Education Beat: Flint Schools — too many buildings, not enough students to fill them
By Harold C. Ford “It’s April; school closings should be announced today, May at the latest … I’m begging you to get focused.” – Bruce Jordan, teachers union official, Michigan Education Association; April 2023 “You only need half of the [existing] buildings.” — Nicole Blocker, senior vice president, Plante Moran Cresa, May 25, 2023 “The idea is to get your [Flint Board of Education members’] thoughts. It’s not for us to...
Review: “Call Them by Their True Names” by Rebecca Solnit
By Robert Thomas Subtitled American Crises (and Essays), Call Them by Their True Names is Rebecca Solnit’s powerful 2018 collection of timely essays. The book’s forward, “Politics and the American Language,” sets the author’s course in sifting the wheat from the chaff that is the contemporary Babel of linguistic chicanery. “Calling things by their true names is the work I have tried to do in the essays...
Review: Ragtime paints a picture of racial-tensions with tragic and hopeful ends
By Tom Travis Before a sold out opening night crowd, FIM The Flint Rep Friday night staged the last production of the season, with a rousing and relevant version of the musical Ragtime. The play, which runs through June 25, centers around the dilemmas of several characters mired in their struggles for justice and understanding of life. In the opening number the cast of characters is introduced to the audience through song. The plots...
Flint Council President Herkenroder resigns as of July 1, citing anxiety, depression, and thoughts of self-harm following “abuse,” “vindictiveness and hatred”
By Tom Travis In the last moments of a contentious council meeting where the council passed a city budget one week after the deadline, Council President Allie Herkenroder (Ward 7) announced she was resigning as the Seventh Ward council person as of July 1. This slideshow requires JavaScript. In a phone interview Friday with East Village Magazine (EVM), Herkenroder said she had experienced “mental and physical concerns”...
Parking meters are obvious but revenue is not
By Elizabeth Ireland-Curtis Parking in downtown Flint is contentious and confusing. City council regularly hears complaints about the meters, how to use them and the many unwarranted tickets residents receive. East Village Magazine (EVM) reached out multiple times to the City of Flint Communications Department, Municipal Parking System (MPS) and Flint Downtown Development Authority (DDA). None have responded with information to the...
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