ACLU Michigan’s investigative reporter Curt Guyette on the Flint water crisis, sharing meatloaf with musician Gregory McIntosh, the future of Ypsi’s infamous Elbow Room, and our second annual on-air swap meet… on this weekend’s Saturday Six Pack

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Somehow, yet once again, we’ve managed to book an awesome show for your listening pleasure this Saturday evening. This weekend’s show will be in four parts. First, we will be continuing our ongoing coverage of the Flint water crisis with ACLU Michigan’s investigative reporter Curt Guyette. Then, we’ll be talking with Andrew Epstein, the new owner of Ypsilanti’s infamous dive bar, the Elbow Room. And, following that, our friend Jean Henry will be dropping by with a box full of treasures for our second annual on-air swap meet. And, lastly, we’ll be joined by musician Gregory McIntosh, with whom I will be sharing a meatloaf… So, if you like the sounds of chewing, be sure to stick around until the very end.

SwapMeet2For those who might not be aware of the role that Guyette played in the breaking of the Flint water story, here’s a clip from a resent feature in the Columbia Journalism Review.

IT WAS NOT A TYPICAL EVENING OF REPORTING. In early September, Curt Guyette was knocking on unfamiliar doors in Flint, Michigan—not to ask for interviews, but to ask residents to test their water for lead. Local activists were doing the same thing on sidewalks nearby, and in other parts of town. The task: Muster tests from as many ZIP Codes as possible to give a complete picture of what, exactly, was flowing out of the taps in Flint.

Guyette had been following the story of lead in Flint’s water for months, even as officials assured residents and the media that everything was under control. Over the summer, he’d helped produce a mini-documentary about concerns with the water for the ACLU of Michigan, where he works as an investigative reporter. That led to a scoop—a leaked memo from a US Environmental Protection Agency official that explained how Michigan’s process for lead testing in Flint’s water delivered artificially low results.

Now, a researcher from Virginia Tech was conducting an independent evaluation, and Guyette wasn’t just following the story, he was in the middle of it. Initial assessments by the researcher, Marc Edwards, had already found dangerously high levels of lead in the water in many Flint homes—the consequence of a series of questionable government decisions. More tests, taken with the samples collected by Guyette and others, confirmed the problem with the water. Soon, a local doctor was reporting elevated blood-lead levels in Flint children, too, and county officials were declaring a public health emergency…

And, here, thanks to AM 1700 senior graphic designer Kate de Fuccio, is this week’s poster, in case any of you want to print copies and distribute them in the Meijer’s parking lot.

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FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER TUNED IN TO THE SIX PACK BEFORE, HERE ARE THE DETAILS ON HOW TO LISTEN:

Unless you live inside the AM 1700 studio, chances are you won’t be able to pick the show up on your radio. As that’s the case, I’d recommend streaming the show online, which you can do either on the AM1700 website or by way of TuneIn.com.

And for those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the show, and need to get caught up, you can listen to the entire archive on iTunes. If you start right now, and listen to everything at double speed, but you can do it.

One last thing… If you’d like to tell your friends and neighbors about the program, feel free to share the Facebook event listing.

And do call us if you have a chance. We love phone calls. So please scratch this number into the cinder block wall of the recreation room of whichever facility you’ve been assigned to… 734.217.8624… and call us between 6:00 and 8:00 this Saturday evening. The show is nothing without you. Sure, sometimes it’s nothing even with you, that’s true, but usually you make it better.

This entry was posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

6 Comments

  1. Peter Larson
    Posted January 23, 2016 at 12:07 am | Permalink

    People will have a fairly good time.

  2. Jean Henry
    Posted January 23, 2016 at 12:16 pm | Permalink

    I plan on having a very good time. Pete is no doubt speaking of a statistical average measure of experience, with his relentless gloom weighting the result. A more apt prediction might be ‘people will have a blast, except for Pete, who will be miserable as per usual.’

  3. Posted January 23, 2016 at 1:02 pm | Permalink

    According to this recent Facebook post, Jean may just give you her treasures if you call in and offer to do awesome things in the community… at least that’s how I’m reading this….

    I will be on Mark Maynard’s radio show today with some found objects available for swap. Since I require no more stuff– quite a bit less actually– I will be swapping these little gems for action step IOU’s– preferably helpful or disruptive to oneself or others. I have some surprises planned. They will be revealed in time (and as I figure it out) in FB posts. I’ll be on the air at 6:50 pm ish– Positioned between issues of serious import. Join us on line or via AM radio if you live within spitting distance of the station. and if you do, for god sakes call in so Mark and I aren’t left swimming in dead air.

  4. Steven
    Posted January 23, 2016 at 4:24 pm | Permalink

    Guyette is going to be with Rachel Maddow this Wednesday in Flint for MSNBC’s “American Disaster: The Crisis in Flint, An MSNBC Town Hall”.

    Guests will include Flint Mayor Karen Weaver; U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow; Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha of Hurley Medical Center; Lanice Lawson, creator of Bottles for Babies; Curt Guyette, reporter for the ACLU in Michigan; Brynn Mickle and Ron Fonger of The Flint Journal; and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer.

    “Maddow and members of the Flint community will examine how this man-made water crisis is now a full blown emergency with potentially devastating health effects for thousands and look ahead to potential solutions,” reads an announcement from the network.

  5. Blastfemmy
    Posted January 23, 2016 at 9:05 pm | Permalink

    I lived in Northern Michigan in the 70s, and the local radio station had a show every Saturday where callers would announce on air the things they wanted to sell: “uh, yeah, uh…I got a Zenith color t.v., works real good, uh, I’m askin’ twenty dollars”.

    Then, get this; they’d give their name and phone number…on live radio.

  6. Peter Larson
    Posted January 25, 2016 at 3:56 am | Permalink

    Mr. Maynard has created a culture of dependency in Ypsilanti.

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  1. […] later in the show, after a short talk with Gregory McIntosh of the band Loose Teeth, we’ll continue our discussion about super-awesome initiatives to […]

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