Flint, Michigan

The Unfinished Business of Flint’s Water Crisis

Criminal charges and a class-action settlement may seem like the last chapter in Flint’s story, but many of the most important reforms at the root of the city’s water crisis remain undone.

  • By Anna Clark, ProPublica

Reports: Former Michigan Governor to Be Charged in Flint Water Crisis

Rick Snyder and other former officials could face unspecified charges later this week.

  • By Bill Lucia

From Sewage Sludge, a New Perspective on the Flint Water Crisis

COMMENTARY | The 2014 lead crisis was troubling. But the science now suggests that other cities — and even Flint — have seen worse.

  • By Siddhartha Roy and Marc Edwards, Undark

Michigan to Pay Flint Residents $600 Million in Water Crisis Settlement

Tainted water exposed children to dangerous levels of lead and left residents using bottled water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking for years. Now it’s time for the state to “do what it can,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

  • By Emma Coleman

'A Parade, Not A Protest': An Interview With Sheriff Who Took Off Riot Gear, Walked with Protesters

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson won attention for marching in solidarity with protesters in Flint Township, Michigan. He says he knows it will take more efforts to really improve many people's perceptions of law enforcement.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The Trouble With America’s Water

Lead-tainted drinking water is not only a problem in Flint and Newark.

  • By Olga Khazan, The Atlantic

How Best to Save a Struggling City? Agency by Agency

COMMENTARY | Flint, Michigan, offered a devastating lesson in how state takeover of a city can fail. Agency control—“de-municipalization”—is a better idea.

  • By Stephen Eide, CityLab

Criminal Charges Have Been Dropped Against Officials in Flint. What Comes Next?

Those who want to hold public officials accountable for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan are upset about the latest developments—but the case isn’t over.

  • By Emma Coleman

The Startups Born of Flint’s Water Crisis

Five years after the Michigan city was hit with its public health emergency, there’s good news—and signs of an entrepreneurial resurgence—coming out of Flint.

  • By Anna Clark, CityLab

How to Bring Back Struggling Cities

COMMENTARY | A Manhattan Institute report offers strategies to revitalize such struggling cities as Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Pittsfield, Massachusetts; and Youngstown, Ohio.

  • By Aaron Renn, CityLab

How a Feel-Good AI Story Went Wrong in Flint

A machine-learning model showed promising results in finding lead pipes, but city officials and their engineering contractor abandoned it.

  • By Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic

State Official in Mich. Will Face Trial for Involuntary Manslaughter in Flint Deaths

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Trump vs. Portland’s mayor … pathway to six-figure teacher salaries in Texas … and Saratoga Springs, N.Y. scrambles after City Hall fire.

  • By Michael Grass
Featured eBooks
The State of Trust in Government
Cybersecurity in State and Local Government
Building Data Literacy in the State and Local Workforce

Delayed EPA Response to Water Crisis Increased Health Risks to Flint Residents, IG Finds

A new watchdog report found that the federal agency's regional office didn't establish clear roles for the state environmental agency and failed to create clear lines of communication.

  • By Eric Katz

Opportunity Zone Communities May Require Additional Investments

Experts said the program could benefit from more structured oversight.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The Big Challenge Public Health Officials Face as ‘Flint Registry’ Launches

A new federally-funded initiative seeks to connect residents impacted by the drinking-water crisis to wellness and recovery programs and resources.

  • By Michael Grass

The 'Horrifying' Consequence of Lead Poisoning

Exposure to the toxin leads to higher risk of miscarriages, new research finds, in addition to other long-lasting effects.

  • By Olga Khazan, The Atlantic

Five Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in the Flint Water Crisis

Michigan Health Director Nick Lyon and four other officials are accused of failing to act on a Legionnaires' disease outbreak associated with the city’s lead-poisoning problems.

  • By Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic

Why Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law Is Preemption on Steroids

A new survey of local government leaders in the Great Lakes State finds widespread agreement that this approach—while offering some benefits—simply goes too far.

  • By Tom Ivacko

Flint's Emergency Managers Face Felony Charges Over Lead in the Water

The officials include two people appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to run the city.

  • By David A. Graham, The Atlantic

Flint’s New Public Health Crisis: People Are Getting Sick Because They’re Afraid to Wash Their Hands

Concerns about the water have led to an outbreak of Shigellosis.

  • By Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz

Flint-Inspired Senate Bill Provisions Would Finance State Water Infrastructure

The bipartisan legislation aims to help states with localities struggling to deal with contaminated drinking water.

  • By Dave Nyczepir