East Village Magazine – April 2016
The latest issue of East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Column: While we were dealing with the water crisis…
By Paul Rozycki As Flint works its way through its water crisis, the range of problems seem overwhelming. Every time it looks like we’ve solved one problem, another rears its head. At first it seemed that all we needed to do was replace the old lead pipes in the homes...
Flint Public Art Project evolving to local leadership, “Motion in Play”
By Stacie Scherman Flint Public Art Project (FPAP) is now under new local leadership as a result of recent changes to its organizational structure. Former director and FPAP founder Stephen Zacks stepped down into the newly created creative director position. He is...
Marijuana dispensaries focus of planning commission discussion
By Nic Custer Proposals for medical marijuana dispensaries at three Flint locations were the main topic discussed at the March 8 Flint Planning Commission meeting, which drew more than 60 people to the city hall’s Dome Auditorium. Many audience members were...
Pretending to be happy: smart guys say it works
This column first appeared in the April, 2009 edition. In light of the rough “Winter of the Water” and all of its depressing side-effects Flintoids have survived, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of these ideas again. By Jan Worth-Nelson Sheepishly, I admit...
Confront America’s history of racism to understand Flint, activist asserts
By Robert R. Thomas Racism and economic inequality go hand-in-glove in America, an anti-racism activist told an audience of 150 at the Flint Public Library, and Flint’s recent travails are a pointed example. Tim Wise asserted to the St. Patrick’s Day crowd that the...
Gray Panthers stalk Flint events: remembering That Weekend (Part I)
By Robert R. Thomas The plan was to take a list of ten events surrounding the Democratic debate at the Whiting and participate in as many as chilly weather and aging bones permitted. My wife Ingrid and I were more interested in the scenes surrounding the main...
Bernie makes it better: remembering That Weekend (Part 2)
By Teddy Robertson The March 6, 2016 Democratic debate is over. That it was held in Flint seems more amazing now than it did the Sunday I stood in a line that snaked around the Whiting parking lot---students, Flint old timers (“I walked to Flint Central 50 years...
“Today and Tomorrow–Water in Flint” panel covers “confusing” bills, credits, leaks and lawsuits
By Robert R. Thomas Deciphering Flint’s water bills and the coming state “credits,” assessing the prospects of pending lawsuits, and considering the long-term impact of the city’s water crisis were among topics covered at a community meeting March 10 at the Flint...
East Village Magazine – March 2016
The latest issue of East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Beyond the Water Crisis: Ready for prime time? Too much prime time?
By Paul Rozycki Before last November’s election there were many who wondered if Dr. Karen Weaver, running for her first elective office, was ready for prime time. It seems that we have our answer. In just a little over three months, has any mayor of a similar...
Village Life: Flint’s water story triggers writers’ unease
By Jan Worth-Nelson Scene One: I’m sitting under a yellow umbrella with Andrew Highsmith and my husband Ted in a sunny plaza at a California university. The yellow makes our faces look like we’ve smeared ourselves with dandelions. It’s a chilly but sunny 63. Highsmith...
Even the Commies came to Flint: reflections on poison water and the “revolution”
By Robert R. Thomas Since Flint has become the rock star of rust belt disasters, all manner of journalistic requests come through East Village Magazine’s office seeking some Flint access. You know, “the real Flint”—that kind of thing. When a request arrived from a...
Local poets, singers make art from water crisis, racism, justice at “Power of Witness”
By Stacie Scherman Kimberly Brown of Flint steps up to the mic at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Flint in the warm glow of spotlights illuminating the stage, and launches into a poem. “We are so vulnerable to what happens to the waters that nourish us,” she...
Flint Public Art Project, Spencer’s Art House leadership changes in Carriage Town
By Lori Nelson Savage The February meeting of the Carriage Town Historic Neighborhood Association focused on a review of the community improvement projects affecting the area. Projects discussed included Chevy Commons, Hamilton Dam, Spencer’s Art House, the Statue...
City water bill refunds to start soon: 65% from April 2014 “until the water is safe to drink”
Within the last few days, Flint residents received text messages announcing the launch of the $30 million water bill refund program recently approved and funded by the state legislature and signed by Governor Snyder Feb. 26. Here is the text as it was sent on Sunday,...
Street light upgrades, zoning changes, water supply highlight CPNA meeting
by Nic Custer The Central Park Neighborhood Association discussed grant applications for lighting upgrades, mobile meetings, Riverside Tabernacle playscape improvements, Kearsley Street zoning and water distribution updates at their February meeting Norma Sain,...
Syracuse, New York galvanizes city-wide response to Flint’s water woes; Buffalo joins, too
By Stacie Scherman Four hundred miles away from Flint, Daren Jaime, pastor of the People’s AME Zion Church of Syracuse, New York, recently “had a vision in the middle of the night” about helping Flint residents cope with the water crisis. The next morning he reached...
“Rebuild Flint” marchers pass by Karegnondi Pipeline, call for infrastructure, justice
By Nic Custer In the shadow of the former Buick City industrial complex and passing by pipes waiting to be installed in the Karegnondi pipeline, hundreds of diverse local and out of town activists marched a mile from the Metropolitan Baptist Church to the Flint Water...
Coneys and Vernors in Beverly Hills: Hollywood comes through for Flint
By Jan Worth-Nelson About 200 people, half of them declaring they were from Flint, came together Sunday afternoon at Spaghettini's in Beverly Hills, California, to raise money for Flint in the wake of its water disaster. By the end of the evening, which featured...
Byrd Competition stars 26 stringed-instrument musicians March 5
By Anne Trelfa Violins, violas and cellos will star March 5 at the Flint Institute of Music in a day of performance by 26 young musicians that is free and open to the public. The 45th annual international William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition will run from 8:45...
Politics of water: blame game, grandstanding, incompetence — and a turning point?
By Paul Rozycki At the end of last year, after our mayoral election, our switch back to Detroit water, and the progress on the Karegnondi pipeline, it seemed that the Flint Water Crisis has peaked. This month I was expecting to say a few words about the primary...
Water crisis not a “death blow,” Ananich tells neighborhood group
By Lori Nelson Savage Flint’s water emergency, its effect on neighborhood housing and a need to upgrade the tennis courts at Woodlawn Park ignited discussion at the January College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) meeting. “I don’t think this is a death...
Fluttered away like a pack of cards: reflections on Alice in Wonderland and adulthood
By Teddy Robertson When I was about eight years old I was very sick with a fever that must have been unusually high. What caused it or what my mother and grandmother surmised it might be, I don’t remember now. But I was in bed in a dark room, restless and confused....
As city-wide lead pipe mapping begins, UM-Flint prof explains how to test your water lines
By Nic Custer Two household items – a key and a magnet – and a set of simple observations may help worried Flint residents determine what their water pipes are made of. UM- Flint professor, Martin Kaufman, Department of Earth and Resource Science, told East Village...
