Flint mayor turns away from KWA pipeline, opts to keep water from Detroit
Apr18

Flint mayor turns away from KWA pipeline, opts to keep water from Detroit

By Jan Worth-Nelson The City of Flint’s twisted path to the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline appears to have changed today, with Mayor Karen Weaver announcing the recommendation that the city stay with water from the Great Lakes Water Authority — what has been called “Detroit water” — as its primary source of water instead. In what struck many in the City Council chambers as a surprising development...

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Coal tar coming out of Flint River as Consumers’ remediation, re-naturalization proceeds
Apr14

Coal tar coming out of Flint River as Consumers’ remediation, re-naturalization proceeds

By Meghan Christian Remediation and re-naturalization of the Flint River between Fifth Avenue/Robert T. Longway and the Hamilton Dam downtown has begun, with removal of all vegetation on the river banks paving the way for expected extensive summer work. Consumers Energy and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality representatives held an information session followed by a public hearing at the Flint Farmers’ Market on Tuesday,...

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Review: Poet/pot activist John Sinclair comes briefly home, still paying dues in “Trumpville’
Apr03

Review: Poet/pot activist John Sinclair comes briefly home, still paying dues in “Trumpville’

By Jan Worth-Nelson Of course, the reading at Totem Books was scheduled to start at 4:20, cannabis lovers’ cocktail hour, but traffic out of Detroit on a rainy Thursday held him up.  The crowd, many in ponchos, chunky jewelry,  braids, flannel shirts and gray beards, looked like they could have been at Woodstock — that is, like me, they were of a certain age.  The mellow group hanging out at the counter, sipping lattes and...

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Neighborhood tree replacement plan hits city roadblock:  permits to plant denied
Apr01

Neighborhood tree replacement plan hits city roadblock: permits to plant denied

By Jan Worth-Nelson Members of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association, many of whom love their venerable green canopies, recently raised $4,000 in a matter of days to buy saplings to replace the 180 trees cut down by the city on parkways in their neighborhood last year.  They have a plan in place for volunteers to put in the trees. But so far, the city is denying permits to plant them. Mike Keeler, president of the CCNA, voiced...

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Flint schools chief Bilal Tawwab facing challenging course
Mar31

Flint schools chief Bilal Tawwab facing challenging course

by Harold C. Ford The year 2020 is the target date for a new, consolidated Flint high school at the site of the now-abandoned Flint Central High School campus, Flint Community Schools Superintendent Bilal Tawwab said in a wide-ranging recent interview with East Village Magazine. Reflecting upon the close proximity to Flint’s college and cultural center that Flint Central students once enjoyed, Tawwab deemed the possibility an...

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Some young buyers find Flint houses make good homes
Mar29

Some young buyers find Flint houses make good homes

By Megan Ockert Andrew Chambers, a 28-year-old studying early elementary education at UM-Flint, has a lot to celebrate. On Oct. 1, 2016, he was finally able to move into his own downtown Flint home he bought in July. Chambers is one of a number of young Flint home buyers combating skepticism from others while finding surprising benefits by taking a chance on the city. Hoping to buy a house at an affordable price from the Genesee...

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