Kildee, Mays and Johnson discuss Flint water crisis at WDET panel
By Paul Rozycki According to U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee (5th District), obtaining justice for the Flint water crisis requires that those responsible be “held liable for the damage, that the basic water infrastructure be repaired, that residents be charged a fair...
Book Review: “American Dialogue” offers indispensable conversation between “then” and “now”
By Robert R. Thomas In assessing the here and now, history offers an indispensable perspective. American Dialogue is an enlightening example. As author and historian Joseph Ellis puts it, “The study of history is an ongoing conversation between past and present from...
This Month in the Village: July Events
July events, in and around Flint, feature sports, music, dance, and much more:
News Brief: McCree founder returns, conducts free theater arts workshop Saturday
One of the founders of the New McCree Theater, Anderson Johnson, returns to Flint to conduct a workshop covering many aspects of theatre arts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 13. The workshop is free and open to the public. Lunch and snacks will be served. For...
Village Life: A raptor crash heralded my life with birds
By Teddy Robertson Smack! The front legs of my chair leave the floor, my hands pop off the laptop keyboard; I jerk backward. A split second, then a tinkling sound ripples over my left shoulder. I turn and look: in the storm window beside me fissures radiate outward...
East Village Magazine – July 2019
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Commentary: A funny thing happened on the way to the election
By Paul Rozycki Note: This column has been updated for a correction via City Clerk Inez Brown: it was the city's Finance Department that initially omitted the $320,000 in the budget for this year's election, not the City Council--Ed. For most cities, villages, and...
Education Beat: Admin shakeups, contracts highlight end of year for Flint Community Schools
By Harold C. Ford “Our buildings are not worthy of the children that enter them…There are lots of people who have been paid to do lots of things that have not done the things they were paid to do.” …Derrick Lopez, Superintendent, Flint Community Schools...
Flint City Bucks are winning games–and the hearts of the “River Rats”
By Harold C. Ford “Our Father who art in Atwood, Soccer be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, all matches won, on Earth as it is in Section Eleven. With Liberty and Justice for Flint and Demir Muftari.” … River Rats pregame prayer--by River Rat William Balcer The Flint City...
“Please tell me some heads are going to roll”– Flint residents direct anger, hope, doubt at prosecution team
By Jan Worth-Nelson Things started out reasonably well Friday night as the state's new water crisis prosecution team, led by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud faced down 200 Flint residents at the UAW Local 659 Hall. The...
Water class action attorneys detail progress of civil cases; not everyone satisfied
By Jan Worth-Nelson Leading a call and response of "We won! They lost!" with a crowd of 100 vocal Flint residents at UAW Local 659 last night, Flint Water Class Action attorney Michael Pitt asserted that the numerous water crisis civil cases chugging through the...
Thousands gather at Flint’s Ninth Annual Pride Festival
By Jeffery L. Carey Jr. Rainbows on everything from drag queens to a U.S. Congresssman were the motif of the day Saturday at the Ninth Annual Pride Festival in downtown Flint. Hosted by the Flint Pride Society and Wellness Services of Flint, the event ran from 2 to 8...
City of Flint facing allegations of failure to follow Open Meetings Act, FOIA and City Charter
By Melodee Mabbitt An attempt to follow the story of Flint’s pipeline replacement led a Flint resident to file a complaint to Genesee County Circuit Court, now under consideration by Judge Kay Behm, alleging that the City of Flint failed to follow the Open Meetings...
Flint Pride Festival TODAY (Saturday) in downtown Flint
Two events happening today (Saturday) in observance and celebration of Pride Month, which occurs yearly in the month of June. Saturday, June 22: Flint Pride Festival The Flint Pride Festival being held at Riverbank Park in downtown Flint. from 2-8 p.m. Five dollar...
News Brief: water prosecution team sets community meeting in Flint June 28
Two members of the State of Michigan's Flint water prosecution team are coming to town for a "community conversation" with Flint residents at 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 28 at UAW Local 659 Hall, 4549 Van Slyke Rd., Flint. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The meeting, with...
Fundraiser supports Flint Middle School student’s cancer fight
A spaghetti dinner fundraiser was held June 21, to support a Holmes STEAM Academy student’s fight against cancer. Kaylon Ross-Howell was diagnosed with glitomatosis cerebri, a rare form of brain cancer. According to Blake Strozier, Flint board of education vice...
News Brief: 18th Annual Unity March set for 11:30 a.m. Saturday
The 18th Annual Unity March Against Violence is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22, starting at the Flint Development Center, 4121 Martin Luther King Blvd in Flint. According to spokesperson Donna Ullrich, "this is an historic peace walk that engages...
Brush up your memories: StoryCorps coming back to Flint
By Jan Worth-Nelson "Listen. Honor. Share." Those are the basic tenets of grassroots story telling built into StoryCorps, the nationally-known project coming back to Flint for a month beginning Aug. 6. "Listening is an act of love and generosity," the...
Review: June Art Walk offered many pleasures for Saginaw Street strollers
By Patsy Isenberg It was a perfect late spring day for the June Art Walk, and hundreds of visitors took advantage of the weather, walking up and down Saginaw Street in downtown Flint. It was not raining for one thing and the temperature was in the mid-70s. It...
All four mayoral candidates will stay on ballot, Judge Farah rules
By Paul Rozycki After more than a week of speculation about who should be on the ballot for Flint’s mayoral primary, Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Farah ruled on Monday June 17 that all four of the candidates, initially approved by the Flint City Clerk...
Sloan Museum breaks ground for $26 million expansion, aims to foster kids’ love of learning, resilience
By Jan Worth-Nelson With calls from many dignitaries to champion science and history and ignite a passion for learning among Flint kids, ground was broken this week for a $26 million renovation and expansion of the Sloan Museum on the Flint Cultural Center Campus,...
Central Park celebrates new mural on East Village Magazine building
By Harold C. Ford “Basically, the idea behind the mural is we don’t need to hate each other.” --Murales Lian, muralist Flint’s Central Park Neighborhood Association (CPNA) will celebrate the completion of a new mural on the wall of the East Village Magazine (EVM) ...
Debrief: Flint Art Fair numbers suggest success for FIA, local economy
By Paul Rozycki Though this year’s numbers are not all in, the 2019 Flint Art Fair looks to have been a strong success. According to James Draper, one of the organizers of the fair, they hope to net at least $20,000 for the Flint Institute of Arts (FIA). Most of...
In both good weather and bad, Flint Art Fair pleased and delivered
By Paul Rozycki The 52ndFlint Art Fair, held Saturday and Sunday, was a tale of two cities, weather-wise -- or at least a tale of two art fairs. Saturday dawned warm and sunny with nary a cloud in the sky as the fair opened, and attendance soared to near record...
News Brief: Dental health summit Friday to explore water crisis impact, other oral health topics
Maternal and infant oral health, water fluoridation, health conditions cause by poor oral health and the impact of the Flint water crisis are among topics to be covered Friday at the 2019 Michigan Central Area Oral Health Summit for the Genesee County Area. The event,...
