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Many of us have been in the awkward situation of attending a family picnic or community event where we line up for food and discover the only choice for dishware is polystyrene (ex. Styrofoam and similar products). This is the moment where I tend to sigh and assess my options. I can either skip eating, ask if there is another option and use this as a teaching moment, or pile food on my polystyrene plate adding to my daily intake of carcinogens. I’ve taken all three approaches depending on my mood and level of hunger. Bringing my own dishware is another option, but like many people I am not

Earlier this month in a legislative session that went until the early hours of the morning, both chambers of the Michigan Legislature passed the budget for 2017. Included in the budget omnibus bill is $114.3 million in emergency supplemental funding for solutions to the Flint water crisis. As late as the week before, it looked like there was a good possibility that the Legislature would adjourn for summer recess without passing funding for Flint.

The State Senate passed $128 million in emergency funding for Flint with a 34-3 vote in early May. For weeks, the Senate bill languished in the House

It was a dark, cold January day, shortly after Michigan officials had finally admitted that the people of Flint had been exposed to poisoned water running through their taps. We drove from Lansing to St Michael’s Church in Flint for an organizing meeting. Local activists, people from the non-profit community, and even experts who had run door-to-door canvasses in response to Hurricane Sandy, were all there to do something about the water crisis that is still being ignored by our state government.

It is hard for me to write about what happened in Flint. The most important voices of this tragedy