The Mitten Channel

The Sharee Miller murder case is one of Michigan's most notable criminal cases this century. The love triangle that Ms. Miller fostered resulted in the death of her husband, Bruce Miller. Sharee engaged in a torrid affair with a Kansas City cop. She convinced her then-boyfriend, Jerry Cassady, to come to Michigan and murder her husband, Bruce. Ms. Miller did so using a litany of falsehoods ab...

Genesee County Circuit Judge Duncan M. Beagle's uplifting story of courage and determination to overcome his physical disability. Genesee County Circuit Judge Duncan M. Beagle will retire at the end of his current term. This is a riveting conversation about the illness that caused him to be unable to use his legs at the age of 43. It is an uplifting story of courage and determination to overc...

Judge Duncan Beagle of Genesee County is a 3rd generation lawyer. He shares his growing up in Flint, community activities, and accomplishments. Judge Duncan M. Beagle has lived a remarkable life. Judge Beagle has inspired, mentored, and coached courage and resilience while serving his community. Judge Beagle's grandfather Charles Beagle was the Genesee County Prosecutor in the 1920s and pract...

Philip Hagerman started a real estate and venture investment firm, Sky Point Ventures, headquartered in Flint, Michigan. He discusses his $50 million investment in reviving downtown Flint including the historic Capitol Theatre. Philip R. Hagerman co-founded Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy with his father, Dale Hagerman, in 1975. Diplomat grew to be the nation's largest independent specialty pharm...

Safetyville, Flint, Michigan, has a special place in the hearts of a lot of Flint area baby boomers. STOP-LOOK-LISTEN. Remember that lesson? Most remember the miniature Corvettes, T-Birds, and kids' first driver's licenses. Many Flint baby boomers received their first driver's license at Safetyville-Flint. Safetyville could be found at Kearsley Park. The powered cars were vintage re...

Poet Semaj Brown is Flint's Poet Laureate.  Her work in Flint uses poetry to address literacy problems with lead-poisoned children. Semaj Brown is the first Poet Laureate appointed by the City of Flint.  She delivers a riveting read of a poem she wrote for the people of Flint. The Academy of American Poets recently recognized her talents as a Poet Laureate. Semaj works in Flint using poetry t...

Rico Phillips is a retired, 27-year veteran Flint Firefighter. He is also an inspiration!. In 2019, the National Hockey League honored Rico with its prestigious Community Hero Award. They did so because, in 2010, Phillips started an inner-city hockey program to introduce Flint kids to the sport. Rico shares fascinating stories about growing up in Flint, being bi-racial, and how he decided to becom...

Tawas Point State Park is located on Lake Huron in Northern Michigan near East Tawas, Michigan. The state park encompasses 183 acres at the end of a sand spit that forms Tawas Bay. It has been referred to as the "Cape Cod of the Midwest" and is a notable bird-watching site. Ossineke is a rustic State Forest campground on Lake Huron with crystal clear water and a sandy beach. The area, in...

Michigan Lumber is a Centennial business in the City of Flint. Gerald Haan and his daughter Katie are the third and fourth generation to run the family-owned business. Gerald also shares his views about Michigan Lumber, Flint, and its future. He also shares his dream of building affordable new single-family housing in the downtown Flint area. Michigan Lumber is located just beyond the center of do...

Patricia Majher discusses her books of mini-biographies, including three Flint natives, MI; Michael Moore, Jim Abbott, and Sara Emma Edmonds. Her books Great Girls and Bold Boys are designed for children but are informative and entertaining for people of all ages. A deep-sea diver, a dancer, an activist, an aviator, a singer, and a soldier— Great Girls in Michigan History highlights 20 girls from...

Anna Clark is an accomplished author and journalist. In The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy , Anna examines what happened to poison the water in Flint, Michigan. She digs into the public policies that need reform and drinking water policy decisions by the Flint and Michigan governments. Anna Clark lives in Detroit. She is a reporter for ProPublica , a nonprofit new...

Jermaine Reese, spent eighteen years as a Flint Police Officer. He shares his policing career, its highs and lows. He patrolled the Flint, Michigan neighborhood where he was raised. What is life like in a City of Flint patrol car? What will it take for Flint's crime statistics to improve? What type of training for police will reduce abuse claims and lawsuits? Dr. Reese explains that one of th...

Grand Blanc, MI attorney and businessman Michael Jablonski is an entrepreneurial success. Jablonski shares stories from his business career in the food and entertainment business in Mid-Michigan. Few people in Michigan have made an impact on the Flint area community's entertainment and fine dining as Michael Jablonski. Michael has developed several concept businesses in the Flint, Michigan ar...

Joel Bye and his band the Blue Hawaiians are legendary amongst Michigan music fans. Joel shares the colorful history of the band as well as his prior band The Nick Garvey Band. In a hilarious and surprisingly reflective interview Joel Bye shares how he got started playing the drums with another local legend, the late jazz master Sherman Mitchell, playing in the Fireside Lounge in Flint. He speaks...

William S. Ballenger III of Flint, Michigan is a descendant of one of the founders of Buick, Chevrolet Motor Car Company, General Motors. Bill is a member of the family that philanthropically endowed the Flint area. Bill shares his family's history, accomplishments, and philanthropic activity. Along the way, Bill shares experiences about growing up in Flint and shares his memories of the late...

Pete "Fat Cat" Flanders is perhaps one of the best remembered radio personalities in the Mid-Michigan media market.  He is the owner of Musical Memories, a Flint record shop that specializes in vinyl record sales. Pete recounts his 40 year history in Flint area radio sharing stories from his long career as a DJ, Concert Promoter and Businessman.  Pete worked at WHMM with its urban format...

Norman Bryant is a former President of Flint Board of Education. At 85 years of age, he shares the history of the Flint Community Schools and high school athletics. Norm is the founder of the Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame. Norm provides a wonderful oral history of African American life in a northern US industrial community in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. During the in...

Local news anchor Joel Feick stepped down from local television news after 35 years. He left familiar seat as "The People's News Anchor". Joel shares stories about his life as a reporter.  In this podcast, Joel shares his memories of the characters whom he covered as a journalist.  He also shares memories of colleagues and other reporters in the Mid-Michigan area.  He worked 27 year...

At 90 years old Arlene Crane-Curns, who has lived almost a century, authored a book!  In Homemade Noodles and Cars, Arlene tells the story of her family-from World War I and how it affected them.  Her parents struggled to provide a home for their five children during the Great Depression. She grew up in Flint, Michigan. Arlene tells of her family's role in World War II and meeting her soon-to...

The KKK has been very active in Flint, Michigan since at least the 1920's.  Michigan has been a hotbed for white nationalist and KKK activity for 100 years. This is a Radio Free Flint podcast essay on the history of the KKK, White Nationalists and other hate groups in Flint, Michigan. The Klan organizes parades, picnics, social relief efforts and activities for children in Flint in years gone...

This Black History Month podcast is in honor of and dedicated to Evelyn Thomas Butts and her attorney Robert Segar of Flint, Michigan.  Evelyn Thomas Butts, an African American civil rights activist and politician in Virginia. She is best known for challenging the poll tax and took her case before the United States Supreme Court. Butts was part of the civil rights movement and later became an infl...

Ryan Lo'Ree, is the former leader of the Rollingwood Skins a white nationalist gang. He participated in this interview. Flint has its share of radical white nationalist groups. Ryan Lo'Ree is a man with a life story made for a television drama production. He has emerged from the rough and tumble eastside of Flint. He eventually became caught up in Michigan's criminal justice system...

Daniel Clark, Professor of Business at Oakland University, establishes in his book; Disruption in Detroit: Autoworkers and the Elusive Postwar Boom, that autoworkers and the auto industry experienced anything but stable prosperity during the so-called Golden Age of the 1950s. Professor Clark draws on oral interviews with retired UAW members and archives of regional newspapers. Professor Clark&apos...

Ang Adamzcik is executive director of Detroit, MI non-profit Arts & Scraps, whose mission is to use recycled industrial scraps to help people of all ages and abilities think, create and learn. Arts & Scraps provides hands-on learning and creative experiences through programs at its facility and throughout Southeast Michigan with an emphasis in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)...

In May 1927, one of the deadliest acts of mass violence in American history unfolded in the quiet village of Bath, Michigan. Over the course of several weeks, Andrew Kehoe , the treasurer of the local school board, secretly wired the Bath Consolidated School—and his own farm—with hundreds of pounds of dynamite. On the morning of May 18, just one day before graduation, a series of explosions tore t...