Commentary: Roads, schools, water, taxes–a short tour of Gov. Whitmer’ $60 billion budget
By Paul Rozycki In March Governor Gretchen Whitmer began a tour of the state to defend and explain her first budget proposal to the public. She’s already been to Grand Rapids, Detroit, Dearborn, Jackson, Port Huron and Adrian, and plans are to continue the statewide journey as the budget works its way through the legislature. Though her itinerary isn’t complete, there is a good chance she will be in the Flint and Genesee County area...
Good news, bad news: Summit panel shares results of one-on-one resident data
By Patsy Isenberg Flint residents are feeling somewhat better about the city’s recovery from the water crisis than in the challenging days when it first started in 2014, according to a panel of city officials at last week’s 3rd Annual Resiliency and Environmental Justice Summit, subtitled “Shine Your Light.” But results from interviews and surveys from several hundred residents with representation from all nine...
“Scary and exciting time”: Local news media in an age of transition
By Harold C. Ford “Journalism is the only profession explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution, because journalists are supposed to be the check and balance on government. We’re supposed to be holding those in power accountable.” –Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! A panel of veteran journalists tackled the existential issues that confront the nation’s fourth estate—journalism—at the Flint Public Library on March 26 before an...
W-O-O-D-S-I-D-E Church taking shape letter by letter at new locale
By Jan Worth-Nelson The beige brick building at the corner of Second Avenue and Garland Street in Flint came closer Thursday to its transformation from an antiques store and deli to Woodside Church. Woodside Pastor Deborah Conrad, along with Woodside treasurer Joe Eufinger and board member Karen Eaton, supervised as Jeff Richardson from Signs by Crannie worked on a cherry picker at the wall and the building’s new identity...
Court Street Methodists take stand after LGBTQ vote: “God loves all people–all means all”
By Jan Worth-Nelson On Sunday, March 3, the week after the international governing body of the United Methodist Church voted to retain language excluding LGBTQ people, Rev. Jeremy Peters took to the pulpit at Court Street United Methodist Church and preached a sermon titled “God Loves All People: Bruised and Dimly Burning.” Outside, on the church’s sign, were the words “God Loves All People–All Means...