Mays returns to city council after censure, more than 100 residents line up to voice opinions
By Tom Travis Censured Councilperson Eric Mays (1st Ward) returned to City Council Chambers Monday night despite being censured for 30 days by his council colleagues, and a stream of residents lined up at the speaker's podium to voice their displeasure about his...
Biden rallies supporters at Flint’s Berston Field House before Tuesday’s primary
By Paul Rozycki With less than 15 hours before the polls open for Michigan’s primary election, former Vice President Joe Biden brought his campaign to Michigan, and to Flint, to rally supporters for the Democratic presidential nomination. On Monday afternoon Biden...
Mayor Sheldon Neeley, Cynthia Neeley jointly endorse Joe Biden
By Jan Worth-Nelson In a brief press release issued Sunday night, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and his wife, State House of Representative candidate Cynthia Neeley, issued what they called a "dual presidential endorsement" for former Vice President Joe Biden. "Former...
Bernie Sanders sweeps into Flint and Mott Community College scrambles to accommodate crowd of 1,000
By Tom Travis Striding onto the stage of a crowded Ballenger Field House Saturday night, U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders shouted, “Thank you, Flint, Thank you. It’s always good to be back.” Someone yelled out, “We love you Bernie!” The crowd cheered and...
Auto insurance town hall airs community concerns over impending changes
By Jeffery L Carey Jr. A hearty dose of skepticism and dejection was the overall attitude at an auto insurance town hall Tuesday, March 3. Hosted at the Unitarian-Universalist Church off South Ballenger Highway, the town hall discussion dove right into the potential...
Voters, don’t miss this: Absentee ballots deadline 8 p.m. Tuesday March 10; Clerk’s Office open Saturday
There's still time to obtain and turn in your absentee ballot for Tuesday's election, City Clerk Inez Brown is reminding voters. The Flint City Clerk’s Office will be open tomorrow, Saturday, March 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to issue absentee ballots over the counter...
Commentary: Make sense of the census — be sure you are counted!
By Paul Rozycki In a nation of 330 million people, one person doesn’t make much of a difference? Right? Don’t tell that to the 29,999 people in Burton. In the last census, they were one person short of the 30,000 level for federal programs, and it cost the city a...
This Month in the Village: March Features
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East Village Magazine – March 2020
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The Board of Review’s revised rules set to be put in place at its next regular meeting
By Tom Travis After nearly an hour and a half of disruptions with Flint residents and a Council member being removed the city council got back to business with a public hearing. The public hearing was required to be held before a new set of revised rules could be...
Mays removed and censured from attending City Council meetings until April 8
By Tom Travis Upheaval and mayhem described the special city council meeting on Wednesday night. Within 20 minutes of the special city council meeting. a motion was made to remove Councilperson Eric Mays (1st Ward). Almost simultaneously, a resident, Wilbert Jarrett,...
Village Life: “Tree City” a sweet place to tap for syrup–here’s how
By Jeffery L Carey Jr. This year marks the fifth year my family has been making maple syrup out in our yard. It started with just a bit of curiosity and now it is something we look forward to every year. There is something incredible about getting outside and feeling...
Neighborhood revitalization and blight removal are goals in Durant-Tuuri-Mott target area
By Tom Travis Dreaming, re-imagining and visioning for neighborhoods were at the center of a recent discussion of the University Avenue Corridor Coalition (UACC). Focused on neighborhood revitalization and blight removal, a project funded by a small federal grant is...
“Zero layoffs” and “no more raiding the Water and Sewer fund” in Mayor Neeley’s 2021 city budget
By Tom Travis Mayor Sheldon Neeley presented a balanced 2021 budget to the Flint City Council Monday that calls for total revenues of $56.9 million and total expenditures of $71.3 million, using city savings from its previous general fund balance to make up the...
Freeman Elementary’s “Live Museum” celebrates Black History Month
By Harold C. Ford A group of about 42 sixth-grade students made Black History Month come alive with a “Live Museum” at Flint’s Freeman Elementary School on Feb. 25. Students dressed up as Barack Obama, Serena Williams, Bernie Mac, Nelson Mandela, Langston Hughes,...
Analysis: Citizens speak up and votes are swayed, as City Council turns down tax abatement in Carriage Town
By Tom Travis On Monday, Feb. 24, Flint City Council voted 5 to 4 against a proposed tax abatement for a property development in the neighborhood that birthed General Motors. The decision may mean the end of the project, which has been vigorously protested by a group...
“Hair on fire!” FPL Director Kay Schwartz, staff synchronizing complex library moves, “working our hearts out”
By Zach Neithercut "Is my hair on fire?" That's what Flint Public Library Director Kay Schwartz says she blurts out these days to anybody asking how things are going. Schwartz is at the helm of a complicated--and extremely rewarding--set of maneuvers as the...
Bucks’ success continues into off season
By Harold C. Ford The 2019 on-field success of the Flint City Bucks during their first season in The Vehicle City—including a national championship in the United Soccer League Two (USL2)—has continued into the off-season. Top honors for the club’s executives and the...
Education Beat: Flint Community Schools move toward March 10 millage renewal, no closures in sight
By Harold C. Ford Editor's note: This story was updated March 1 to include a statement from Supt. Derick Lopez (see below) regarding school closures. At the Feb. 19 meeting of the Flint Community Schools’ (FCS) Board of Education, Superintendent Derrick Lopez...
New report highlights progress and perils facing Flint kids: nutrition, literacy enhanced; poverty still high
By Coner Segren The story of Flint in the past decade has largely been a tale of two cities. While the unemployment rate has fallen by more than half since 2010, 69 percent of Flint children under the age of 5 are living in poverty. And that is just one of the many...
Charles Winfrey’s “Saints of St. John Street” runs at McCree through Feb. 29
By Patsy Isenberg “The now demolished St. John Street neighborhood is historic in the sense it was one of only two areas African Americans could reside in as they migrated to Flint from the south.” That’s the first sentence about the authentic and nostalgically...
“When we have a healthier population we have a healthier economy,” Gov. Whitmer said in Flint today
By Tom Travis Visiting the Hamilton Community Health Clinic on Flint’s north side today, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, “When we have a healthier population we have a healthier economy.” To that end, Whitmer was at the Hamilton Clinic to announce her...
When legends come to life: from zombies to vampires with the Goblin King Players
By Jerry Bradshaw A taste for zombies and a love of amusingly scaring people nurtured in a Flint coffee shop have hatched into a performing troupe that after just four years is selling out multiple shows in historic theaters around Michigan and even touring out of...
Concerns about Michigan’s new auto insurance law to be aired at March 3 town hall
A public town hall on Michigan's new auto insurance law has been scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Flint, 2474 S. Ballenger Hwy. Hosted by Lansing-based non-profit CPAN, until recently known as The Coalition Protecting...
Review: Buckham show shines light on primal obsessions of love and death
By Jeffery L Carey, Jr. “Besides Eros, then, there was a death drive.” ––Sigmund Freud Within humanity there seems to be an obsession with the concepts of love and death. This obsession worms its way into our stories, poems, and art, and has been doing so for over...
