The first time I saw this image, everything around me stopped and the hair on my arms stood on end: Photo courtesy of Ti-Rock Moore The piece, titled “Flint”, was an entry in the renowned ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids. It brings the hideous national shame and stain of Jim Crow-era racism and systemic white supremacy and slams it like […]

On April 25th, 2014, with its government run by the latest in a series of Emergency Managers appointed by Republican governor Rick Snyder, the city of Flint, Michigan switched its water system over to the Flint River, ending a decades-long purchase agreement with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) which draws its water from Lake Huron. Within a few […]

Testimony in the first day of the preliminary examination for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, facing felony charges in the Flint Water Crisis, revealed that health experts believe the switch to the Flint River was the cause of the huge increase in cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in the beleaguered city: “My opinion is the most […]

We’ve seen this movie before… Last month, disinfectant dispensing equipment that chlorinates the drinking water supply of Flint, Michigan ran dry, allowing untreated water to be distributed to city residents. According to documents obtained by MLive reporter Ron Fonger, a plant worker attributed the mistake to water plant staff members who are severely over-worked and under-paid: A Flint water plant […]

The following essay was written by Dr. Ben Pauli, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Social Science in the Department of Liberal Studies at Kettering University in Flint. Enjoy. In a special meeting on May 17, the Flint City Council voted to approve a one-year moratorium on the city’s practice of putting tax liens on properties for overdue water bills. A […]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s Flint Water Crisis continues apace with Flint residents still being told that their drinking water is completely safe but that they should not drink it without filtering it first. First we have gubernatorial candidate (and state attorney general) Bill Schuette telling reporters that he’s not going to charge Gov. Snyder in his investigation, at least not […]

In the wake of manslaughter and other charges being filed against five people involved in the Flint Water Crisis, including two current members of his administration, Gov. Rick Snyder issued the following statement: Gov. Rick Snyder’s statement in support of DHHS Director Nick Lyon and Dr. Eden Wells Wednesday, June 14, 2017 LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder issued the […]

Big news out of Flint this morning. Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed charges against two current and two former Snyder administration officials and one former Flint official. Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon is being charged with felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. Four others, including former Emergency Manager Darnell Earley, are also facing […]

As bad as things are in Flint, Michigan – and they are REALLY BAD – in the past couple of weeks, they’ve gotten far, far worse. With the state of Michigan no longer subsidizing the city residents’ water bills having declared the water there now “safe” (it’s not), the city has now started charging residents again. Keep in mind that […]

Anyone who listened to our podcast interview with Flint activist Melissa Mays knows that having their drinking water poisoned with the powerful neurotoxin lead is only part of the ongoing catastrophe they continue to deal with three years after the switch to the Flint River. In addition to elevated lead levels, residents are still experiencing skin rashes, bacteria-related respiratory infections […]

The effort to bring federal dollars into Flint to help them deal with the Republican-made catastrophe that poisoned their drinking water with the powerful neurotoxin lead has been long and arduous, primarily because Republicans themselves did everything they could to make the path long and arduous. First, it took nearly a year for Republican members of Congress to even pass […]