schools chief

by Harold C. Ford Residents of Flint’s Central Park Neighborhood Association (CPNA) are seeking to meet with Flint Schools Superintendent Bilal Tawwab about the district’s plan to open a new Flint high school at the location of the now-abandoned Flint Central High School campus on Crapo Street. In an interview in March with East Village Magazine, Tawwab indicated 2020 is the target date for opening a new school that would consolidate Flint’s secondary students. Tawwab told EVM he had already begun to meet with neighborhood residents about the...

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Uptown plans $17 million residential-business complex, “The Marketplace,” at site of old YWCA

Posted by on 11:07 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Uptown plans $17 million residential-business complex, “The Marketplace,” at site of old YWCA

Uptown plans $17 million residential-business complex, “The Marketplace,” at site of old YWCA

by Harold C. Ford A new, $17 million, residential-commercial project is being planned at the site of the old YWCA in downtown Flint according to Kyle McCree, director of Core Initiatives for the Flint and Genesee County Chamber of Commerce. The project is spearheaded by the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (URC), a nonprofit organization focused on the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Flint.  PK Housing and Management Company, based in Okemos, is slated to develop and manage what is being called The Marketplace, to be built at the...

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Village Life: If it’s Tuesday, that means jazz at Soggy Bottom Bar

Posted by on 3:05 PM in Features, Local News, Village Life | Comments Off on Village Life: If it’s Tuesday, that means jazz at Soggy Bottom Bar

Village Life:  If it’s Tuesday, that means jazz at Soggy Bottom Bar

By Teddy Robertson Tuesday night in downtown Flint and that means jazz at Soggy Bottom.  On this cool April evening a gust of wind propels people through the front door just as the smiling drummer John Hill grabs the mic and announces, “We’re going to do some spring songs!” Together with Pat Cronley on keyboard and Jack McDonald on the bass, Hill opens the first set. The sticks go down and Hill looks radiantly happy. I think he is the happiest jazz drummer I’ve ever seen. Jazz Night at Soggy Bottom Bar has been going for nearly three years....

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Commentary on Flint’s water: Is the glass half full or half empty?

Posted by on 12:14 PM in Commentary, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Commentary on Flint’s water: Is the glass half full or half empty?

Commentary on Flint’s water:  Is the glass half full or half empty?

Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one? … I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest… Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters… And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall. -Bob Dylan By Paul Rozycki It may be an omen that the most recent town hall meeting on Flint’s water crisis, held at the House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church, began in the midst of a torrential downpour, where many of those attending either dashed...

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Three poems

Posted by on 10:55 AM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Three poems

Three poems

Editor’s note:  Here is something a bit different from EVM — a sampling of thoughtful poems from one of our young neighbors. By Ruby Spademan Pretty Girls Eat Flowers She’s standing behind me. My neck in her hands and her mouth to my ear she whispers to me. She says I should only eat flowers. Pretty girls eat flowers. But counting calories means that flowers are not acceptable things and yet she tells me that they’ll make me weak but keep my stomach clean. My collar bones are staring to collect the rain again. And...

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Trees are good, everybody agrees, but money is scarce

Posted by on 2:58 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Trees are good, everybody agrees, but money is scarce

Trees are good, everybody agrees, but money is scarce

By Jan Worth-Nelson One thing everybody agreed on last night at the Flint Area Public Affairs Forum at the Flint Public Library: trees are good. That was easy.  But in matters of how to maintain them, how to assess them when they’re in aging decline, how to communicate with residents about removals, and especially how to replace them, the discussion hit some walls. The event, “City Trees:  Pleasure or Peril?” featured panelists Angela Warren, administrator of the Genesee Conservation District;  Adam Moore, a planner for the...

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Michigan Radio comes to Flint: good, bad, hopeful and angry narratives emerge

Posted by on 3:51 PM in Features, Local News | Comments Off on Michigan Radio comes to Flint: good, bad, hopeful and angry narratives emerge

Michigan Radio comes to Flint:  good, bad, hopeful and angry narratives emerge

By Jan Worth-Nelson Is Flint a city rich with art, a beautiful recuperating river and a school district offering first-rate primary school education, or is it a traumatized community rife with fear, anger and damage, where nobody drinks the water? It turns out it’s both, according to presenters at a taping in front of a live audience for Michigan Radio at the Flint Institute of Arts Saturday night. The schizophrenia of that poignant dichotomy — a set of exasperations and hopeful omens familiar to anyone who’s lived in...

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