Flint Festival of Writers to feature “Dreams Like Mine” author LaTashia Perry
Flint Festival of Writers 2019 featured author LaTashia Perry ( Photo Credit 770 Photography) It has a new name, a new date, a new location, new talent and a fresh line-up of programs. The Flint Festival of Writers – formerly the Flint Literary Festival—will...
Ombudsperson search process moves forward: Ethics Accountability Board to set interviews soon
By Melodee Mabbitt Flint residents could meet their new ombudsperson as soon as September. This was announced by the Ethics and Accountability Board at a press conference in city council chambers July 23 to reveal the hiring process for the position. Applications...
Five years after move, Flint Farmers’ Market thriving, addressing challenges
By Jan Worth-Nelson You can get almost every element of the good life at the Flint Farmers' Market: fresh asparagus, triple cream brie, Michigan strawberries and tomatoes in season, premier pinot noir, flaky croissants. You can pick up locally-made honey,...
Nine hours, shouting match, two resolutions, one fail, “restoration” plans incomplete
By Tom Travis and Jan Worth-Nelson Editor's Note: This story has been updated on July 23 to clarify that Ninth Ward Councilperson Eva Worthing was temporarily out of the room during the vote on the Goyette resolution. She said she would have noted "no," That vote...
“Restoration” of sidewalks and lawns post-pipe replacement turns into labyrinth of delays
By Jan Worth-Nelson and Tom Travis When will the residents of Flint get their lawns and sidewalks restored following three years of water pipe excavations and replacement? The answer to that, yet another sign of how elusive “closure” can be in the years’ long...
MTA specialized programs “a blessing,” offering expanding services to Flint
By Madeleine Graham My life changed when my car broke, and I did not have the funds to repair it. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) started when I missed a flight, and then I boarded a wrong bus in Washington State. Fortunately with a lot of friends and family...
Art Walk Scene: Hip-hop, pop-ups, ice cream, art–downtown’s alive
By Tom Travis Entering the Flint Art Walk Friday night at Third Street and Saginaw, you hear the sounds of hip-hop and R&B. An open mic is provided for anyone brave enough to try a song on karaoke--though nobody's there yet in the early evening sunlight. Right...
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...
