Flint Postcards: St. John Vianney

Flint Foodies

Here's something I never really expected to see...a blog about the Flint culinary scene called Eating Flint. Maybe Flint and San Francisco aren't as different as I thought.

WFUM May Have a New Owner

It looks like Central Michigan might buy WFUM-Flint from the University of Michigan. Go here for the story. Thanks to Rich Frost for passing this along.

The Luxury of the Seventies?

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David Harris of The Flint Journal reports:

"What was once a luxury apartment complex in the 1970s that turned into an eyesore in recent years is being torn down today.

"Two apartment buildings at 1710 W. Pierson Road were demolished by the City of Flint through a Community Development Block Grant fund."

Rowe Nears Completion

A worker put the finishing touches on an apartment in the ROWE building downtown. (Photo courtesy of Tim Jaglelo/The Flint Journal)

Speaking of luxury, the ROWE Professional Services Co. building on Saginaw Street is nearly ready for occupancy. Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal reports that "seven of eight luxury loft apartments are rented. Rent starts at about $1,050 a month for the more than 2,000-square-foot apartments that feature 20-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and walnut floors."

Towne Club Pop

Show Some Respect

Youngsters in one Chinese province are forced to pay homage to the almighty auto. This didn't even happen in Flint during the boom years.

Sharon LaFraniere of The New York Times reports:

All the students at Luolang Elementary School, a yellow-and-orange concrete structure off a winding mountain road in southern China, know the key rules: Do not run in the halls. Take your seat before the bell rings. Raise your hand to ask a question.

And oh, yes: Salute every passing car on your way to and from school.

Your Pepsi or Your Life

The Detroit News reports:

A 77-year-old Flint man refused to give in to a would-be robber, instead fending off his assailant with a two-liter bottle of Pepsi before suffering a gunshot wound to the groin.

The Flint Journal reports Pat Gillespie is recovering at home after the shooting Thursday afternoon.

Gillespie says he was unloading groceries outside his home when one of two men pointed a gun and told him to empty his pockets. Gillespie tells the newspaper he "didn't want to give them nothing" and hit the gunman with a bag containing the Pepsi bottle. The men ran off, but shot Gillespie once.

Read the full story here.

And for the original Flint Journal story, that has a lot more detail, go here. This all happened in the Mott Park neighborhood.

Color Commentary

Designer turned marketer Chris Webb talks about how G.M. chooses colors for the Volt. It's basically a commercial for the internet age, but it's surprisingly interesting and offers a nice contrast with the yuppie extravagance of the Reagan-era Cadillac advertising I posted yesterday.

It did remind me a little of the color analyst scene in Roger & Me. And the part where Webb explains how G.M. uses three layers of color instead of two was somewhat reminiscent of the famous amp scene in Spinal Tap. (watch below)

All kidding aside, it seems like G.M. is finally figuring out how to market a car to a wider, more diverse group of consumers. (And no, G.M. did not pay me to say that.)

If you want a chance to fly to L.A. and test drive a pre-production Volt, go here to enter the Chevy color contest to name the strange green planned for some of the Volts. (Are they too broke to actually give a car away in the contest, as I mistakenly posted earlier? Apparently so.) Alas, there are no plans to re-introduce the "Bamboo Cream" of my grandma's Buick Electra.

UPDATE: If you scroll toward the bottom of this page, you can see some of the names people have submitted. And as some of the comments indicate, figuring out how to actually enter this contest is a real challenge. Perhaps I was a bit premature in declaring that G.M. has improved at the marketing game.

Citizens Bank: It Could Be Worse

Reuters reports that Flint's Citizens Bank is still losing money, but less than expected:

"Loss-making Midwestern bank Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc (CRBC.O) posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, despite a spike in loan loss provisions and expenses.

"Third-quarter net loss was $62.1 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $18.9 million, or 20 cents a share, last year."