Police, fire budgets to cover new hires;  EAB budget cut clarified in budget session shortened by mutes, protest defections
May20

Police, fire budgets to cover new hires; EAB budget cut clarified in budget session shortened by mutes, protest defections

By Tom Travis Councilperson Kate Fields (4th Ward) and chair of the City Council Finance Committee found a way to shorten council business at Tuesday’s telephonic/video budget session. Before the session began and out of earshot of the public and the press, an interaction between Councilpersons Monica Galloway (7th Ward), Eric Mays (1st Ward) and Fields led Fields to mute Galloway and Mays. Then Fields removed both from the...

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Buses are back: MTA service resumes after almost 50 days, with extra sanitizing and social distancing measures in place
May18

Buses are back: MTA service resumes after almost 50 days, with extra sanitizing and social distancing measures in place

By Tom Travis Since April 1, Flint’s Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) buses have sat silent and unused in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. As of 6:30 a.m. Monday morning.  the buses are back at it, running all primary routes on fixed half-hour schedules. A map and schedule of all Flint MTA primary routes can be viewed here. The MTA Transit Center downtown station was busy Monday morning,  buses going in and...

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Council approves $14.7 million pipeline, reservoir contracts; in scolding email, Mayor calls 11-hour meeting “gross lack of leadership”
May13

Council approves $14.7 million pipeline, reservoir contracts; in scolding email, Mayor calls 11-hour meeting “gross lack of leadership”

by Tom Travis City Council passed two big-ticket pieces of legislation that have been on their agendas for months in their Monday video/telephone meeting. Shortly thereafter, Mayor Sheldon Neeley sent an email scolding the council for the staggering 11-hour-long meeting, which ran from Monday night until 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. In the marathon meeting, City Council had one final discussion over entering into a $14.7 million contract...

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Crim Foundation: new CEO faces COVID response, further focus on mindfulness and community health
May10

Crim Foundation: new CEO faces COVID response, further focus on mindfulness and community health

By Zach Neithercut Once built almost exclusively around an annual 10-mile road race sustained by a small staff, the Crim Foundation has expanded into a major influence in Flint life, with an $8 million budget, more than 50 employees, many year-round events, a city-wide emphasis on mindfulness, and community education programs for 5,000 Flint students. “If there’s something regarding health in the Flint community, the...

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As Atwood COVID testing concludes, Michigan Health Specialists and others continue

By Tom Travis The first location to offer COVID-19 testing in the State of Michigan, Michigan Health Specialists (MHS), has now conducted 200 COVID-19 tests since it began testing March 12. Of the 200 tests performed since then, 50 had positive results and 2 patients have died. MHS and several other locations in Genesee County continue testing as the parking lot testing setup at Atwood Stadium, which began April 14, closed May 4....

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