City Council considers contracts, appointments, Juneteenth, property purchase, and $800K in water treatment chemicals
By Tom Travis At the June 22 City Council meeting, disputes between council members resulted in two councilpersons being ejected and three councilpersons voluntarily leaving the meeting in protest. With five of the nine council members gone from the meeting quorum was lost. The often contentious panel re-convened two days later, June 24, and this time they successfully worked through a 210-page agenda. Council approves three-year...
Education Beat: Northwestern needs $4 million in upgrades; where will junior high students go?
By Harold C. Ford “We should’ve never moved in that [Northwestern] building.” …Vera Perry, trustee, Flint Board of Education “We create the instability that we face.” …Diana Wright, vice-president, Flint Board of Education At its meeting June 9, the board of education of Flint Community Schools (FCS) was informed that it would cost the school district an estimated $4 million to bring the Northwestern campus up to speed in terms of...
Education Beat: FCS moves on $95 million budget; grapples with pandemic, closures, contracts
By Harold C. Ford As an eventful 2019-2020 educational year came to an official close June 18 for Flint Community School (FCS) students, the district’s board of education met a total of 10 times in the months of May and June. On June 17, Casey Lester, FCS board president, figuratively and remotely banged the final gavel on a tumultuous year marked by: a global pandemic that shut brick-and-mortar schools; dramatic and sudden changes...
Police Oversight Commission a key step for those seeking change, Black Lives Matter leader, DeWaun Robinson says
By Tom Travis “We have an opportunity to change the course of history. This is for everyone that believes in the heart of humanity that wants to see change,” Black Lives Matter Flint leader DeWaun Robinson told East Village Magazine (EVM) in a recent phone interview. “We’re not talking about changes just for appeal change like you see at election time,” he said. “We’re talking about real,...
Children’s Poetry Show goes ZOOM to feature Poet Laureate Semaj Brown June 29
By Jan Worth-Nelson “Dreaming, Imagining Good Happenings” is the theme of a children’s poetry show featuring Flint’s poet laureate Semaj Brown via Zoom/Facebook Live at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 29. “All children everywhere, inside and outside of Flint,” are invited to join in, Brown said. The event also is a celebration of a donation of children’s poetry books from the Genesee County Medical...