City Council considers contracts, appointments, Juneteenth, property purchase, and $800K in water treatment chemicals
By Tom Travis At the June 22 City Council meeting, disputes between council members resulted in two councilpersons being ejected and three councilpersons voluntarily leaving the meeting in protest. With five of the nine council members gone from the meeting quorum was...
Undeterred by COVID, Flint Youth Film Festival goes on; will “make magic” online
By Patsy Isenberg Faced with an unexpected pandemic shutdown and COVID-19 restrictions, those in charge of planning the 2020 Flint Youth Film Festival found a logical solution to getting the films out to the public: they’ll be shown on the festival’s YouTube...
Education Beat: Northwestern needs $4 million in upgrades; where will junior high students go?
By Harold C. Ford “We should’ve never moved in that [Northwestern] building.” …Vera Perry, trustee, Flint Board of Education “We create the instability that we face.” …Diana Wright, vice-president, Flint Board of Education At its meeting June 9, the board of education...
Education Beat: FCS moves on $95 million budget; grapples with pandemic, closures, contracts
By Harold C. Ford As an eventful 2019-2020 educational year came to an official close June 18 for Flint Community School (FCS) students, the district’s board of education met a total of 10 times in the months of May and June. On June 17, Casey Lester, FCS board...
Police Oversight Commission a key step for those seeking change, Black Lives Matter leader, DeWaun Robinson says
By Tom Travis "We have an opportunity to change the course of history. This is for everyone that believes in the heart of humanity that wants to see change," Black Lives Matter Flint leader DeWaun Robinson told East Village Magazine (EVM) in a recent phone interview....
Progressive get-out-the-vote teams to visit Flint Democrats soon
By Tammy Beckett Field representatives from the Progressive Turnout Project, a national grassroots get-out-the-vote organization, are expected to appear on many Democratic voters' doorsteps in Flint in the next few weeks--and the organization is looking for local...
Children’s Poetry Show goes ZOOM to feature Poet Laureate Semaj Brown June 29
By Jan Worth-Nelson "Dreaming, Imagining Good Happenings" is the theme of a children's poetry show featuring Flint's poet laureate Semaj Brown via Zoom/Facebook Live at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 29. "All children everywhere, inside and outside of Flint," are invited to...
City Council Beat: No action taken at four-hour electronic meeting following ejections, lost quorum, public complaints
By Tom Travis Monday night the city council took no action during a four-hour meeting on a 199-page agenda. The meeting ended with quorum being broken on the nine-member panel when two councilpersons were ejected and three others voluntarily left. Nonetheless,...
Black Lives leader to Juneteenth crowd: “You’re part of a movement today, you’re gonna be a part of the progress tomorrow”
By Tom Travis "We are celebrating our history. This is for our tradition. This is for our heritage," DeWaun Robinson, leader of Black Lives Matter Flint said to a crowd of about 200 today observing Juneteenth in Max Brandon Park at the corner of Pasadena and Dupont...
Police Chief Hart “outraged” at senior White House official’s comments about Flint Police Department
By Tom Travis Flint Chief of Police, Phil Hart said in an email released by The City of Flint Wednesday afternoon that, "On behalf of all the hardworking men and women in the Flint Police Department, I am outraged at this callous and unnecessary attack on our...
Devoted environmentalist Sara McDonnell remembered with tree plantings in Flint
By Jan Worth-Nelson Many trees will grow in and around Flint because of Sara McDonnell's tragic and unexpected death. McDonnell. 38, a program manager in the office of University Outreach at the University of Michigan - Flint, died suddenly in her home April 17, a...
“Team work makes the dream work” – Community comes together to paint Black Lives Matter on downtown Flint street
By Tom Travis Sandra Branch said that healing from racial divide and inequality comes through "unity and communication." Gesturing towards the street, Branch added, "Just like you see right now. Everybody's talking, everybody's sharing, everybody's working. We're all...
Flint Neighborhoods United receives info on response to protests, Land Bank details, blight and beautification grants
By Tammy Beckett Amid the pandemic and the outcries of the Black Lives Matter protests, Flint Neighborhoods United met via Zoom for its monthly meeting June 6, discussing how to tackle a wide range of problems, including systemic racism, blight and excessive force....
Water shutoff, boil water advisory coming to East Court street neighborhoods Monday June 15
NOTE: According to a notice from the City, this work was postponed. No residents lost water today and no boil water advisory is being issued. In response to a request from EVM, a city official said the work was postponed due to "a conflict with a storm sewer" and that...
Two million face masks for Flint residents, nonprofits on the way from C.S. Mott donation
Flint residents and Flint nonprofit organizations helping their staff, volunteers and clients stay safe as they reopen will have access soon to a donation of two million disposable face masks from the C.S. Mott Foundation. The supply of masks, costing about $1.2...
Trash talk: City of Flint puts Republic on notice for “widespread service failures”
The following press release was issued Tuesday by the City of Flint: "The City of Flint today officially notified Republic Services that it is in breach of its contract for widespread service failures. The letter demands Republic restore all service throughout the...
City Council hears from Sheriff Swanson and unanimously passes two resolutions for support of Black Lives Matter and to thwart Police Brutality
By Tom Travis The City Council considered two resolutions in response to the recent national outcry over George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis: a resolution to declare Black Lives Matter and an ordinance for the duty of police officers to intervene in cases of police...
City Council adopts $73 million budget with a looming $32 million for city retirees
By Tom Travis The Flint City Council adopted a $73 million budget Tuesday after a five hour meeting with a 6-3 vote. Councilpersons Eric Mays (1st Ward), Jerri Winfrey-Carter (5th Ward) and Council President Monica Galloway (7th Ward) voted against adopting the...
Flint’s Black Lives Matter Advisory Council application process open
Anyone interested in following up on the week's protests following the George Floyd murder may find an available option here, in this press release issued by City Hall: FLINT, Michigan—Flint residents who are interested in being a part of the Black Lives Matter...
Crim races cancelled for 2020; virtual “10 Days of Crim” offered instead
By Zach Neithercut For the first time in its 44-year history, thousands of runners will not pound down the bricks of Saginaw Street this August in the Crim Festival of Races. An official statement from the Crim Fitness Foundation has announced that the Foundation's...
Village Life: Of a big green chair, two bad haircuts and the Ministry of Silly Walks
By Jan Worth-Nelson I seem to have been sitting too long. Day after day of it. Day after day, for about 75 days now, obsessed with numbers, I’ve pretzeled myself into a big green chair too close to a glaring screen. The chair is sort of a comfort—it’s wide enough to...
East Village Magazine – June 2020
The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Commentary: Vote by mail is an idea whose time has come
By Paul Rozycki How do you want to vote this year? No, I don’t mean whether you like Democrats, Republicans, Joe Biden, or Donald Trump. I mean, how do you actually want to cast your ballot? It seems simple, but there are a lot of choices. It’s been done many ways...
Ruth Mott Foundation adds $100K to “Restart” fund for Black-owned businesses; deadline June 7
The Ruth Mott Foundation announced today it is contributing $100,000 to a fund to help Black-owned businesses in north Flint that suffered economic hardship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ruth Mott Foundation funds are for grants of up to $5,000 for Black-owned north...
Water pipeline replacement resumes as coronavirus restrictions ease
By Jan Worth-Nelson The City of Flint announced Tuesday that water pipeline replacement, paused the last two months by the coronavirus lockdowns, will resume this week. When work stopped in March, 9,554 lead or galvanized pipes had been replaced, part of the city's...
