Get rid of hazardous waste this Saturday, Oct. 22
By Jan Worth-Nelson More than 80 dangerous household chemical and electronic items from acids to batteries to bleach to fluorescent lightbulbs to insecticides to paint thinners to tires to weed killers can be disposed of from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 22...
East Village Magazine – October 2016
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Flint Local 432’s “Mixdown” bringing culinary talent for Friday celebration
By Jan Worth-Nelson "Mixdown," a culinary event celebrating the nonprofit Flint Local 432, a longtime downtown music and arts venue, is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Friday Oct. 7 at the Flint Farmers' Market, 300 E. First St. The event will feature walk-around tasting, chef...
Concerned Pastors deliver blistering salvo at Councilman Scott Kincaid, City Council
By Jan Worth-Nelson A powerful consortium of Flint clergy, the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, a group which has consistently weighed in in support of Mayor Karen Weaver, today stood in the lobby of Flint City Hall and delivered a blistering salvo at the Flint...
Two bottles instead of one: home water testing enters new phase, MDEQ rep explains
By Jan Worth-Nelson This article was updated at 1 p.m. Monday Oct. 3. A year after Flint residents first started testing their water, making Flint into what experts now describe as "the most monitored city in America," residents are being asked not just to continue...
House painting, bike share system proceeding in Central Park
By Nic Custer The Central Park Neighborhood Association discussed the success of a home painting pilot project in the neighborhood at its September meeting. The group also heard about blight and beautification efforts and installation of a bike share program, and sent...
Book Review: NOBODY: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond
By Robert R. Thomas In the January 2016 issue of EVM, I wrote a book review of Demolition Means Progress (2015) by Andrew Highsmith, a definitive account of the reality of Flint’s last 80 years. The book arrived in my life at a time when I desperately needed to...
Village Life: City Council meeting a mess of bedlam: is this how Flint reclaims self-rule?
By Jan Worth-Nelson This week I lost my city council virginity. It wasn’t pretty. Like most losses of virginity, it wasn’t particularly enjoyable and I’m not sure I want a repeat experience. Some things get better with practice – and are especially improved by having...
Trash dispute, trailer parks demolition, Pierce Park prospects featured at CCNA
By Kayla Chappell The September meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) primarily focused on city issues, presented by Monica Galloway, Seventh Ward City Council member, and Kate Fields, Fourth Ward City Council member. Other topics raised at...
Judge orders city council, mayor to confab on trash; Republic still on, Weaver speaks out
By Jan Worth-Nelson Mayor Karen Weaver and her top staff, along with City Council President Kerry Nelson and Councilman Scott Kincaid, will be reporting for trash negotiation boot camp this morning (Wednesday, Sept. 28), muscled into the courtroom of Circuit Court...
The hurts remain fresh: water protestors back at City Hall demand U.S. action
By Jan Worth-Nelson The "2 Years 2 Long Coalition" lined up in front of Flint City Hall on a sunny, September Monday with the American flag furling in the background. Their demand: That the U.S. Senate and House act now to bring relief to the Flint water crisis. In a...
If it’s Monday, there must be trash: dual pickups possible as council/mayoral dispute continues
By Jan Worth-Nelson 11 a.m. update: Kristin Moore, Mayor Karen Weaver's public relations director, has just released the following statement: "Mayor Weaver is waiting on a decision from the appeals court regarding the waste collection situation. She did send a...
Flint trash decision kicked to curb again in council/mayoral fight
By Jan Worth-Nelson Flint's trash pickup is once again in limbo due to ongoing disagreement between the City Council and Mayor Karen Weaver. The focus of disagreement is which of two competing potential contractors, the current contractor, Republic Services, Inc. and...
Dismantling “structural racism” not easy but necessary, Tendaji Talk speaker asserts
By Robert R. Thomas Carlton Evans opened his presentation as the featured speaker for the recent Tendaji Talk at the Flint Public Library by posing two questions: How do we dismantle structural racism? How do we eliminate white supremacy? “The short answer is I don't...
East Village Magazine’s 40th birthday celebration a success: THANK YOU
A crowd of 120 helped East Village Magazine celebrate its 40th anniversary with a party and fundraiser from 4-9 p.m. last Saturday in the Ramsdell Room of the Flint Farmers' Market. The Greg Ellis Blues Band performed, and, according to EVM Editor Jan Worth-Nelson,...
Community Commentary: Why I quit singing the Star Spangled Banner
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt of a column reprinted with permission from Woodside World, a newsletter issued to the congregation of Woodside Church of Flint, where Rev. Conrad is senior pastor. She wrote it partly in response to NFL star Colin Kaepernick's...
“Tendaji Talk” turns to women of color remembering “what my mother told me”
By Robert R. Thomas Four women of color engaged an audience of 20 at the Flint Public Library recently in a Tendaji Talk titled “What my Mother Told Me; What I Told My Daughters.” Co-hosts Alexis Murphy-Morris and Trina Sanders, both African American, were joined on...
MCC hosts “minor party presidential candidate” forum
By Paul Rozycki Can’t deal with Trump? Not sure if you can trust Hillary? Well, there are lots of other choices out there. That was the point of the “Off the Beaten Path to the White House Presidential Candidate Forum” held at Mott Community College Sept. 15. The...
East Village Magazine – September 2016
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
State’s “Step Forward” program reinvigorates help for Flint homeowners
By Jan Worth-Nelson A six-year-old program of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority called “Step Forward” to help prevent foreclosures in Michigan is stepping up approaches to Flint residents affected by the water crisis or other financial troubles. Troy...
Water crisis writer Anna Clark takes EVM into national spotlight, probes many Flint stories
By Jan Worth-Nelson In a surprise outcome related to the Flint water crisis, East Village Magazine has been featured in a standard-bearing national journal, The Columbia Journalism Review. In an article titled “In Flint, a new era for one of the oldest community...
Village Life: scratch a Flintoid these days, you’ll find a chemist
By Jan Worth-Nelson One Thursday in August, as Virginia Tech researcher Marc Edwards was presenting his most recent findings to the cameras and lights nearby, another less glamorous group of us -- me a lone reporter in the third row -- were sitting restlessly in a...
City infrastructure replacement plan takes “holistic” approach, could cost $2 billion
By Nic Custer Rebuild Flint the Right Way, an ambitious plan released in August to repair, replace and upgrade the city’s infrastructure, outlines Mayor Karen Weaver’s vision for fixing the city in the wake of the water crisis. Implementing the plan might cost as much...
Straight talk on the “straight ticket”
By Paul Rozycki There are at least two ways to win an election. Obviously, the best is to have a great candidate, put on the strongest campaign, sell your ideas to the voters and hope they support your views. At least that’s the classical democratic view of winning an...
“The new Jim Crow is the old Jim Crow,” FPL speaker asserts
By Robert R. Thomas With an engaged group of 25 in the basement of Flint Public Library recently, Hubert Roberts led a conversation about "The New Jim Crow,” both Michelle Alexander’s eponymous book and the reality. The conversation was part of the Tendaji...
