“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer
Aug21

“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer

By Tom Travis Robert Widigan, 31, has joined the City of Flint’s finance department as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Widigan is a Flint native and attended Mott Community College and transferred to the University of Michigan – Flint graduating in 2014 with a concentration in finance. Currently living in Lansing,  Widigan hopes to move into downtown Flint soon. He is not married and has no kids and no pets. He says he...

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Education Beat:  Hot Buildings Keep Flint Students at Home
Aug19

Education Beat: Hot Buildings Keep Flint Students at Home

By Harold C. Ford For the second time in the just-started 2021-22 school year, Flint Community Schools (FCS) closed its doors to students due to the heat. This time it was by order of the FCS Board of Education.   By a vote of 5-0, the Flint board closed its schools Aug. 19 in anticipation of outside temperatures that would reach the mid-80s (Fahrenheit). FCS buildings were closed on Aug. 12 by the FCS central administration for the...

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After $2 million renovation, Greater Flint Health Coalition moves into donated downtown building
Aug19

After $2 million renovation, Greater Flint Health Coalition moves into donated downtown building

By Tom Travis The Greater Flint Health Coalition (GFHC) celebrated its newly renovated three-story headquarters in downtown Flint Monday with a ribbon cutting ceremony.  The 12,000 sq. ft. facility is next to the northern end of Buckham Alley at 120 W. First St. At a cost of $2 million, the renovation took more than  a year and half. The work started a month before the COVID pandemic shut-down in February, 2020.  After several months...

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Mobile COVID vaccination units available Saturday, Aug. 14 on Flint’s south side
Aug13

Mobile COVID vaccination units available Saturday, Aug. 14 on Flint’s south side

Mobile COVID vaccination units sponsored by The Greater Flint Health Coalition (GFHC) in partnership with Genesee Community Health Center, Genesee County Community Action Resource Department (G.C.C.A.R.D.), and the United Way of Genesee County will be in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood and surrounding areas on Saturday, Aug. 14 from 12 a.m. to 3 p.m, according to a press release from the GFHC. Free lunches will be provided from the...

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Genesee County at 52.5 percent COVID vaccination rate; Flint ranks among the lowest in state at below 35
Aug13

Genesee County at 52.5 percent COVID vaccination rate; Flint ranks among the lowest in state at below 35

By Tom Travis Shatarian Aliger, 35, an entrepreneur/fashion designer, said she overcame her COVID vaccination hesitancy out of concern for her family.  Thursday, she got her second Moderna shot in the Flint Township office of Dr. Bobby Mukkamala.  She had received her first dose July 13. “I was hesitant. I am the last one in my family to receive the vaccine,” she said.  Her reluctance, she said, was due to hearing things...

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Commentary: After the water crisis and the pandemic, what’s next?
Jul29

Commentary: After the water crisis and the pandemic, what’s next?

By Paul Rozycki It looked like the Flint water crisis was over…and it wasn’t. It looked like the pandemic was over…and it wasn’t. The water crisis In Flint, as July ended, nearly all of the lead pipes in the city had been replaced, a court settlement was on track, lead levels were at record lows, and it seemed that the seven years of the Flint water crisis might be behind us.  Then the newly installed pipes on Court Street began...

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