Ethics and Accountability Board progress slow to implement charter; no ombudsperson yet
By Meghan Christian The City of Flint Ethics and Accountability Board (EAB) has made some progress getting organized since it first convened in August, but the body still has yet to appoint an ombudsperson, one of the conditions outlined in the new city charter....
Hundreds of environmental journalists arriving in Flint for national convention Oct. 2-7
By Jan Worth-Nelson The 28th annual national convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists will open Wednesday at the University of Michigan-Flint's Riverfront Center, with hundreds of reporters expected to be on hand for four days of talks, seminars,...
CCNA hears blight, crime, pot shop and tree planting reports
By Patsy Isenberg Establishment of a city court to help eliminate neighborhood blight and a report on difficulties of containing crime in the neighborhood were features of the Sept. 20 meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association. About 45 residents,...
Flint Fresh Food Hub opens, expanding options for locally-grown produce, sustainable economy
By Darlene Carey It seemed fitting just a day before the fall equinox that local growers gathered to celebrate a time of harvest and Flint food distribution advocates rejoiced in the official opening Sept. 21 of the new 14,530-square-foot Flint Fresh Food Hub at 3325...
Luminous “JFK: The Last Speech” essay collection reverberates 55 years after one October day
By Robert R. Thomas On Oct, 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave his last public speech, at Amherst College in western Massachusetts. The occasion of Kennedy’s Convocation Address at Amherst was the ground-breaking ceremony for the Robert Frost Library. Frost,...
“Demolition Means Progress” Community Book Read and discussion kicks off Sept. 29
By Jan Worth-Nelson A four-session opportunity to read, discuss and absorb Demolition Means Progress: Flint and the Fate of the American Metropolis by Andrew Highsmith, a book described by many readers as one of the most penetrating, well-researched and troubling...
Flint millennials comment on what might make them stay: real estate incentives, jobs, ice cream
By Meghan Christian What attracts millennials to Flint? And after they get here, what might make them stay? Various City of Flint officials, including Mayor Karen Weaver and Third Ward Councilperson Santino Guerra and representatives from area employers Huntington...
Flotsam to fashion: salvaged water bottles become raincoats, swimsuits in Flint Fit project
By Patsy Isenberg Key figures from Flint Fit, a project to turn 90,000 water bottles into fashion, were on hand at The Capitol Theatre Sept. 15 to show Flint what became of the truckload of plastic collected in the city last fall. The clothes, created by a triumvirate...
Thread Lake, Kearsley dam projects progress; downtown “rapids” plan on Flint River hits snag
By Jeffery L Carey Jr. As the year winds down, the City of Flint has begun its fourth dam project, this one at the Kearsley Dam at the corner of Layton Boulevard and Western Road. Work on the Kearsley Dam follows the recent repair of Thread Lake Dam and the removal of...
Review/Commentary: Foreboding “Fahrenheit 11/9” a jumbled jeremiad, but we still need it
By Jan Worth-Nelson In his opening remarks to a crowd of about 1,000 at the screening of his new movie "Fahrenheit 11/9" Monday night at Whiting Auditorium in Flint, Michael Moore said he was trying to do his part to save the movies. Movie theaters, he said, are...
Kayak Flint launches “urban paddling” through downtown beginning this weekend
By Jan Worth-Nelson Despite what Michael Moore said, inaccurately, in his new film "Fahrenheit 11/9," the Flint River is cleaner and more beautiful than ever before, thanks to years of assiduous cleanup and the gradual removal of the Hamilton Dam. Now the determined...
“Flint Fit” project back in town for “water bottle” fashion show Saturday at Capitol Theatre
By Patsy Isenberg Water bottles are taking on new life as fashion in a project coming back to Flint this weekend. The Flint Fit project kicked off at a press conference last fall has come to fruition and is showing off its wares in the city whose travails inspired it....
Commentary: Environmental Justice Summit convened empowering visions of clean water, air, land
By Michael Mascarenhas On Sept. 8, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition hosted the 3rd Environmental Justice Statewide Summit at Flint's New McCree Theatre. The event brought together close to 200 activists, environmental practitioners, citizens, and scholars...
East Village Magazine – September 2018
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Ruth Mott Foundation grants of $1.9 million catalyzing change in Flint’s north end
By Jan Worth-Nelson In the third year of a strategy focused on Flint’s north end, the Ruth Mott Foundation has announced new grants totaling $1.9 million distributed among 25 projects, both large-scale and small-scale. RMF officials say results from their multi-year...
Riders help Doyle/Ryder students roar into the school year
By Harold C. Ford Some two dozen area motorcyclists obliterated the image of motorcycle riders as narcissists living on the edge of law as they welcomed Doyle/Ryder Elementary students back to school on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Dubbed “Rolling Into Success,” the event was...
Analysis/Commentary: Who votes, who doesn’t, and why it matters
Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting. -Franklin D. Roosevelt Our American heritage is threatened as much by our own indifference as it is by the...
Woodside congregation buys Carriage Town Antiques building, Hoffman’s Deli moving
By Jan Worth-Nelson A half-dozen board members of Woodside Church explored their new home Friday at 503 Garland Street that for ten years has housed Carriage Town Antiques and Hoffman's Deli. The antique store is closed but Hoffman's Deli is expected to move and...
Flint Youth Theatre becomes “Flint Repertory Theatre” amidst celebration, protests
By Patsy Isenberg The Flint Youth Theatre (FYT), for more than 60 years a haven in the Flint Cultural Center for young local actors, playwrights and theater production buffs, is changing. Theater executives unveiled a new name, a new look and a new emphasis at an...
Busy political weekend as GOP, Dem state conventions pick November nominees
By Paul Rozycki In an unusual move, the Michigan Democratic and Republican parties held their state conventions on the same weekend, in venues within a few miles of each other. On Aug. 25 the Republican Party held its state convention in downtown Lansing at the...
Flint Community School district facing make-or-break challenge under state partnership agreement
By Jan Worth-Nelson and Harold C. Ford Behind the scenes as Flint students and teachers go back to school this fall, a make-or-break drama is underway that significantly affects the future of the Flint Community Schools, its 12 schools and 4,600 students. The...
“The Folks of Flint,” a stunning 58-portrait exhibit, opens at the Capitol Theatre
By Patsy Isenberg A stunning exhibit of Flint native Dan White’s 58 larger-than-life portraits, "The Folks of Flint: A Tribute," opens at the Capitol Theatre Thursday. The labor of love reveals a lot about the city that White, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer,...
Editorial: Mr. President, please stop the dangerous attacks
FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to...
Tendaji forum highlights inequality, racism and why people don’t vote
By Paul Rozycki As part of the Tendaji Talks, the Flint Public Library hosted the first of a series of presentations sponsored by Neighborhoods Without Borders on “Racism and the Midterm Election.,” Tuesday evening. Two speakers highlighted the connection between the...
Lear Flint Seating Plant opens on the historic Buick grounds of Flint’s north side
By Jeffery L Carey Jr A new Lear Flint Seating Plant, the first major automotive supplier manufacturing facility constructed in Flint in more than 30 years, opened Saturday, Aug. 11 on a formerly overgrown Buick City brownfield. The project was funded with a $29.3...
