Flint Photos: 1926 Fire

This photo from April 23, 1926 shows the State Theatre with a fire in the background. I'm sure someone out there can fill us in on what was burning.

Another Great Flint T-Shirt...Although Northern Vikings May Not Like It So Much

After years of lame Flint t-shirts, suddenly there are all kinds of great ones out there. This one is created by Flint Expatriate T. R. Pearson, who now lives in New York. He emailed me a little background info:

I’m a fourth generation Flint native, and third generation Flint Central High School graduate (my older sister went to Powers ). We grew up in the East Village just down the street from Pierce Elementary, where I went most of the time, except for a short stint at Donovan Mayotte, now St. John Vianney. Whittier for middle, then Central and Northern (magnet).

I made these shirts because I didn’t have any clothes from Central that fit me. Everything was XL. I was dismayed when they got rid of the Indian and wanted to bring it back because it represented pride and tradition for so many graduates, for so many years. I researched old yearbooks at the Flint Library and even found the printing company that had been making Flint Central shirts since the 80s.

I bought one of these already and I'm proudly wearing it in San Francisco. Pick up one here on eBay.

The Drumbeat of the Early Eighties

Flint Expatriate Shawn Chittle wades deep into Hall & Oates, Footloose and Toni Basil to discover "the drumbeat of the early eighties" and, by extension, a core component of Our Lady of Lebanon dances.

Flint Artifacts: Kohler's Gulf First Place Ribbon

G.M.'s Tax Burden in Genesee County

Who was the largest taxpayer in Genesee County in 2010? Despite all the layoffs and abandoned factories, it was our old friend G.M. But the automaker's tax burden is getting smaller. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Tax appeals filed by General Motors Corp. have resulted in more than $8 million in lost revenue for local governments in the Flint area since 2010.

How Different is Michigan from Wisconsin?

Does Detroit Deserve RoboCop?

RoboCop Speaks to Detroit from Peter Weller

Rich Man, Poor Man: Charting the Income Gap

As these charts show all too clearly, not everyone is hurting equally as the country deals with the recession. (If it's not clear, click on the charts to enlarge them.) Of course, this is probably old news for anyone who has spent time in Flint, but it's worth repeating in an era of massive budget cuts.

The Great Recession and the slump that followed have triggered a jobs crisis that been making headlines since before President Obama was in office, and that will likely be with us for years," Zachary Roth reports. "But the American economy is also plagued by a less-noted, but just as serious, problem: Simply put, over the last 30 years, the gap between rich and poor has widened into a chasm."

Lucky for me, that time span pretty much covers my entire working life.

An Auto Factory...German Style

Funny, no mention of drinking in the parking lot during breaks.

Flint Artifacts: Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn Matchbook

A dearly departed Flint drinking establishment memorialized by Ben Hamper in Rivethead.