“This is a message from the residents of the City of Flint” – Activists deliver two petitions to the City Clerk
Aug25

“This is a message from the residents of the City of Flint” – Activists deliver two petitions to the City Clerk

By Tom Travis A group of seven Flint residents gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday to announce they had collected more than 1,000 signatures on two separate petitions. The group was led by activist and Flint water warrior, Claire McClinton, who said she was going to deliver the signed petitions to the City Clerk. “This is a message from the residents of the City of Flint,” McClinton said to members of the media. The...

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Education Beat:  Flint Schools leadership besieged by aging infrastructure in buildings averaging 70 years old
Aug25

Education Beat: Flint Schools leadership besieged by aging infrastructure in buildings averaging 70 years old

By Harold C. Ford Students in Flint Community Schools (FCS) will miss six days of school in the just-started 2021-22 school year due to the heat. FCS ordered schools closed the entire week of Aug .23-26; an instruction day had not been scheduled for Friday, Aug. 27. FCS Superintendent Anita Steward issued a revised public statement about school closings on Monday,  Aug. 23 on the district’s website that read, in part: “At Flint...

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Sports Beat:     Team Handball Emerging at Flint’s Berston Field House
Aug25

Sports Beat: Team Handball Emerging at Flint’s Berston Field House

By Harold C. Ford “This sport is so cool. There’s gotta be a way that America can get good at this sport.” —Mike Tirico, NBC’s anchor for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, commenting on team handball The venerable Berston Field House — the nearly 100-year-old facility on Flint’s near north-side where Olympic champion Claressa Shields honed her boxing prowess and future NBA players sharpened their basketball skill — is now the starting point...

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“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer
Aug21

“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer

By Tom Travis Robert Widigan, 31, has joined the City of Flint’s finance department as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Widigan is a Flint native and attended Mott Community College and transferred to the University of Michigan – Flint graduating in 2014 with a concentration in finance. Currently living in Lansing,  Widigan hopes to move into downtown Flint soon. He is not married and has no kids and no pets. He says he...

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Education Beat:   Two central administrators charge Flint Ed Board Treasurer Laura MacIntyre with “hostile work environment”
Aug20

Education Beat: Two central administrators charge Flint Ed Board Treasurer Laura MacIntyre with “hostile work environment”

By Harold C. Ford Two central administrators of the Flint Community Schools (FCS) — Superintendent Anita Steward and Ayunna Dompreh,  FCS executive director of finance — have both charged Laura MacIntyre, FCS board treasurer, with creating a “hostile work environment,”  according to Board President Carol McIntosh. McIntosh announced the charges at the end of an Aug. 18 board meeting, and explained to the rest of the board that she had...

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