Author: Tom Travis
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Mayor delivers progress report on Flint water with members of EPA, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
By Harold C. Ford “This community’s perseverance has been remarkable and your success has been remarkable.” – Michael Harris “Five years ago, Flint was in the middle of one of our nation’s greatest drinking water crises in our nation’s history. Understandably, trust in leadership and government was just as corroded as the pipes that tainted…
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Rides to Wellness services resume May 17 after temporary COVID disruption
By Madeleine Graham Rides to Wellness will resume service May 17 after a temporary suspension of veteran rides and rides to the grocery store, pharmacy, and doctor appointments, according to Ed Benning, CEO of Mass Transportation Authority (MTA). Services for dialysis, hospital runs, and other essential businesses have remained available. Benning explained the disruption began…
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“Not a hand-out but a hand up,” officials say of new child tax credit announced by Rep. Kildee
By Tom Travis “This is not a hand-out, but an immediate hand-up to support families like mine. I encourage everyone, working or not, to file their taxes for 2020. Let’s take advantage of the resources we voted for,” said 2nd Ward Flint resident Ladel Lewis. Lewis, a single mother of a six-year-old boy attending Freeman…
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Area teens take the jab at MCC, prepare to promote the COVID vaccine
By Tom Travis “If you want Friday nights at football games then get the vaccine,” is what Jackson Langford, 16, of Grand Blanc High School plans to tell his friends about being vaccinated. “I was afraid it was going to hurt but after seeing all the other kids get it, I was okay. And it…
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A new home in the heart of the city for Flint River Watershed Coalition and Kayak Flint
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has granted $350,000 to support a Flint River revitalization project along Kearsley Street in Flint, according to a press release from the C.S. Mott Foundation issued this week. The grant will provide funding to the Foundation for the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (URC), a supporting organization of the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation,…
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“Transformational” federal funds to city, funeral home demo, funds for home repair, highway project topics at FNU
By Coner Segren Federal relief dollars coming to Flint will be “transformational,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley predicted at the recent monthly meeting of Flint Neighborhoods United (FNU). Participants in the Zoom meeting also heard updates about expected funds for several highway projects, prospective demolition of Brown Funeral Home, and access to funds for home repair. Neeley…
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Commentary: A visionary plan to revive Flint Community Schools — “Let’s make this work.”
By Paul Rozycki Are you ready for some good news for Flint and its students? We all know this has been a year of bad news that included a national pandemic, statewide infection spikes, racial division, daily mass shootings, a rash of fires in Flint, bears in our backyards, and chaos at city council meetings.…
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Flint residents can weigh in on how to spend $99 million in federal Rescue Plan funds coming to the city
By Tom Travis As part of the federal coronavirus stimulus bill, The American Rescue Plan (ARP), the City of Flint will receive an estimated $99.33 million. The sweeping ARP $1.9-trillion measure also includes support for small businesses, schools, counties and states. Flint households are projected to get more than $125 million in direct benefits, according to Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. In a…
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Local forums tackle tough topics — Flint Area Public Affairs Forum: “Racial Justice and Public Safety” Tendaji Talk: “Racism and Public Health, Part 2”
By Harold C. Ford “We can’t arrest our way out of this problem…but…every day I come to work, a citizen of this community is on my phone complaining about crime in their area where they live …What’s the answer for that citizen?” …Terence Green, chief of police, Flint Police Department “We will continue to see…
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Flint Repertory Theatre and Flint Mural Project partner to bring mural plays and roof-top musical to Flint this summer
By Patsy Isenberg Flint theatre and art lovers can enjoy two new venues this summer. Flint Repertory Theatre (The Rep) in partnership with The Flint Public Art Project has commissioned 27 playwrights to write 25 micro audio plays, each inspired by the playwrights’ impressions from a different mural. The plays can be heard via the…
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