Blog
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Online “MapFlint” project offers mass of data for public use
By Jan Worth-Nelson An interactive, open-access mapping project that offers data about the city on everything from educational attainment to median household income to locations of schools, medical services and locations for meal services is now online at mapflint.org/maps.html. The project is a collaboration of two University of Michigan – Flint units, University Outreach and…
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CCNA hears proposal for Pierce Park, pitch for ending gerrymandering
By Patricia Isenberg The news and implications of the City of Flint’s changing city council membership and the marathon closed-door and public discussions deciding on Flint’s water source this week didn’t deter about 60 College Cultural Neighborhood Association members from showing up to get updates on water line pipe replacement and a proposal for Pierce…
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Flint lead exposure “registry” aims to track water crisis health consequences, outcomes
By Jan Worth-Nelson A federally-funded registry to monitor the health of individuals affected by the Flint water crisis is about to launch, Flint pediatrician and crisis luminary Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha told the FACT Community Partners group meeting Thursday under the dome at City Hall. Funding for the program, about $14.4 million awarded to Michigan State…
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Winfrey defeats Mays for Flint city council president, Galloway elected VP as new configuration kicks in
By Meghan Christian Meeting for the first time Monday night after a swearing-in ceremony just hours before, the new Flint City Council elected two members to serve as its leaders and approved two of Mayor Karen Weaver’s appointments — for chief financial officer and director of public works. Sixth Ward Councilman Herbert Winfrey, returned for…
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New Flint Council sworn in with promises of hard work and a “new day” for the city
By Meghan Christian The newly-elected Flint City Council members were sworn into office by City Clerk Inez Brown at noon Monday in front of family, friends, and members of the Flint community — the group an altered combination of new and old that could change the city’s political environment. After all nine members gave their…
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Weaver survives recall, city council undergoes major realignment, voter turnout hits 17 percent
By Jan Worth-Nelson Incumbent Mayor Karen Weaver, two years into her four-year term, soundly overcame a recall effort against her triggered by activist Arthur Woodson with 53 percent of the vote. Her closest competitor, longtime city councilman Scott Kincaid, came in a distant second with 32 percent. His defeat means the end of a 32-year…
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Flint wheat weaver makes big investment to save treasured grain for an ancient art
By Dylan Doherty In the spring of 2015, Melissa Ruboyianes of Flint got a life-changing e-mail. She learned that Dennis and Sharon Hanson, owners of Black Beard’s wheat farm in Turtle Lake, North Dakota, were retiring after 35 years in the wheat business. Ruboyianes, 58, a craftswoman in the ancient art of wheat weaving and…
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“Flint Fit” project to combine water bottles, art, fashion and jobs
By Patsy Isenberg Flint Fit, a creative project to recycle Flint water bottles and turn them into fabric for rainwear and swimwear, kicked off last week at Flint’s St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center. The project brings together Flint seamstresses, a fashion designer, a New York museum director, and a conceptual artist. The artist, Mel Chin…
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Former Mott Park golf course tees off to new life with neighborhood energy, disc golf
By Teddy Robertson On this wet, gray evening in mid-October, the 55-degree air feels colder after several days of balmy October sunshine. Beneath the dripping trees at the former Mott Park Municipal Golf Course, closed since 2009, the parking lot—surprisingly—is two-thirds full. Inside the old golf clubhouse, its windows protected by blue-painted plywood, board members of…
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“Where are the journalists?” Part Two: Capturing the heart of the community
By Harold C. Ford This three-part series aims to explore, analyze and lament how many forces challenging the Fourth Estate are playing out in our own community – specifically in a close look at changes in The Flint Journal, now dwindled to a local staff of fewer than 10 people, and subsumed by M-Live Media…
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