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City council announces budget hearings for April and May; new CFO joins hearing

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City council announces budget hearings for April and May; new CFO joins hearing

By Tom Travis The city council has announced a series of four hearings on the city’s 2023-2024 budget between April 12 and May 15. The hearings will allow city council and members of the public an opportunity to hear from department heads on their budgets and to ask questions. City Clerk Davina Donohue explained to the three council members present (Quincy Murphy (Ward 3), Judy Priestley (Ward 4) and Tonya Burns (Ward 6)) for Wednesday’s hearing that quorum is not required for a hearing to take place. During hearings the council...

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City Council Beat: “I’ve never seen it this bad” City’s sewer system supervisor on raw sewage back ups

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City Council Beat: “I’ve never seen it this bad” City’s sewer system supervisor on raw sewage back ups

By Tom Travis Despite shouting, near physical fights, repeated racial slurs, and loss of quorum that have continued to characterize a dysfunctional Flint City Council, the elected body still managed to conduct some of the people’s business. Those actions included  acceptance of $21 million in grants — for an upgraded pump station, for St. John’s Street neighborhood, for Choice Neighborhoods assistance to the Genesee County Land Bank.  Their actions also included allocation of $350,000 for a “cold case unit” for...

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Remembering Viola Liuzzo, murdered 58 years ago in the cause of voting rights: a personal reflection 

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Remembering Viola Liuzzo, murdered 58 years ago in the cause of voting rights:  a personal reflection 

By Harold C. Ford Viola, Viola you laid your young life down, From Selma to heaven, 3 Ks took you out, Colorblind angel battled bigotry, Viola, Viola lives on in history. –“Color Blind Angel,” Robin Rodgers, 2008 [Author’s note: I was moved to write this personal reflection when my son Justin Ford gifted me a book: From Selma to Sorrow, The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo, by Mary Stanton, University of Georgia Press, 1998. This review of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march and the murder of Viola Liuzzo includes excerpts from...

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The East Village Magazine – April 2023

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The East Village Magazine – April 2023

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: View...

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Village Life: A comfy leather couch, a wide bay window and spilling my guts

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Village Life:  A comfy leather couch, a wide bay window and spilling my guts

By Tom Travis Twice a month I drive 20 minutes to sit on a long leather couch, long enough for about five people. From that couch I look out a big bay window and I spill my guts. Or, as my therapist says, to get “psychoanalyzed.” I tend to be very private and have found it difficult to share with friends when I’m struggling. Over the years I’ve seen about four or five different therapists, counselors or clinical psychologists. I’ve never been diagnosed with a mental health issue by a professional. I’ve...

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Education Beat: Glimpses of possible paths forward for Flint’s public schools include “6 Month Focus” and images of new high school campus

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Education Beat:   Glimpses of possible paths forward for Flint’s public schools include “6 Month Focus” and images of new high school campus

By Harold C. Ford Amid the din of Flint’s newly-assembled school panel searching for productive equilibrium, two glimpses of possible paths forward have recently emerged: Prior to its March 15 meeting ending in considerable chaos, the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) unanimously adopted a document titled “Superintendents Proposed 6 Month Focus.” The five-page document, amended before its passage, was affirmed by all seven members, a rare happenstance recently on an issue of consequence. Images of a new secondary school complex on the site of...

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Yard waste collection begins in Flint April 3

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Yard waste collection begins in Flint April 3

Yard waste collection begins April 3 in Flint Yard waste collection begins Monday, April 3 for Flint residents. Yard waste is picked up weekly on residents’ normal trash collection days through Dec, 1, 2023. A separate truck collects yard waste on the same day as residents’ regularly scheduled trash day. How yard waste should be placed at the curb Compost materials should be placed at the curb at least 10 feet from regular trash no later than 7 a.m. on pickup day. Acceptable yard waste includes grass clippings, leaves, shrubs and brush...

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“This budget offers a level of stability” Mayor Neeley – an increase of $13 million from previous year

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“This budget offers a level of stability” Mayor Neeley – an increase of $13 million from previous year

By Tom Travis Update: This article has been updated on March 27, 2023 to reflect more information from the Mayor and the city’s 2024 budget. Please note that entire city budget is available at the end of the article. And also, here. “This budget offers a level of stability,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley declared in his budget presentation to City Council’s Finance Committee. The 2024 proposed budget of $63 million reflects an increase of more than $9 million from the 2022 budget and a $13 million increase from the 2023 budget....

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Education Beat Analysis: Flint’s public schools tipping into arguable freefall

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Education Beat Analysis:  Flint’s public schools tipping into arguable freefall

By Harold C. Ford As the newly-constituted Flint Board of Education is beginning to look a lot like the old board, with chaos repeatedly breaking out,  a multitude of sobering realities about the school district are undeniable. Arguably, Flint’s public schools are in freefall. Its student population has fallen from around 40,000 a few decades ago to about 3,000 at present. Though economic malaise and population loss explain away most of that loss,approximately two-thirds of K-12 students and their parents that reside in Flint opt...

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Education Beat Analysis: March 15 Flint School Board meeting collapses into chaos

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Education Beat Analysis: March 15 Flint School Board meeting collapses into chaos

By Harold C. Ford “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” –The Who’s Peter Townshend, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” 1971 After a few months of fragile collegiality sprinkled with polite platitudes, the newest iteration of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) has descended into a chaotic reminder of what board-watchers have regrettably witnessed again and again in recent years. The March 15, 2023 affair signaled, perhaps, a local, modern-day version of the infamous Ides of March. The very public bad-blood board relationships continued at the...

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Book Bans: What’s the real motive?

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Book Bans: What’s the real motive?

By Paul Rozycki “Controversial LGBTQ+ memoir the subject of heated Lapeer library meeting”   (MLive, March 17, 2023) That was the headline of a story about a recent Lapeer District Library Board meeting where a crowded room of local residents attacked and denounced the local library for placing the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe on its shelves. The controversy began when the Lapeer County prosecutor inquired about the book, and reportedly raised the possibility of criminal charges against the librarian or library...

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Mindful Civic Leadership Program brings community and police together – a model for the nation

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Mindful Civic Leadership Program brings community and police together – a model for the nation

By Canisha Bell The Mindful Civic Leadership Program, designed to bring Black community members and police officers together to build mindfulness skills, launched a second run March 27. The next session will begin April 10. The program is part of the Mindful Flint Initiative, led by the Crim Fitness Foundation.  Theresa Roach, associate director of the Initiative, said the program aims to “build the skills of mindful leadership, engage in a mindful dialogue and practice communication strategies  around the future of policing in our...

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Council approves new rules, adds support for repealing Emergency Manager law; Mays is ousted, again

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Council approves new rules, adds support for repealing Emergency Manager law; Mays is ousted, again

By Tom Travis This article has been updated to include a link to view and/or download the Rules Governing City Council meetings. – Editor Flint City Councilperson Eric Mays (Ward 1) was removed again for “disorderly conduct” from Monday’s council meeting.  Council President Allie Herkenroder (Ward 7) called out Mays for continuous incorrect use of the the parliamentary procedure (point of order and point of information) and for continually disrupting the meeting. By the end of the meeting,  the rest of the council...

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The East Village Magazine – March 2023

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The East Village Magazine – March 2023

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: View...

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UM-Flint announces voluntary faculty buyout options with year’s pay, $10K bonus

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UM-Flint announces voluntary faculty buyout options with year’s pay,  $10K bonus

By Jan Worth-Nelson In one of the first publicly visible moves to address its fiscal woes since the campus-wide “Strategic Transformation” process began last fall,  the University of Michigan – Flint has rolled out a faculty buyout incentives plan paying up to a year’s salary with a $10,000 bonus. The “2023 Faculty Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan” was announced last week. The plan applies to any tenured, tenure-track and “non-adjunct” clinical faculty in all of the campus’s six schools...

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Village Life: “Where am I from?” or “Who are my people?” are questions worth exploring

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Village Life: “Where am I from?”   or   “Who are my people?” are questions worth exploring

By Tom Travis I’m writing this on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. Soon after Putin’s unprovoked invasion last year I reached out to some local Ukrainians for their reactions. I soon found out they all wanted to talk. They all wanted to share their unique stories and emotions about the impending doom of their beloved Ukraine. There was a deep emotional tie that emerged as I interviewed local Ukrainians about the connections they had to their “homeland.” The interviews were filled with...

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Education Beat: Flint Ed Board badly divided on two “safety” issues — clear backpacks, legal reimbursement

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Education Beat: Flint Ed Board badly divided on two “safety” issues — clear backpacks, legal reimbursement

By Harold C. Ford “Enhancing safety measures, such as a clear backpack policy, should not need debate, nor should it take months to implement.” – Bruce Jordan, Michigan Education Association UniServ Director, reacting to a Flint Board of Education  vote rejecting a clear backpack policy “I think we’re basing this on emotions and not evidence-based research.” –Laura MacIntyre, Flint Board of Education trustee, during discussion of a clear backpack policy, Feb. 15, 2023 At its Feb. 15 regular meeting, the seven members of the Flint Board of...

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Commentary: MSU, Mass shootings, and guns. Will anything change? What’s next?

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Commentary:  MSU, Mass shootings, and guns. Will anything change? What’s next?

By Paul Rozycki Two days. That’s all it took for the horrific shooting at Michigan State University to become old news and be replaced by the newest shootings.  In the two days following the Feb. 13 shooting that killed three MSU students, sent five to the hospital, and dominated the state and local news, the nation saw four more mass shootings—three on Feb. 14 and one more on Feb. 15. By the end of the weekend there were ten more reported mass shootings.  On the first day of 2023—New Year’s Day, there were seven mass shootings,...

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Promise of a “bold, strategic, transformative” future laid out by deans at UM – Flint town hall

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Promise of a “bold, strategic, transformative” future laid out by deans at UM – Flint town hall

By Jan Worth-Nelson “Here at the University of Michigan – Flint, we dare to dream big.  With  market analyses, stakeholder engagement, and program economics,  we have envisioned a bold, strategic and transformative future that is like nothing this university has ever experienced before here at the University of Michigan – Flint.  We will.” With that determined affirmation,  at a town hall Feb. 17 at Riverfront Center, University of Michigan – Flint Provost Sonja Feist-Price introduced  presentations by all six of...

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Sen. John Cherry hopeful about legislative agenda: “We can get that done”

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Sen. John Cherry hopeful about legislative agenda:  “We can get that done”

By Jan Worth-Nelson and Tom Travis When  somebody texted John Cherry at home early in the morning after election night Nov. 8 to tell him the Democrats had taken the majority in the Michigan Legislature,  he says he “literally started crying.” The next morning, he hurried from Flint into his Lansing office as a state representative,  a position he had held since 2018. On the wall, there was a white board listing all the bills he had been proposing and hoped to pass. “I went down that list one by one and I said, “yeah,...

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Education Beat: Flint School Board votes unanimously to reopen talks with Mott Foundation about new building(s)

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Education Beat: Flint School Board votes unanimously to reopen talks with Mott Foundation about new building(s)

By Harold C. Ford “That door to work with our partners in the community is open … I need partners to build a new building,” –Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, at a Feb. 9, 2023 community forum At its Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on Feb. 8, 2023 , the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) voted unanimously to explore the possibility of reopening talks with the Flint-based Mott Foundation about the construction of new school buildings.   The very next evening, Feb. 9, at a community meeting in the auditorium of...

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UMF Chancellor mum on Strategic Transformation at Regents meeting; professor, student critique process

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UMF Chancellor mum on Strategic Transformation at Regents meeting; professor, student critique process

By Jan Worth-Nelson University of Michigan  – Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta offered no news or comments about the downtown Flint campus’s “Strategic Transformation” process in his 3:50 minute presentation to the University of Michigan Regents at their regular monthly meeting in Ann Arbor Thursday. Some observers had predicted the Regents’ meeting might have been a time when something concrete about plans for UM – Flint would be revealed.  A process begun last September to try to find solutions to a batch of...

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Effort to repeal State’s emergency manager law gains steam but is delayed by Flint City Council bickering

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Effort to repeal State’s emergency manager law gains steam but is delayed by Flint City Council bickering

By Tom Travis An effort by Michigan Democrats to repeal Michigan’s much-contested emergency manager law hopes to gain strength through a resolution from Flint City Council (FCC). On Feb. 1, 2023, House Bill 4065 (H.B 4065) was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives, and if enacted would repeal the entirety of P.A. 436. At a Monday press conference at City Hall, Mayor  Sheldon Neeley was joined by State Representative Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac) and State Representative Cynthia Neeley (D-Flint) to explain the resolution aimed...

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UM – Flint offers public Town Hall on “Strategic Transformation” updates as decisions approach

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UM – Flint offers public Town Hall on “Strategic Transformation” updates as decisions approach

By Jan Worth-Nelson A town hall offering updates on the progress of the University of Michigan – Flint’s “Strategic Transformation” process has been scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m.  Friday, Feb. 17 at the Riverfront Conference Center, Chancellor Deba Dutta has announced. Dutta said the deans of each of  UMF’s schools and six colleges will present “ideas about future-focused academic plans. In addition,  the consultants hired to conduct the process, Huron  Group,  are set to present “a synthesis of...

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Education Beat: Flint Ed Board committee signals readiness to move on vacant properties and Mott Foundation partnership

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Education Beat: Flint Ed Board committee signals readiness to move on vacant properties and Mott Foundation partnership

By Harold Ford “We haven’t been able to move; that’s been an issue for us.” –Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, citing the unwillingness of the previous Flint Board of Education to move on vacant properties, Jan. 30, 2023 The Finance and Operations Committee of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) – with two new members who ran as part of an electoral slate in the November, 2022 election –  signaled a readiness at its Jan. 30, 2023 meeting to move more forcefully on the matter of vacant school properties and a willingness...

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Village Life – Blissfully single in community

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Village Life – Blissfully single in community

By Tom Travis It’s called “cuffing season.” I quite hate that term. The term “cuffing” refers to the restrictive and restraining purpose of handcuffs. If you don’t know about cuffing season it begins sometime in October and culminates up to the egregiously capitalized holiday Valentine’s Day. The intention of “cuffing” happens when single, unhitched people begin to prowl around for a partner, a lover or someone to date. Their hope is to find a person to “be with” “to...

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Sports Beat: Steve Schmidt surpasses 1000 games in his 32nd season as Mott CC’s men’s basketball coach

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Sports Beat:    Steve Schmidt surpasses 1000 games in his 32nd season as Mott CC’s men’s basketball coach

By Harold C. Ford If successful sports coaches are measured by longevity, wins, and winning percentage, then Steve Schmidt, men’s basketball coach at Mott Community College (MCC), is, at present, one of the most successful coaches in America at any level in any era.   Schmidt coached his 1000th game for Mott on Dec. 12, 2022m,  when his team lost for the first time this season against Lansing Community College (LCC), 81-77. Upon reaching the 1000th game milestone, Schmidt said: “I’ve been humbled all night … To be able to do something you...

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The East Village Magazine – February 2023

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The East Village Magazine – February 2023

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here: View...

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Education Beat: Threat at ALA prompts backpack review; parliamentary woes continue to plague Flint school board

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Education Beat:  Threat at ALA prompts backpack review; parliamentary woes continue to plague Flint school board

“Sunlight or prison walls: I’m going to go with sunlight and having windows.” –Kelly Fields, principal, Accelerated Learning Academy, Jan. 18, 2023 “There was nothing that happened here (ALA) on campus … The campus has been safe and secure.” –Keiona Murphy, assistant superintendent, Flint Community Schools (FCS) By Harold C. Ford The Flint Board of Education (FBOE) wrestled with two recurring issues – one national in scope and another particular to the Flint panel – at its most recent public meeting on Jan. 18, 2023.   Flint’s Accelerated...

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African-American artwork celebrated in three galleries at FIA

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African-American artwork celebrated in three galleries at FIA

By Tom Travis Three exhibits honoring and celebrating work by African-American artists will be featured at The Flint Institute of Arts (FIA) over the next few months. The FIA’s Contemporary wing will exhibit works from the FIA’s permanent collection of African-American artists and art of the African diaspora. In the Graphics gallery,  the exhibit Expressions will be on display until April 16. Expressions presents a selection of works on paper by African-American artists acquired by FIA over the last decade And finally, in the...

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UM-Flint Chancellor gets 15% raise; dozens top $100K in diverse salary picture as Strategic Transformation decisions appear close

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UM-Flint Chancellor gets 15% raise;  dozens top $100K in diverse salary picture as Strategic Transformation decisions appear close

By Jan Worth-Nelson The University of Michigan – Flint’s top executive, Chancellor Debasish Dutta, received a 15% pay raise for the 2022-23 fiscal year, bringing his yearly salary to $469,000, according to publicly available sources. On average, the rest of the Flint university faculty and staff  received raises of about 3-5%.  The overall University of Michigan pay raise for 2022-23, was 4.1%. Asked for a response from UMF administration about Dutta’s salary increase, Robb King, UM – Flint director of marketing and...

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City of Flint allocates $15.6 million for Community Grants from ARPA funding; applications open now

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City of Flint allocates $15.6 million for Community Grants from ARPA funding;  applications open now

By Tom Travis Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include information about a webinar provided by the City of Flint on Feb. 2 for those wishing to apply for an ARPA Community Grant. The City of Flint has allocated $15.6 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for Community Grants. Applications are open now  for eligible organizations to compete for funds to serve Flint residents in three priority program areas: housing and blight elimination, public health, and economic development. Mayor says 40...

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Dysfunction and Democracy from Flint to Washington. Is Flint a model for the nation?

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Dysfunction and Democracy from Flint to Washington. Is Flint a model for the nation?

By Paul Rozycki For much of the 20th Century Flint was a leader for much of what mattered in the nation. It was home for one of the largest manufacturing corporations in the world. It was the place where one of the most progressive and influential labor unions in the nation stood up to that corporation and negotiated a labor agreement. It was known for its premier public school system. It was where a major foundation built a Cultural Center that rivaled many larger cities. It was where the first Black mayor of a major city was chosen. ...

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Education Beat: New leadership team for Flint Board of Education all first-timers

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Education Beat:     New leadership team for Flint Board of Education all first-timers

By Harold C. Ford “Sometimes you’ve got to pivot.” – Melody Relerford, newly-elected Flint Board of Education trustee, Jan. 11, 2023 A new leadership team was impaneled at the annual organizational meeting of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) on Jan. 11, 2023.   Newly-elected members of a five-person electoral slate were chosen to fill three of four executive officer positions. Four of five slate members – Melody Relerford, Dylan Luna, Terae King, and Michael Clack – along with non-slate candidate Claudia Perkins, filled a single board...

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Early cancer detection to save lives highlighted at MLK Jr. Day Berston celebration

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Early cancer detection to save lives highlighted at MLK Jr. Day Berston celebration

By Tom Travis “Dr. King once said that injustice in health was the most inhuman form of inequality because it leads to death that could have been prevented. Earlier detection of cancer should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay out-of-pocket.”   — Gary Puckrein, National Minority Quality Forum Berston Field House was bursting at the seams with community visitors as it celebrated and remembered the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Jan. 16. Cars packed the parking lot and lined the sidewalks...

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Michigan Speaker Rep. Joe Tate considers economic development with Flint business, housing leaders

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Michigan Speaker Rep. Joe Tate considers economic development with Flint business, housing leaders

By Tom Travis Housing was a key factor considered in an economic development round-table held Monday upstairs in Flint’s Farmers Market. The meeting was organized by recently-elected State Representative Jasper Martus and his special guest the new Speaker of the House in Michigan’s legislature Rep. Joe Tate (D-2nd District). Tate listened and jotted notes as Martus (D-69th District) along with about a dozen Flint business leaders, entrepreneurs and housing organizers introduced themselves and offered ideas. Tate, introducing...

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Mott Foundation grants $16.5 million to support a new YMCA and mixed-use space in downtown Flint

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Mott Foundation grants $16.5 million to support a new YMCA and mixed-use space in downtown Flint

Construction is scheduled to begin in March on a mixed-use facility in downtown Flint that will feature a new home for the YMCA of Greater Flint and residential rental space. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation granted $11 million to the YMCA and $5.5 million to the Foundation for the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation to support the project, according to a press release from the Mott Foundation. The new facility will help meet important needs by increasing health and wellness options, expanding youth education and family programming, and adding...

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Flint residents can apply for WRAP water bill assistance Thursdays at City Hall

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Flint residents can apply for WRAP water bill assistance Thursdays at City Hall

By Tom Travis The City of Flint is encouraging Flint residents to apply for the Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP)—a two-year program that provides assistance to eligible, low-income households through water bill credits, arrearage assistance, and water conservation assistance, such as minor plumbing repairs, according to a press release. Representatives from the WRAP program are resuming their normal schedule as of Thursday, Jan. 5 at Flint City Hall. Representatives will be available at City Hall every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30...

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UM – Flint “people’s” group critiques “top down” Strategic Transformation process and challenges “employers as customers” approach

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UM – Flint “people’s” group critiques “top down” Strategic Transformation process and challenges “employers as customers” approach

By Jan Worth-Nelson University of Michigan – Flint assistant professor Kimberly Saks adamantly declares  she is not “unAmerican.” At a virtual community town hall last week sponsored by a loosely-organized group of faculty, staff, students and alumni who call themselves the “people’s UM-Flint” to distinguish themselves from the official Strategic Transformation process underway at the downtown campus, Saks took issue with comments from Chancellor Deba Dutta in an EVM interview comparing critics of the...

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East Village Magazine December 2022 – January 2023

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East Village Magazine December 2022 – January 2023

The latest edition of The East Village Magazine is available for download and viewing here:z View...

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“From Crisis to Recovery” and a call for unity, are the themes of Mayor Neeley’s State of the City address

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“From Crisis to Recovery” and a call for unity, are the themes of Mayor Neeley’s State of the City address

By Paul Rozycki For the first time since the COVID pandemic Mayor Neeley gave his state of the city address to a live audience at the Capitol Theater.  Because of the pandemic the previous two state of the city address were given virtually. He said “I’m excited to share highlights from the past three years, as well as the new direction our administration is engaging to move our community forward.” This slideshow requires JavaScript. Working on the theme of “One united City of Flint. Together we are strong. We are not victims but victors,”...

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Flint’s “Gentle giant” – Commissioner Bryant “B.B” Nolden honored and remembered by Flint City Council

Posted by on 11:01 AM in Features, Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on Flint’s “Gentle giant” – Commissioner Bryant “B.B” Nolden honored and remembered by Flint City Council

Flint’s “Gentle giant” – Commissioner Bryant “B.B” Nolden honored and remembered by Flint City Council

By Tom Travis As Flint reels from the sudden and untimely death of County Commissioner and Berston Field House Director Bryant “B.B.” Nolden,  the City Council honored his legacy through a resolution of condolence in Monday’s meeting., Councilperson Jerri Winfrey-Carter (Ward 5) brought the resolution forward and read it. “In the name of the people of the city of Flint a resolution of condolence: Be it resolved on behalf of the citizens of the City of Flint. The Flint city council expresses its profound regret upon the...

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A new type of health care coming to Flint in January

Posted by on 5:29 PM in Analysis, Coronavirus, Features, Village Life | Comments Off on A new type of health care coming to Flint in January

A new type of health care coming to Flint in January

By Tom Travis Harris Family Health, Flint’s first direct primary care clinic,  is opening in downtown Flint in January, 2023. It is a membership-based primary care clinic started by Flint native, Dr Aisha [pronounced eh-sha] Harris MD, aimed at offering members more time and access to their doctor so they can prioritize their health and get the care they deserve with no surprise bills. A Grand Opening will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Northbank Center, 432 N Saginaw St, Suite 401A, Flint, MI 48502. Since...

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“Just wait and see”: UM-Flint Chancellor says campus “Strategic Transformation” will bring fiscal stability, vibrancy to Flint community

Posted by on 1:23 PM in Analysis, Features, Local News | Comments Off on “Just wait and see”: UM-Flint Chancellor says campus “Strategic Transformation” will bring fiscal stability, vibrancy to Flint community

“Just wait and see”:  UM-Flint Chancellor says campus “Strategic Transformation” will bring fiscal stability, vibrancy to Flint community

By Jan Worth-Nelson with Tom Travis The University of Michigan – Flint is “a beacon of hope” for the Flint community, UMF Chancellor Debasish Dutta declares,  and he intends to keep it that way. “I am committed to doing everything I can do to make the UM – Flint strong — financially strong, programmatically strong, and relevant to the region,  its employers and so on,”  he asserted in a recent interview. Dutta met with EVM in his third floor office in University Pavilion and went more than twice over...

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Commentary: A tribute to “Master of the State Senate” Jim Ananich

Posted by on 1:08 PM in Analysis, Commentary, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Commentary: A tribute to “Master of the State Senate” Jim Ananich

Commentary:  A tribute to “Master of the State Senate” Jim Ananich

By Michigan State Representative Jasper R. Martus “Thank God for Michigan,” President Lincoln proclaimed when troops arrived to join Union forces in the early stages of the Civil War. Pundits and politicians from across the country offered similar sentiments on Nov. 8 when election returns pointed to Democratic wins up and down the ballot in Michigan. The state’s first Democratic trifecta in over 40 years, a woman’s right to choose codified into law, and the bucking of a century of precedents all happened in one night. While so many...

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Commentary: Looking back and looking ahead — Will 2022 set the stage for 2023?

Posted by on 11:40 AM in Analysis, Commentary, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Commentary: Looking back and looking ahead — Will 2022 set the stage for 2023?

Commentary:  Looking back and looking ahead — Will 2022 set the stage for 2023?

By Paul Rozycki The combined December/January issue of the East Village Magazine marks the end of one year and the beginning of another, and gives us the opportunity to take a look back at what mattered in 2022 — and to look forward to what might matter in 2023. Looking back: The national level Politically, the year 2022 was a year of surprises. The first midterm election after a presidential election is almost always bad news for the party in the White House, and most observers expected that to be the case in the past year. Nearly...

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“We have to make the city of Flint a better place” Mayor Neeley calls for unity, strength and hope in second swearing-in ceremony

Posted by on 10:02 AM in Analysis, Features, Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on “We have to make the city of Flint a better place” Mayor Neeley calls for unity, strength and hope in second swearing-in ceremony

“We have to make the city of Flint a better place” Mayor Neeley calls for unity, strength and hope in second swearing-in ceremony

By Tom Travis Themes of love, unity, strength and hope flowed through the remarks at Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s second swearing-in ceremony Monday with familiar faces of politicians, community leaders, city officials, activists and city residents. Longtime local news anchor and friend of Neeley, Bill Harris, was emcee for the ceremony that lasted just under an hour. This slideshow requires JavaScript. After taking the oath of office, Mayor Neeley said, “I look forward to the opportunity to do wonderful work for this wonderful...

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Kay Schwartz has retirement plans: time with grandchildren and time “to sit and read” in the library she transformed

Posted by on 12:00 PM in Analysis, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Kay Schwartz has retirement plans: time with grandchildren and time “to sit and read” in the library she transformed

Kay Schwartz has retirement plans: time with grandchildren and time “to sit and read” in the library she transformed

By Tom Travis After 24 years at the Flint Public Library and playing a major role in its dramatic renovation, Kay Schwartz has plans for her retirement:  spending time with her growing number of grandchildren and going to that library, as a patron this time, to simply “sit and read.” For the past seven years,  Schwartz led the library’s team of staff, board and community members on a quest to transform that library into a 21st century learning center, with a vision “to be Flint’s go-to place to learn for life,’  as she...

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Mott grants $10 million toward $26.4 million Berston Field House upgrades

Posted by on 12:38 PM in Analysis, Features, Local News | Comments Off on Mott grants $10 million toward $26.4 million Berston Field House upgrades

Mott grants $10 million toward $26.4 million Berston Field House upgrades

By Harold C. Ford Editor’s note – East Village Magazine (EVM) and the entire Flint community are deeply saddened at the untimely and sudden death of “BeBe” Bryant Nolden on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2022. EVM wishes to express care and condolences to Nolden’s family and close friends. Plans to upgrade and expand Flint’s venerable Berston Field House just got a huge boost from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (CSMF). In November the foundation announced it would grant $10 million to the city of Flint “to support new...

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City Clerk candidates – Guillen and Donohue – to be interviewed Dec. 5

Posted by on 3:05 PM in Analysis, Features, Local News, News Briefs | Comments Off on City Clerk candidates – Guillen and Donohue – to be interviewed Dec. 5

City Clerk candidates – Guillen and Donohue – to be interviewed Dec. 5

By Tom Travis Out of 24 applicants, two will be interviewed next Monday, Dec. 5, in an open public meeting, for the position of Flint City Clerk – Angela Guillen and Davina Donahue (currently serving as the Interim City Clerk). East Village Magazine (EVM) has reached out to both candidates but neither has responded. City of Flint Human Resources (HR) Director Eddie Smith explained to the council in a Nov. 9 meeting that the City’s HR department had received 24 applications and resumes for the position of City Clerk. Smith and his...

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