Blog
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Profile: 30 years later, Ben Hamper remembers Rivethead, his legacy of “that one story, that one guy”
By Jan Worth-Nelson At a back corner table at Churchhill’s, escaping to AC on a muggy Tuesday afternoon in Flint, Ben Hamper takes a swig of his signature Jim Beam and Diet Coke and reflects on the 30 years since the country came to know him as an exuberantly profane, honest and hilariously irreverent blue…
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Flint City Council fails to adopt budget second time: City’s ability to spend money ends June 30.
By Tom Travis This article has been updated to include a press release from Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley warning of a potential city government shutdown due to the city council’s failure to pass a budget. – EVM Editor For a second time in one week the city council failed to adopt a budget. At this…
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Councilperson Eric Mays fires off response to Neeley’s press release: “We’re dealing with a deceptive, trickery, lying type of mayor”
By Tom Travis Councilperson Eric Mays (1st Ward) Tuesday contacted East Village Magazine (EVM) to respond to Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s press release about the council’s failure to adopt a budget in Monday’s meeting. Mays said he objected to Neeley calling the council as a whole, dysfunctional. Mays retorted, “I think we’re dealing with a deceptive, trickery, lying…
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City Council fails to pass budget – Mayor Neeley delivers terse response
By Tom Travis Despite a nine-hour meeting, the Flint City Council failed to adopt a budget Monday night, thereby violating the city charter which calls for the budget for the next fiscal year to be approved by the first Monday in June. The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. and stretched into the early morning hours…
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Flint City Council Candidates “show what it means to work together,” team up to paint Kearsley Park pavilion
By Tom Travis Five candidates running for Flint City Council met at Kearsley Park on Memorial Day to “show what it means to work together, to show the community that a city council can work together,” according to 5th Ward candidate Joe Schipani. Schipani, along with write-in candidate Tanya Rison (1st Ward), Ladel Lewis (2nd…
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Commentary: The right to vote — It’s not just about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about democracy.
By Paul Rozycki Guess what? There was cheating in the 2020 election. And guess what? There was so little of it, in a nation of 330 million, that it scarcely mattered. And from what we know, there were both Republicans and Democrats doing it. According to a Washington Post survey, there were 16 cases of…
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Sports Beat: Flint City Bucks open defense of USL2 championship with convincing 3-1 win over Toledo
By Harold C. Ford “It’s hard defending a national championship; it’s harder winning one.” –Dan Duggan, chairman and CEO, Flint City Bucks The Flint City Bucks football [soccer] club opened the 2021 season with a convincing 3-1 win over Toledo Villa Football Club May 15 at Atwood Stadium before a reported 1700 fans. The…
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$46 million in stimulus funds land in city’s coffers: online survey asks Flint residents what to do with it
By Tom Travis A check for $46 million was deposited into the City of Flint’s bank account last Wednesday, according to the city’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Shelbi Frayer. It is the first payment from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan stimulus money. Recently the U.S. Treasury updated the amount Flint would receive from $99…
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Redistricting, social equity and water costs among topics discussed at Flint Neighborhoods United monthly virtual session
By Coner Segren Potential Michigan redistricting losses based on Census-2020 numbers, establishment of a new urban institute dedicated to social equity at the UM – Flint, a proposal to study a flat rate for water in the City of Flint, and the Genesee County Land Bank’s Clean and Green program were among topics discussed at the…
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“Rivethead” author Ben Hamper, bard of 20th century blue collar life, returns to Flint June 5
By Jan Worth-Nelson Ben Hamper, author of a classic best-selling account of “shop rat” life in Flint in the 1980s, returns to his hometown June 5 for a reading and book signing from 2-5 p.m. at Totem Books, 620 W. Court St. His appearance celebrates the 30th anniversary of the publication of Rivethead: Tales from…
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