“Where are the journalists?” Part Three: As pixels replace paper, journalism still aims to hold powerful to account
This three-part series, concluding with this installment, aims to explore, analyze and lament how many forces challenging the Fourth Estate are playing out in our own community – specifically in a close look at changes in The Flint Journal, now dwindled to a local...
How the Flint Journal helped oust a Socialist mayor: recapturing a look at Flint’s “yellow journalism” past
by Harold C. Ford Ed. note: this historical analysis originally appeared in the September, 1983 issue of The Michigan Voice, (Vol. 7, No. 6). We are reprinting it with Harold Ford's permission to complement and offer it as background to his current series "Where are...
“Flint and the Rock Daughter”: Women of the water crisis inspire a new myth
By Jan Worth-Nelson "Mother Flint, my daughters said, we will be your courageous truth tellers...Mother we are your bedrock daughters, your breathing water, and your living fire. We will not rest until you are restored. Until you are healed. We are your radical...
It’s “Detroit water” for 30 years: Flint city council approves GLWA contract 5-4
By Meghan Christian After a week of marathon-like meetings, the Flint City Council approved Resolution 170354.3, a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), with a close vote of five to four on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Those in favor were Eric Mays (First...
Online “MapFlint” project offers mass of data for public use
By Jan Worth-Nelson An interactive, open-access mapping project that offers data about the city on everything from educational attainment to median household income to locations of schools, medical services and locations for meal services is now online at...
CCNA hears proposal for Pierce Park, pitch for ending gerrymandering
By Patricia Isenberg The news and implications of the City of Flint’s changing city council membership and the marathon closed-door and public discussions deciding on Flint’s water source this week didn’t deter about 60 College Cultural Neighborhood Association...
Flint lead exposure “registry” aims to track water crisis health consequences, outcomes
By Jan Worth-Nelson A federally-funded registry to monitor the health of individuals affected by the Flint water crisis is about to launch, Flint pediatrician and crisis luminary Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha told the FACT Community Partners group meeting Thursday under the...
Winfrey defeats Mays for Flint city council president, Galloway elected VP as new configuration kicks in
By Meghan Christian Meeting for the first time Monday night after a swearing-in ceremony just hours before, the new Flint City Council elected two members to serve as its leaders and approved two of Mayor Karen Weaver’s appointments -- for chief financial officer and...
New Flint Council sworn in with promises of hard work and a “new day” for the city
By Meghan Christian The newly-elected Flint City Council members were sworn into office by City Clerk Inez Brown at noon Monday in front of family, friends, and members of the Flint community -- the group an altered combination of new and old that could change the...
Weaver survives recall, city council undergoes major realignment, voter turnout hits 17 percent
By Jan Worth-Nelson Incumbent Mayor Karen Weaver, two years into her four-year term, soundly overcame a recall effort against her triggered by activist Arthur Woodson with 53 percent of the vote. Her closest competitor, longtime city councilman Scott Kincaid, came in...
Flint wheat weaver makes big investment to save treasured grain for an ancient art
By Dylan Doherty In the spring of 2015, Melissa Ruboyianes of Flint got a life-changing e-mail. She learned that Dennis and Sharon Hanson, owners of Black Beard’s wheat farm in Turtle Lake, North Dakota, were retiring after 35 years in the wheat business. Ruboyianes,...
“Flint Fit” project to combine water bottles, art, fashion and jobs
By Patsy Isenberg Flint Fit, a creative project to recycle Flint water bottles and turn them into fabric for rainwear and swimwear, kicked off last week at Flint’s St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center. The project brings together Flint seamstresses, a fashion designer, a New...
Former Mott Park golf course tees off to new life with neighborhood energy, disc golf
By Teddy Robertson On this wet, gray evening in mid-October, the 55-degree air feels colder after several days of balmy October sunshine. Beneath the dripping trees at the former Mott Park Municipal Golf Course, closed since 2009, the parking lot---surprisingly---is...
“Where are the journalists?” Part Two: Capturing the heart of the community
By Harold C. Ford This three-part series aims to explore, analyze and lament how many forces challenging the Fourth Estate are playing out in our own community – specifically in a close look at changes in The Flint Journal, now dwindled to a local staff of fewer than...
East Village Magazine – November 2017
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Flint City Council votes for 30-day GLWA contract extension, water source issue eludes resolution
By Meghan Christian At an emergency meeting Friday, Oct. 27, the Flint City Council voted for a 30-day extension of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) contract from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. The council, defying an order imposed by United States District Court Judge...
Planning Commission begins consideration of revised pot dispensary ordinance
By Sherrema Bower A proposed new city ordinance designed to govern area marijuana dispensaries took a step forward Oct. 24 as the Flint Planning Commission held a required public hearing on a draft of the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act Ordinance. The draft...
Water, water, water, we the people, and weed star in second mayoral forum
By Jan Worth-Nelson Eight candidates for mayor in Flint assured an audience of about 75 Thursday night at the Flint Public Library that they are about The People, that city government needs a change, and that each of them is the best one to deliver that change. Not...
Not quite fact, not quite fiction, “Flint”movie airing on Lifetime Oct. 28 still gets basics right
By Patsy Isenberg On Saturday evening, Oct. 21, hundreds of people filled The Whiting to get a first look at a movie about Flint's water crisis called “Flint.” The movie will be broadcast on the Lifetime Network this Saturday, Oct. 28. According to the directors and...
Mayoral candidate David Meier ends campaign as FBI debunks Medal of Honor claims
By Jan Worth-Nelson Beset with evidence contradicting his claims that he was a Congressional Medal of Honor winner from the Vietnam War, Flint Mayoral candidate David Meier stated in an email to East Village Magazine today that he has ended his political campaign. "I...
Commentary: How to win an election without votes? Gerrymander!
By Paul Rozycki The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. -Joseph Stalin In a democracy the winners in elections are supposed to be decided by whoever gets the most votes. And that is usually true. However, the...
Review: “Voices from Heaven” brings a joyful noise to The New McCree Theatre
By Sherrema Bower When 23-year-old Albertina Walker helped form the gospel singing group in 1952, The Caravans, she had no way of knowing then that their group would span six decades, launch numerous careers, and would see her as its most steadfast member throughout....
Systems still are failing Flint, panelists assert at UM Bicentennial event
By Jan Worth-Nelson Less than a mile from where two U.S. Congressmen were touring the Flint Farmers' Market with considerable fanfare and a scrum of reporters and photographers in tow, a panel at a much quieter event at the Flint Public Library asserted that Flint has...
With host Dan Kildee, Joseph Kennedy III visits Flint, calls for long-term revitalization
By Jan Worth-Nelson U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee brought his House of Representatives colleague, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III of Massachusetts, to Flint Saturday, a visit culminating in a tour of the Flint Farmer's Market where, after buying fresh tomatoes, flowers and a...
Quilter/musician Joe Cunningham comes home to old haunts, delivers exuberance and wit
By Jan Worth-Nelson Nationally-recognized quilter and musician Joe Cunningham has not just cleared the path for male quilters across the country, but also has led quilting in general into the fine arts world over the past two decades, according to Greater Flint Arts...
