Flint

Like other Michigan cities, Flint has seen a sharp rise in violent crime this year.

Organizers hope a month-long day-camp starting Monday will help quell the violence.

The city of Flint is partnering with local churches to offer activities for children under 16 years old.

Pastor Chris Martin hopes the Super Summer Fun Camp will give Flint kids a place to go.

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley has declared a state of emergency in the city due to gun violence. According to the mayor, there have been 158 non-lethal shootings in the city in 2021—a nearly 80% increase from 88 in 2020.

The declaration means the city can use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to fight gun violence. The city of Flint is set to receive $94 million of the federal $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

Neely says the steps the city is taking to address gun violence are based on feedback taken from Flint residents. 

Flint continues to make progress in reducing lead in its drinking water.

In 2016, tests showed Flint’s drinking water contained high levels of lead contamination (20 parts per billion). Government standards require action to be taken if lead levels top 15 parts per billion. 

The deadline for Flint property owners to take part in the city’s free lead service line replacement program is just a few days away.

A new study finds there was not a significant increase in fetal deaths in Flint during the city’s drinking water crisis.

Many in Flint have wondered if stillbirths between 2014 and 2016 were due to increased lead levels in the city’s drinking water. A 2017 report suggested Flint had seen a 58% increase in fetal deaths. But the report was criticized by academics and the state health department.  

An old industrial site in Flint has been chosen to become Michigan’s next state park.

The Whitmer administration wants to spend more than $26 million in federal COVID relief funds to turn the former “Chevy in the Hole” site into Michigan’s 104th state park.

A long line of Flint residents told a federal judge Tuesday that they are being victimized again by the massive water crisis legal settlement.

Since the proposed settlement of civil claims was first announced last August, it has been lawyers doing most of the talking.This was the first time that Flint residents had a chance to share their thoughts on and objections to the deal.

On Monday, a federal judge held the first of three days of hearings into objections to a $641 million settlement of Flint water crisis civil lawsuits.

More than 50,000 people have registered for a piece of the settlement of claims against the state of Michigan, the city of Flint, McLaren Flint Hospital and Rowe Engineering.

The new administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency was in Flint Wednesday, in part to address the agency’s battered image in the community.

Michael Regan toured a community lab where young people test the quality of water samples. The lab was set up after Flint residents grew mistrustful of claims of government agencies, including the EPA, that their lead tainted water was safe to drink.

A bi-partisan group of state lawmakers have introduced a bill package intended to discourage drive-by shootings.

The four-bill package is named for a young child in Flint.

Three year old Messiah Williams died last October when bullets ripped through his Flint home. Four men have been charged in connection with the drive-by shooting.

The city of Flint’s lead service line pipe replacement program is entering a critical next few weeks.   

Flint’s water crisis prompted the city to begin inspecting the service lines connecting homes and businesses to city water mains.  Aging pipes were the primary source of lead in the city’s drinking water.

One of Michigan’s largest cities currently does not have a contract with a business to pick up its garbage.

Flint’s garbage pickup contract expired on June 30.

Wednesday, the Flint City Council failed to approve a 90-day extension to the city’s contract with Republic Services. Instead, the council approved a 30-day contract, which is not what Republic wanted.

A court hearing Monday will look at the process of reviewing grand jury documents in the Flint Water Crisis investigation.

Defense attorneys accuse prosecutors of “stonewalling.”

In January, nine government officials including former Gov. Rick Snyder, were charged with crimes ranging from willful neglect of duty to involuntary manslaughter. The criminal counts were handed down by a one-man grand jury.   

Circuit Court Judge Duncan Beagle has been overseeing the process of reviewing evidence presented to the one-man grand jury in the Flint water crisis criminal investigation. 

A divided Flint city council finally passed a budget for the 2022 fiscal year early Tuesday morning after more than 10 hours of debate.

The 5-4 vote means the city of Flint will avoid a government shutdown. 

The council had already missed a city charter-mandated deadline to pass a budget last week.

The resolution came after the council voted unanimously to accept nearly $95 million in COVID relief money from the federal government.

On Monday, the Flint City Council will once again try to pass a city budget.

But there’s little hope the divided council will be able to reach an agreement.

Flint’s dysfunctional city council has often struggled with mundane tasks, but the current stalemate over the proposed $71 million city budget threatens to cause a government shutdown.

Some council members are upset the budget does not contain more money for blight removal and public safety. The budget does not include federal COVID relief money.

A Flint family wants more than an apology after the Michigan State Police raided their home back in April, based on what police say was later discovered to be false information.

56 year old Renee Dunigan was home with her daughter and three grandchildren on April 21, when the State Police kicked in her door and started searching the house on Garland Street on Flint's northside.

“We’re just there saying ‘Can we call anybody? What is this for?' We did nothing wrong or anything,” Dunigan said, as her eyes began to tear up during a news conference Tuesday.

Up to 1,000 people are expected to get criminal convictions expunged from their records during an event this week in Flint.

Wednesday’s expungement fair will take place at the Genesee County Sheriff’s office. 

Michigan’s new expungement law took effect in April.  The law expands number of misdemeanor and felony convictions that qualify for expungement.

There’s talk of a major investment in Flint Community Schools.

But at this point, it’s still just talk.

Flint public schools have been caught in a downward spiral for years, declining enrollment fueled by aging buildings.

But key players in Flint have been talking behind the scenes about a plan to build new schools.

In the final few days before Monday’s deadline to opt-in or opt-out of the settlement, people stood in long lines outside the Flint water settlement law office in downtown Flint. Many needed help filling out the settlement forms.

But it appears the wait was successful.

A judge has agreed to put the criminal case against former Gov. Rick Snyder on hold for a few months.

Snyder is facing two misdemeanor counts of Willful Neglect of Duty tied to the Flint water crisis. If convicted, the former governor could face up to year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. He has entered pleas of not guilty.

Monday is the deadline for people to register for the $641 million Flint water crisis master settlement.

As of a week ago, more than 33,000 people had registered to be part of the settlement.  

Attorneys say they have seen a crush of people in the last week wanting to opt-in or opt-out of the settlement. The lawyers say the deadline crunch will make it difficult for them to help people register and file objections to the settlement.   They asked U.S. District Judge Judith Levy to extend the deadline by another 60 days.

The criminal case against former governor Rick Snyder will proceed.

A judge rejected his lawyers’ request to dismiss the charges against him Thursday.

Attorneys are asking a judge to set aside nearly a third of the proposed $641 million civil settlement tied to the Flint water crisis for lawyer fees.

They made the request in a court filing this week.  

The State of Michigan and the city of Flint, along with a Flint engineering firm and a Flint hospital, agreed to put up the money as part of an agreement to settle legal damage claims tied to the city’s water crisis.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder should learn soon if a judge will dismiss charges against him connected to the Flint water crisis.

The former governor is charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty.   The exact reasons for the charges are unclear since a judge has yet to release evidence presented to the one-man grand jury that issued the indictment.

A judge has denied a defense motion to dismiss a perjury charge against a former top aide to former Gov. Rick Snyder.

Jarrod Agen was Snyder’s communications director and chief of staff.

He’s among nine people, including the former governor, recently criminally charged as part of the state's investigation into the Flint water crisis.  

There is a question whether the state’s case against former Gov. Rick Snyder will be able to move forward before the judge currently assigned the case.

The former governor is charged with two counts of Willful Neglect of Duty related to his handling of the Flint Water Crisis.

But during a brief court hearing Tuesday morning, District Court Judge William Crawford II delayed arguments until next month on a pair of defense motions to dismiss the misdemeanor counts against Snyder.

Attorneys for former Governor Rick Snyder are formally asking a judge to toss two misdemeanor charges tied to the Flint water crisis.

Snyder was formally charged with willful neglect of duty as part of an investigation by the Michigan attorney general's office into alleged criminal activity tied to Flint’s lead tainted tap water.