Flint Community Schools board paves way for active new year amid uncertainty and change
by Harold C. Ford Amid uncertainty and change as the Flint Community Schools (FCS) move into the 2019 calendar year, a host of initiatives, actions, and accomplishments were announced as part of a packed agenda at the regular meeting of the FCS board of education Dec. 19. Among them were securing $3.2 million in project funding, district-wide staff training to assure positive learning environments, and adoption of a “balanced...
Jacky King laid to rest: Flint loses a genuine hero
by Harold C. Ford “Get out there and make a damn difference.” –Jacky King, Dec. 2017, STAND Magazine The greater Flint area, the Beecher community in particular, lost a genuine hero on Dec. 13, 2018 with the passing of Jacky King. King, 65, succumbed to a year-long battle with brain cancer. Community activist, entrepreneur, Hall of Fame martial artist, urban farmer, Mt. Morris Township trustee, and mentor to thousands of...
Commentary: Should the Lame Duck be a dead duck?
By Paul Rozycki In the past, the so-called “lame duck” session was a time when the state legislature met in the last weeks of the year, before the newly elected members took office. They took care of relatively modest issues, final adjustments to the budget and other end-of-the-year issues. However, in recent years the lame duck session has become a time when a large number of controversial bills are rushed through the lawmaking maze...
Miracle on One Hurley Plaza Street: Children’s Hospital wins $70,000 in online vote
By Darlene Carey In a late night rally of community support Tuesday, Hurley Children’s Hospital, based out of Flint, Bay City and Saginaw, edged out the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital of Grand Rapids for the top prize of $50,000 in the Vote for Miracles Contest. Along with the votes of everyday citizens in the international contest, there was an added local element: Dr. Alan Klein, a Hurley Hospital pediatric dentist since...
New Ruth Mott Foundation grants target North End youth, vacant lots, grocery store, arts
By Jan Worth-Nelson A varied group of 17 grants aiming to nurture youth arts, clean up vacant lots, create a grocery store, support community news and bolster resource hubs in the North End of Flint was announced today by the Ruth Mott Foundation. The grants, totaling $1.4 million and ranging from $267,400 for a Genesee County Land Bank “Clean and Green” program to $12,730 for El Ballet Folklorico Estudiantil for a...
Village Life: 85 tubas and a corny sing-a-long one secret to holiday cheer
By Jan Worth-Nelson Let’s face it–you can’t not smile when singing “Jingle Bells” with 85 tubas as your back-up group. I love Tuba Christmas, in all its kitschy Baby Jesus/Virgin Mary/Hark the Heralds/Deck the Halls tradition, staged every mid-December in the atrium of the Flint Farmers’ Market. The gaudy brass of the sensually fat horns reflects all the other colors around it. The booming bass...
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