Driver in Dort Highway protest collisions won’t be charged, Flint police chief says
By Meghan Christian The driver of the red pickup truck that collided with protesters on Dort Highway around 7 a.m. Tuesday will not currently face any charges, according to Flint Police Chief Timothy Johnson at a mayoral press conference at City Hall the afternoon after the incident. “It wasn’t found that he had any intoxicants in his blood… He was pretty shaken up about it, in tears,” Johnson said. “The driver was not drunk, so...
A New Generation: Millennials, young adults like Flint’s Santino Guerra embracing politics
By Meghan Christian According to Ruth Milkman’s analysis “A New Political Generation: Millennials and the Post-2008 Wave of Protest” in the January, 2017 American Sociological Review, the media has perpetuated an idea that millennials (who range between 22 and 36 years old currently) are lazy, entitled, and less engaged overall. This was demonstrated by the 2013 Time Magazine cover story claiming millennials as the “Me, Me, Me”...
Commentary: 2018 is not your typical midterm election
By Paul Rozycki This year’s midterm election could be like most other midterms….except when it’s not. And it looks like it’s not going to be like most midterm elections. The usual midterm election Here’s what usually happens in most midterm elections. First, the turnout is lower than during a presidential election year. While we usually get about 60 percent of potential voters turning out in a presidential year, in a midterm we...
City Council Beat: mutual condemnations, calls for civility dominate September meetings
By Meghan Christian “All I’m gonna say is: get the word out. When you hear me say I want to change the complexion of this council, and people say is it a threat, no. It’s factually what I’m going to do,” First Ward Councilperson Eric Mays said during his final comments at the Sept. 24 Flint City Council (FCC) meeting. “If I have to go in two wards and find people in that ward and help them circulate petitions to get the number to...
Brian O’Leary pursues the “dynamic symmetry” of street photography
By Jeffery L Carey Jr. “Anywhere you look in Flint there is something interesting to take a picture of,” street photographer Brian O’Leary says, and then jokingly adds, “I’ll often stand in one place for hours waiting for that truly interesting thing to happen, but it tends to happen when I finally walk away.” As O’Leary searches for what he describes as “dynamic symmetry” in the composition of his work, his patience is clearly...
Ethics and Accountability Board progress slow to implement charter; no ombudsperson yet
By Meghan Christian The City of Flint Ethics and Accountability Board (EAB) has made some progress getting organized since it first convened in August, but the body still has yet to appoint an ombudsperson, one of the conditions outlined in the new city charter. During their last meeting Sept. 25, members provided updates on tasks they have been working on and discussed how to proceed to hire the City’s ombudsperson. The EAB is a...