Education Beat: Shake-ups at highest level of government may put research funding at risk for local universities
By Nathan Waters Given a recent funding freeze and layoffs at the National Science Foundation (NSF), millions in grant money may be in limbo for the University of Flint-Michigan (UM-Flint) and Kettering University. Since its creation in 1950 to “promote the progress of science,” “advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare,” and “secure the national defense,” the NSF has supported the work of 262 Nobel Prize winners and...
Village Life: East Village Magazine, an old friend made new
By Nic Custer In the 1990s, one afternoon each month, my father would pick me up from school in his Plymouth minivan and instead of heading home, I’d help distribute this magazine. Dwarfed by seats stacked high with rubber-banded East Village Magazine issues – counted earlier that day by volunteers who’d batched them into the exact numbers needed for each neighborhood drop – we would drive across the city, listening to “Science...
Education Beat: COVID-relief confusion for Flint schools after announcement by Trump administration
By Harold C. Ford Flint Community Schools (FCS) finds itself in increased fiscal uncertainty after U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced on March 28, 2025, that the deadline on federal reimbursement for COVID-related projects was changed to that very day at 5 p.m. Prior to McMahon’s announcement, the deadline had been one year later – March 28, 2026 – for reimbursement of pre-approved projects. The amount in question...
Education Beat: Diminished enrollment and test data dismay Flint Board of Ed president
By Harold C. Ford “Evidently there is something missing.” – Joyce Ellis-McNeal, president, Flint Board of Education, Feb. 19, 2025 An outpouring of frustration by Flint Board of Education (FBOE) President Joyce Ellis-McNeal – fueled by persistently diminished student enrollment and less-than-average state test scores – was a centerpiece at the body’s 3.5-hour meeting on Feb. 19, 2025. Following a presentation by Wendell Greene and...
Review: ‘A Driving Beat’ premieres at The Rep
By Nathan Waters Saturday night saw the world premiere of “A Driving Beat” at Flint’s Elgood Theatre. The original play by Jordan Ramirez Puckett focuses on a mother, Diane (played by Dani Cochrane), and son, Mateo (Mikee Loria), traveling cross-country from Ohio to San Diego, California in search of answers on the circumstances of Mateo’s birth and subsequent adoption. Throughout the performance’s 90 minute runtime, viewers are...
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