Category: Features
-
City Council tosses out months’ long investigative hearing on botched waste collection bid
By Tom Travis A botched bid for the city’s waste collection contract in 2021, revealed in a June 2021 city council meeting, launched an investigative hearing that lasted nearly a year and over two different city councils. One year later, in Wednesday’s Finance Committee meeting, city council voted 5-2 “to end all legal services and…
Written by
-
Review: Fantastic adaptation of “The Fantasticks” celebrates a new perspective
By Patsy Isenberg and Tom Travis A festive conclusion of The Rep’s final presentation of the season, The Fantasticks, opened to an appreciative full house Friday, June 3. The iconic musical is the longest-running production in the history of the American stage and one of the most frequently produced musicals in the world. The Rep’s…
Written by
-
Flint City Council passes $64 million “balanced” budget after Winfrey-Carter’s dramatic pause during rollcall vote
By Tom Travis In a dramatic and unprecedented vote, the city council passed a $64 million budget in its Monday meeting. According to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Robert Widigan, the budget allocates $64 million for the city’s expenditures and is based on $50.7 million in revenue. Widigan explains the budget will be balanced with a…
Written by
-
Review: Connor Coyne’s URBANTASM Book Four: THE SPRING STORM finishes the gripping allegory with a hammer blow
By Robert Thomas The publication of the fourth and final book of Flint author Connor Coyne’s serial novel, URBANTASM, marks the finale of his epic allegory set in the heart of the American Rust Belt in the fictional city of Akawe, Michigan, somewhere north of Detroit. As befits any gripping serial, The Spring Storm delivers…
Written by
-
“At the Intersection” 182-year-old Flint congregation considers their place in the community
By Tom Travis As the congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church celebrates the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone in 1872, they also are considering what it means to be “at the intersection” and what kinds of impact the church will and should have in the community. The Episcopal congregation began worshiping in…
Written by
-
Commentary: The legal road to Roe v. Wade and back: It’s more than just a court case
By Paul Rozycki Perhaps nothing illustrates both the legal and personal sides of the abortion issue better than two unrelated recent events. A few weeks ago, we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to overturn a half century of protection for abortion rights, and, in the same week, we learned that the lack…
Written by
-
Education Beat : At May Flint School Board meetings, EDEP dismissed; no school closings or staff layoffs; infrastructure woes continue; intra-board tensions ongoing
By Harold C. Ford The May 11 and 18 meetings of the Flint Board of Education (FBOE) – together lasting nearly 12 hours – began with purported good news that Flint Community Schools (FCS) had been released from the imposition of an enhanced deficit elimination plan (EDEP) by the Michigan Department of Treasury. Any euphoria…
Written by
-
FPL architect says “Libraries are the greatest act of love you can give your community” as area residents pour in
By Jan Worth-Nelson When Kay Schwartz and her crew of 31 staff and the library’s board of trustees began the planning process seven years ago for the Flint Public Library’s major renovation which culminated with a three-day opening celebration May 19-21, one value emerged over all others. “We wanted it to be a welcoming community…
Written by
-
“A community jewel,” “Magnificent legacy, ” — Community leaders celebrate Flint Public Library reopening after $30 million renovation
By Jan Worth-Nelson “Wow!” “Awesome!” “Spectacular!” “A polished community jewel” “Wonderful” “A magnificent legacy” Speakers at the re-opening ceremony and ribbon cutting Thursday of the renovated Flint Public Library outdid each other with superlatives in the bright sun of a day characterized by cheers, gratitude, and hope. The $30 million project, created through a…
Written by
-
Flint Schools Superintendent considers library opening: “We got next”
By Jan Worth-Nelson After the joyful ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Flint Public Library Thursday, Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones slipped away alone across the parking lot from the glossy new building to the empty wreck that is the former Flint Central High School, closed in 2009 and now crumbling, tagged, vandalized and boarded up…
Written by
