Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?
Apr23

Digital Divide: The Michigan Times is a local news site. Or is it?

By Gordon Young Technically, the Michigan Times still exists, but it’s probably not what you think it is. When the University of Michigan – Flint student newspaper let its domain name lapse last year, it was a clear sign that the Michigan Times was in trouble. The publication that covered the downtown campus for more than 60 years is now officially “sunsetting” and will shut down completely at the end of the...

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Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement
Apr04

Education Beat: Ratification, relief, reflection follow Flint Schools teacher union settlement

By Harold C. Ford After months of labor unrest, Flint Community Schools (FCS) and the United Teachers of Flint (UTF) have arrived at a settlement of issues, though details of the new agreement have not yet been made public. The agreement follows a “sick-out” and near-unanimous strike vote by teachers last month, and it was arrived at, according to Flint Superintendent Kevelin Jones, after 16 hours of bargaining during the...

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Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint
Mar29

Tough Times: The Death of a Student Newspaper in Flint

By Gordon Young The Michigan Times, the student newspaper at UM-Flint, is officially “sunsetting.” That’s the sort of euphemism a good editor would slash and replace with something more clearcut. It’s a nice way of saying the publication that has been covering the downtown campus since 1959 is all but dead. The Times hasn’t published a print edition this year. Its website and online archive have...

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Passed over by state in December, Flint public schools seek debt relief
Feb12

Passed over by state in December, Flint public schools seek debt relief

By Harold C. Ford  “Change must happen in Flint Community Schools, but we cannot do it alone.” – Kevelin Jones, superintendent, Flint Community Schools, Jan. 26, 2024 press statement Six financially distressed school systems in Michigan stand to benefit from debt relief legislation passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in December 2023, but Flint Community Schools (FCS) is not among them. ...

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Kate Stockrahm joins East Village Magazine as new editor
Feb01

Kate Stockrahm joins East Village Magazine as new editor

By Jan Worth-Nelson Kate Stockrahm, an experienced journalist already well-attuned to issues in the Flint community, has joined East Village Magazine (EVM) as editor, the publication’s board of trustees have announced. Stockrahm, 32, a Dearborn, Mich. native, came to Flint in 2021 as a reporter at Flint Beat, part of the national Report for America program.  In that role she developed the newsroom’s economic development...

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“Building the Dream”: Mayor Neeley partners with Financial Plus to help Flint kids access bank accounts
Jan15

“Building the Dream”: Mayor Neeley partners with Financial Plus to help Flint kids access bank accounts

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley is launching a new partnership with Financial Plus Credit Union to expand a youth financial literacy program for Flint kids. The “Building the Dream” program began with Mayor Neeley challenging Flint schoolchildren to fill up piggy banks, with the promise to help them open a bank account and will contribute $5 to their accounts. Financial Plus Credit Union is building on that promise by offering...

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