January 2, 2019
By Ron Fonger
Flint -- Attorney General Dana Nessel (click here) expects to make an announcement regarding the future of Flint water prosecutions, including the job security of special prosecutor Todd Flood, in the next several days.
Kelly Rossman-McKinney, communications director for Nessel, told MLive-The Flint Journal in an email Wednesday, Jan. 2 that no decisions have been made about the prosecution team in the water cases, “but we expect to make an announcement in the next several days.”
Nessel has been critical of the approach to Flint water criminal cases by her predecessor, Bill Schuette, but has not spoken on the subject since she was elected attorney general Nov. 6.
Charges tied to the water crisis are pending against nine current and former state of Michigan and city of Flint employees. Six other cases have been resolved with plea agreements that have resulted in no jail time or fines for those charged....
January 4, 2019
By Pamela Pugh
Since 2014, (click here) the man-made Flint water crisis has left the residents of Flint with the frustration, panic, heartache, and paranoia that comes along with the devastation not being able to trust their government with a most basic of human rights. They’ve had to question why their lives were not worth the $100-a-day expense it would have cost for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to have used corrosion control to treat Flint River water instead of cutting costs. Residents were forced to live with the knowledge that visibly brown water was not enough to convince those within the agency that something was terribly wrong.
University of Michigan professor and environmental justice pioneer Paul Mohai called the Flint Water Crisis the most egregious example of environmental justice and racism in his almost four decades of studying the subject. As the City of Flint’s chief public health advisor and an environmental justice practitioner and advocate, this comes as no surprise.
What is notable is the persistent austerity and paternalistic behavior that the MDEQ under the Snyder administration had clung to up until the end. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's first act in office was a commendable and strong first step in prioritizing the health and well-being of Michigan residents. On Wednesday, she issued a directive to require public workers to report threats to public health.....
The much-decorated Dr. Eden Wells is to stand trial for manslaughter. It only goes to prove Rick Snyder has no moral compass. His decisions during his entire administration has been based in Wall Street cutthroat values. Between Trump and Snyder, they are prime examples that they aren't needed in government.
December 7, 2018
By David Eggert
Lansing – Michigan’s chief medical executive (click here) will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges in a criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, a judge ruled Friday.
Dr. Eden Wells is among six people facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area in 2014 and 2015. Wells is now the second high-ranking state official, along with Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, to be ordered to trial .
Wells, a member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s Cabinet, learned of the trial decision from Judge William Crawford II while inside a Flint courtroom. Wells has denied any wrongdoing, and her attorneys have said she had no legal duty to warn the public and worked diligently to investigate and resolve Flint’s water issues....
