Tag: Steve Branch
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City Council considers Jefferson School property, $500,000 more needed for lead line replacement; Council’s decorum is not perfect but improves
By Tom Travis Flint City Council met in committee session on Wednesday for the first time since April, 2020, resuming a COVID-delayed structure that allows the council to discuss resolutions, ordinances, appointments and special orders that will appear on the next City Council agenda. Unlike in most recent meetings, the council managed to conduct business…
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“Bug” matter dropped by Hart; “insignificant” device never seized
By Melodee Mabbitt “I would always make an inquiry before an indictment,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said when asked how he learned of a “device,” at first thought to be an electronic surveillance bug, found in the mayor’s office following the Nov. 5 election when Neeley defeated incumbent Karen Weaver. In a press conference unusually…
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Costume commentary on council carryings-on: “If they clown, I clown”
By Tom Travis One Flint resident who frequently attends Flint City Council meetings finally had enough, quietly donning a costume with a pointed message at the Oct. 23 session. Here is how it happened: Twice a month the Flint City Council meets in committee sessions. There are several committees that meet through out the year…
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City Council beat: Carriage town protest, pipeline funds, Flint Registry grant, pot proposal
By Luther Houle Well past sunset, the second monthly City Council meeting for September came to order at 8:15 p.m. Monday Sept. 23 after a three-hour Special Affairs Committee meeting. The Special Affairs Committee meeting is where the City Council decides which issues will be addressed during the subsequent council meeting. With tensions high and…
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Carriage Town housing proposal draws protest; Fifth Ward residents speak out
By Tom Travis At its regular meeting Monday, Sept. 9, the Flint City Council declined to consider a resolution regarding a controversial affordable housing development in Carriage Town, after Councilperson Jerri Winfrey-Carter, whose ward includes the contested parcel, declared, “I’m going to fight this nail and tooth…because my constituents do not want this.” In other…
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Nine hours, shouting match, two resolutions, one fail, “restoration” plans incomplete
By Tom Travis and Jan Worth-Nelson Editor’s Note: This story has been updated on July 23 to clarify that Ninth Ward Councilperson Eva Worthing was temporarily out of the room during the vote on the Goyette resolution. She said she would have noted “no,” That vote would not have changed the outcome. In a nearly…
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“Restoration” of sidewalks and lawns post-pipe replacement turns into labyrinth of delays
By Jan Worth-Nelson and Tom Travis When will the residents of Flint get their lawns and sidewalks restored following three years of water pipe excavations and replacement? The answer to that, yet another sign of how elusive “closure” can be in the years’ long community water crisis, is apparently — eventually. Like many other aspects…
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Village Life: scratch a Flintoid these days, you’ll find a chemist
By Jan Worth-Nelson One Thursday in August, as Virginia Tech researcher Marc Edwards was presenting his most recent findings to the cameras and lights nearby, another less glamorous group of us — me a lone reporter in the third row — were sitting restlessly in a chemistry class at City Hall. It was actually a…
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“Things went tragically wrong in Flint,” Schuette says, charging six more in water crisis
By Jan Worth-Nelson Declaring “The families of Flint will not be forgotten,” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Friday announced criminal charges against six state employees alleged to be implicated in the Flint water crisis. “Many things went tragically wrong in Flint,” Schuette said. “Some people failed to act, others minimized harm done and arrogantly…
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Pipe replacements hitting stumbling blocks, water safety guarantees uncertain, city and state officials report
By Robert R. Thomas The Flint city administration’s goal of removing lead service lines paid for by $2 million in state money has been jeopardized by unexpectedly high contractor bids, Steve Branch, Mayor Karen Weaver’s chief of staff, explained to about 70 partners in the Flint Water Recovery Group meeting last week under the dome at…
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