Education Beat: Diminished enrollment and test data dismay Flint Board of Ed president
By Harold C. Ford “Evidently there is something missing.” – Joyce Ellis-McNeal, president, Flint Board of Education, Feb. 19, 2025 An outpouring of frustration by Flint Board of Education (FBOE) President Joyce Ellis-McNeal – fueled by persistently diminished student enrollment and less-than-average state test scores – was a centerpiece at the body’s 3.5-hour meeting on Feb. 19, 2025. Following a presentation by Wendell Greene and...
The Kildee Legacy: From Flint to Lansing to Washington and back again
By Paul Rozycki Those of us in Flint and Genesee County owe much to the many families that made our city and county what it is today. Flint wouldn’t be Flint without the early and continuing influence of the Motts, the Ballengers, the Dorts, the Durants, the Whitings, and many others. In recent years, though, a list of other well-known families have also played a critical role in the politics of Flint and the surrounding area. Those...
Review: ‘A Driving Beat’ premieres at The Rep
By Nathan Waters Saturday night saw the world premiere of “A Driving Beat” at Flint’s Elgood Theatre. The original play by Jordan Ramirez Puckett focuses on a mother, Diane (played by Dani Cochrane), and son, Mateo (Mikee Loria), traveling cross-country from Ohio to San Diego, California in search of answers on the circumstances of Mateo’s birth and subsequent adoption. Throughout the performance’s 90 minute runtime, viewers are...
Sports Beat: Flint Central’s ‘Lightning’ Ervin Leavy Jr. finds rewarding career at UM-Flint
By Harold C. Ford Ervin Leavy Jr. was motivated to improve his basketball game after being bested again and again by his older brother at the playground behind Flint’s Gundry School on Flint’s north side. “He would beat up on me every day until I finally beat him when I was about 13-years-old,” Leavy Jr. recollected in a December 2024 interview with East Village Magazine (EVM). “That meant a lot to me,” said Leavy Jr. “That was the...
William Harvey comes back to his earliest roots in Flint
By Jan Worth-Nelson Violinist William Harvey, featured performer at the FIM Flint Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Saturday, March 15, has amassed a rich and impassioned musical life in performing, teaching, and composing internationally. A longtime resident of Mexico City, he is concertmaster for the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, a two-time Latin Grammy award nominee, and founder and director of Cultures in Harmony, a...
The Latest Edition of East Village Magazine Is Available For Download Here (pdf)
