Category: Analysis
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Re-greening Flint: New city trees coming next spring via Mott Foundation grant
By Jan Worth-Nelson Last year, in light of threats from an aging tree canopy in the city, the C.S. Mott Foundation contributed $208,000 to the Genesee Conservation District (GCD) to remove more than 330 dangerously cracked and dead trees in the traffic islands, medians, and “parkways” between streets and sidewalks. Now, the foundation is granting $140,000…
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Behind the Walls: Inside the criminal justice system to hold town hall meeting
By Tom Travis The Behind the Walls: Inside the Criminal Justice System organization will be hosting a town hall zoom meeting from 12 noon to 1 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Dec. 18. The town hall will be hosted by Michael Anderson, founder and executive director of Behind the Walls. Those that want to attend are asked…
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COVID, public safety, finances highlight Mayor Neeley’s State of the City Address
By Paul Rozycki Beginning by saying that he was “a simple guy born and raised in Flint” and concluding by urging city residents to “keep building a stronger Flint together” to fight blight, crime, improve infrastructure and public services, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley delivered his second State of the City address Tuesday, Dec. 14. The…
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Opinion: A new offense – water settlement objections denied by federal judge
By Rev. Deborah D Conrad A new offense has insulted Flint this week, in the form of a court ruling — this time from District Judge Judith Levy. At issue was the Flint Water Settlement, the financial compensation for the residents of this city of 90,000 poisoned by state action in 2014, finally acknowledged in…
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“Please don’t divide our neighborhood up,” residents plead in discussion about redrawn Flint city ward boundary map
By Tom Travis “Please don’t divide our neighborhood up. We are a strong neighborhood. Please don’t do it,” pleaded Seventh Ward and College-Cultural Neighborhood resident Chris Gardner. She was one of about 10 residents, mostly from the Seventh Ward College Cultural Neighborhood, who gathered Wednesday at Flint City Hall for an Elections Commission meeting to…
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Caring for some of the world’s finest art at the Flint Institute of Arts: magnifying glass, flashlight and tablet are tools of the trade
By Tom Travis In the deafening silence of the dimly lit Johnson Gallery at the Flint Institute of Arts, Heather Jackson bends over a late-19th century painting, Albert-Emile Artigue’s Spring Flowers. She holds a magnifying glass in one hand and a flashlight in the other, closely peering at the painting. She is conducting a “condition…
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Public meeting on city ward redistricting set for 1 p.m. Wed Dec. 8 by Flint Election Commission
By Tom Travis The Flint Election Commission will hold a public meeting regarding the redrawing/redistricting of Flint’s nine wards at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8 in the City Council Committee room on the third floor of City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St. according to a press release from City Clerk Inez Brown. EVM reported previously…
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Commentary: Looking back and looking ahead — Will 2022 be better than 2021?
By Paul Rozycki Looking back This past year was supposed to be the year when we put the COVID pandemic, the 2020 election, and the turmoil in the Flint city council behind us. So far only one of those three things might be true, and even that remains to be seen. The Jan. 6 insurrection…
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Pierce Park restoration underway with community collaboration
By Jan Worth-Nelson An 80-acre park in Flint which had been overrun by neglect, arson and invasive species is getting a big dose of love and hoped-for restoration from a partnership between the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA), the Genesee Conservation District (GCD) and the City of Flint. Pierce Park, owned by the city since…
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Council aims to hold “community listening meetings” for ARP funds, as rules for use emerge
By Tom Travis In a 5-0 vote Wednesday city council voted to hold four community listening meetings throughout the city for residents to say how they think the $94 million federal stimulus American Rescue Plan allocated to the city should be spent. The first half of the allocation already has arrived, with the second half…
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