Category: Commentary
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Commentary: At 50-year milestone, our parks–our gems–are worth celebrating
By James Woolcock The Genesee County Parks are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2018 and our parks are certainly worth celebrating. Did you know that Genesee County has the largest county park system in the state of Michigan, measured by acreage? While congratulations are certainly in order for the Parks Commission, a recent story on…
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Commentary: Judicial elections are often invisible, confusing–but important
By Paul Rozycki What is it that makes us trust our judges? Their independence in office and manner of appointment. –John Marshall Last month, Genesee County witnessed a rather unusual event — as reported by East Village Magazine — a judicial forum for the candidates running to fill three slots on the 7th Circuit Court. …
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Review: Hot Friday the 13th downtown ARTWALK a feast of stellar art and music
By Patsy Isenberg A lot of people came to downtown Flint on Friday the 13th for ARTWALK, which takes place the second Friday of every month. ARTWALK is sponsored by The Greater Flint Arts Council (GFAC) and includes many galleries, bars and restaurants along and near Saginaw Street. It was hot that night. But at…
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Commentary: Arts millage advocates need to answer basic questions to help voters decide
By Linda Pohly The Genesee County ballot for Aug. 7 will include a proposal for an Arts Education & Cultural Enrichment Millage. If the millage passes, according to Citizens for a Better Genesee County, the group behind the millage campaign, the County–through its taxpayers–would pay an estimated $8.2 million per year for 10 years to…
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Commentary: A primary primer for the Aug. 7 election — REMEMBER TO VOTE
By Paul Rozycki In less than a month, in the midst of summer vacations, art fairs, festivals, and car shows, Michigan will hold its regular primary, and the turnout is likely to be low, as it has been for years. That’s unfortunate because, for most officials, the primary is the real election—whoever wins the primary…
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Review: Connor Coyne’s “Urbantasm: The Dying City” original, dark, magical, and infused with Flint
Urbantasm Book One: The Dying City by Connor Coyne Review by Robert R. Thomas Connor Coyne’s Urbantasm is the most original take on Flint I have read to date. Set in the fictional Rust Belt city of Akawe, Michigan, “an hour’s drive north of Detroit,” Coyne’s allegorical tale is a serial novel of four volumes the…
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Village Life: Why I moved to Flint
By Ted Nelson My first experience of Flint was Bishop International Airport. I still wonder about the “International” part. Could it be that Flint itself is another country? Perhaps there are secret flights here in the dark of night — aliens sneaking in from all over the world to benefit from the city’s abundance…
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Commentary: Water shutoffs do no one any good
By Laura Sullivan In 2015, Dr. Sullivan, a Kettering University professor of mechanical engineering, worked with other activists as part of the Coalition for Clean Water to return the city of Flint to Detroit for its water supply. Since then, she has helped to coordinate positive interactions between residents, local physicians, researchers, journalists, the City…
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Commentary: Beyond the water crisis, another Flint crisis looms
By Paul Rozycki In its own clumsy way the Flint water crisis seems to be slowly drifting to some sort of resolution. Most scientific reports are showing a significant reduction in the lead levels in our water. As a result the state has ended its distribution of free water at its water points of distribution…
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Review: Extraordinary NatGeo issue upends what we think we know about race
By Robert R. Thomas Marcia and Millie Biggs grace the cover of National Geographic’s April 2018 special issue titled “Black and White.” They are fraternal twin sisters, daughters of a bi-racial couple. As the subtitle indicates, “These twin sisters make us rethink everything we know about race.” The key factor, Marcia points out, is “People…
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