Michigan to Charge Ex-Gov. Rick Snyder in Water Probe

The Flint water system was privatized by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Then people started getting sick.

“Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, The Associated Press has learned.”

— “Michigan plans to charge ex-Gov. Snyder in Flint water probe,” Ed White, David Eggert, and Tammy Webber, Associated Press

More:

“Everything we know about charges Rick Snyder, others face in Flint water scandal,” Joe Guillen and Christine MacDonald, Detroit Free Press

Updates:

“Flint water crisis: Michigan charges ex-governor Rick Snyder,”  BBC News

“Ex-Governor of Michigan Charged With Neglect in Flint Water Crisis,” Julie Bosman, New York Times

“2 ex-health officials charged with manslaughter in Flint,” David Eggert, Ed White, and Corey Williams, Associated Press

“The Unfinished Business of Flint’s Water Crisis,’ Anna Clark, ProPublica

Related:

“Judge gives preliminary OK to $641 million Flint water crisis settlement,” Ron Fonger, MLive

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Flint, Michigan: Residents Pay Full Price for Undrinkable Water

“Residents in Flint, Mich., are about to start paying the full cost of their water again, even though what’s flowing from their taps has yet to be declared safe to drink without an approved filter.

On Wednesday, state officials will end a program that has helped pay residents’ bills since a series of ill-fated decisions by state-appointed emergency managers left the city’s water system contaminated with lead. Since that 2014 disaster, the state has spent roughly $41 million in credits to help offset local utility bills. Residents have gotten a 65 percent credit each month on their water use, while commercial accounts received a 20 percent credit.”

— “Flint residents must start paying for water they still can’t drink without a filter,” Brady Dennis, Washington Post

Flint residents pay one of the country’s highest water rates for the privilege of receiving lead-laced drinking water that poisons their children. About 40 percent of Flint residents live below the poverty line.

The Flint water system was privatized by Republican Governor Rick Snyder.

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Judge Orders Bottled Water Delivery To Flint Residents

Federal Court Judge David M. Lawson has ordered Michigan state and local governments to provide home delivery of at least four cases of water a week to each resident of Flint, unless officials verify that the household has a properly installed and maintained water filter. Deliveries must continue until the city’s water lead hazard ends.

Bottled water had previously been available for pick-up at various locations throughout the city, but restrictive access hours and limits per family placed the burden on residents, 40 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Many do not own cars, and had to walk to and from the water supply centers.

As Judge Lawson observed:

“In modern society, when we turn on a faucet, we expect safe drinking water to flow out. As the evidence shows, this is no longer the case in Flint. The Flint water crisis has in effect turned back the clock to a time when people traveled to central water sources to fill their buckets and carry the water home.”

The water became tainted with lead in 2014 when the Republican state government privatized Flint’s water utility, which then instituted cost-cutting measure while charging residents some of the highest rates in the nation.

More:

“Federal judge orders delivery of bottled water in Flint,” Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press

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Flint: Fear the Water

A New Yorker video, produced by Zackary Canepari and Jessica Dimmock.

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Flint, Michigan

Flint, Michigan residents, 40 percent of whom have incomes under the poverty level, have been paying the highest water bills in the nation for the lead-tainted water that has endangered their children’s health. Those rates were set by the state-appointed emergency managers who switched the system from Detroit water to chemical-laden Flint River water. Thank you, Governor Rick Snyder.

More:

“While Lead Flowed Through the Pipes, Flint Residents Paid America’s Most Expensive Water Bills,” Julia Lurie, Mother Jones

“Flint Is What Happens When a Small-Government, Anti-Spending Philosophy Rules the Day,” Jeff Turrentine , Pacific Standard

“Lessons from Flint and the Price of Water Privatization,”  Mary Grant and Jo Miles, Food & Water Watch

“By the numbers: Flint’s water emergency,” Associated Press

Related:

“How the Flint River got so toxic,” Tim Carmody, The Verge

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State Workers In Flint Got Water Coolers a Year Ago

“Employees at the state office in Flint, Mich., have been drinking from coolers of purified water since last January — the same month that representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality assured residents the water was safe to drink.”

— “State workers — but not residents — in Flint, Mich., have been getting purified water for more than a year,” Yanan Wang, Washington Post

More:

“Amid denials, state workers in Flint got clean water,”Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press

“Document: Snyder Admin Trucked In Clean Water for State Building in January 2015,” Sam Inglot, Progress Michigan

“Flint water crisis: Michigan made sure state employees had clean water 8 months before everyone else,” Libby Nelson, Vox

“Flint Mayor: Water Still Showing Lead Levels Beyond What Filters Can Remove,” Alissa Walker, Gizmodo

Urban Eggs

Backyard Chickens are the new status symbol in hipster neighborhoods and upscale suburbs, a way to have pretty feathered pets and go green with local, fresh organic eggs. What’s not to like? Okay, aside from the noise and the odors and the expense and the cats and the authorities and the parasites and the thieves and  Avian Flu?

Plenty.