Commentary: Is privatizing public services a trustworthy choice for Flint?
By Paul Rozycki During a recent East Village Crime Watch meeting, a major issue was the possibility of hiring D.M. Burr to provide private security for our neighborhood, in addition to the Flint Police Department, Mott Community College, and the East Village Neighborhood Watch. As Kim Owens reported in her recent EVM article, the company gave a presentation on the nature of their services at the meeting. Signing up with D.M. Burr may...
Crim moments: 88-year-old finishes, Hurley team’s work “down to a science”
By Darlene C. Carey When more than 15,000 runners, walkers, and spectators flooded the Flint streets for the 41st Crim Festival of Races Aug. 27, one face among the many at the finish line stood out. That was Margaret Rough, 88, walking her 25th year in the Crim. Sporting a bright yellow hard hat and red shirt, her face covered by a frowning paper mask, she danced among the finishers in celebration. “I’m as rough as they come…that’s...
Detroit 1967: a movie, a book, and a searing memory of when the riots hit Flint
by Harold C. Ford “A riot is the language of the unheard.” –Martin Luther King “The officer hit him and said, ‘We’re going to kill all of you black-ass nigger pimps and throw you in the river. We’re going to fill up the Detroit River with all you pimps and whores’” –from The Algiers Motel Incident, John Hersey, 1968 1960s Mississippi? No, 1960s Detroit. During the evening/early-morning hours of July 25-26, 1967 law...
CCNA residents, on edge after crimes, meet to consider options, deterrence
By Kim Owens Faced with a roomful of more than 50 College Cultural Neighborhood residents on edge after a spate of recent crimes, Flint Police Chief Tim Johnson attempted to offer reassurance at an Aug. 17 meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) neighborhood watch group. “We’re in a battle, we’re on the battle field, but we’re not losing the war,” Johnson said. Noting that crime stats...
Review: Quoting Comey,”The Chickenshit Club” eyes why the DOJ goes easy on bankers
By Robert R. Thomas My wife, a retired librarian, came across a blurb for this book, of which she said, “This looks to be right up your alley.” She was correct, as usual, on many levels. I am hardly the only American who has never been satisfied by any answers as to why no banksters went to jail in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial malfeasance. In The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute...