Ron Fonger

Flint

Reporter for MLive Media Group. [email protected]. Married well. Beer snob. Detroit Tigers diehard. Unknown Mortal Orchestra fan.

Articles

Homeboy owner vows to ‘fight my way back’ after fire destroyed homegrown BBQ business

2 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

CLAYTON TWP., MI -- Marina Kimball kept Homeboy Barbeque alive after her husband, Larry, died suddenly in 2022. Three years later, she’s still refusing to let the business they built together close after a devasting May 6 fire destroyed the Beecher Road building they operated from. “I’m usually a pretty tough girl. Larry’s nickname for me was Scrap Iron,” Kimball said on Tuesday, May 13, shortly after walking through the interior of the takeout restaurant for the first time since the fire.
After 29 years at Genesee Valley Center, Auntie Anne’s store closes

2 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

FLINT, TWP. -- The troubled Genesee Valley shopping center has lost another longtime tenant -- Auntie Anne’s, which sold hand-rolled pretzels there since 1996. A company spokesperson confirmed the closure of the independently owned business in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal. “A number of factors go into the decision to close a location. Auntie Anne’s continues to grow, opening new locations across the country,” the company said in the statement.
Genesee County considers new K9 specializing in off-leash missing person searches

2 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson says a new search and rescue K9 that the department wants to purchase would bring a new set of skills to the field. The Sheriff’s Office has four dogs on its K9 team that are trained to detect bombs, identify drugs, and track people. But the new dog -- outfitted with a GPS collar -- would operate off-leash and be trained to find missing persons and stay with victims until police arrive.
Fenton Road resurfacing project will slow traffic through July

3 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Flaggers will maintain traffic on Fenton Road during a construction project scheduled to start next week in Fenton and Mundy townships, but delays are expected in the area until the job is completed in about 11 weeks. The Genesee County Road Commission has announced that the milling and resurfacing work -- from Eden Gardens Drive to Cook Road -- is expected to begin on Monday, May 19.
Activist says he may bring hundreds to Flint for June 1 demonstration

3 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

FLINT, MI -- A Texas political activist charged with disorderly conduct after a protest outside Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s home last week is making plans to return on June 1 -- this time with hundreds of additional demonstrators. Jedidiah Brown, broadcasting on his social media platforms on Sunday, May 11, said Neeley can avoid the protest by resigning or calling a community forum to address issues, including violent crime and delays in paying Flint water settlement claims.
Genesee County preparing pitch for Michigan’s next skilled nursing home for vets

4 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- County officials are in the early stages of preparing a pitch to locate the next long-term care facility for Michigan’s veterans in the Flint area. Members of the county Board of Commissioners have told Department of Veterans Services Director Derrick L. BrittonChesterfield to continue gathering information and to work with other county departments to identify potential sites for the project. Britton updated commissioners on his work during a May 7 committee meeting.
Genesee County commissioners consider opening ‘Pandora’s box’ by investigating Road Commission complaints

6 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Two months after the county Board of Commissioners was asked to investigate complaints involving the Road Commission, there’s still no consensus on whether it will. Commissioners say they plan to meet with their attorneys as soon as next week before deciding whether to carry out a third-party investigation of the agency that’s been dogged for years by claims of employment discrimination and retaliation.
Genesee County gives initial OK to 3-year sponsorship of Randy Wise Junior Open

6 days ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The county has given initial approval to backing the Randy Wise Junior Open, an American Junior Golf Association event at Spring Meadows Country Club in Linden. The county Board of Commissioners approved sponsorship of the event for the next three years at a cost of $37,500 during a Wednesday, May 7, committee meeting.
State Rep. Cynthia Neeley ‘shaken to my core’ by protesters who brought casket to her home

1 week ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

FLINT, MI -- Protesters didn’t just exercise their free speech rights outside the home of state Rep. Cynthia R. Neeley this week. The Flint Democrat says they also committed an act of terrorism. Neeley, whose husband, Sheldon Neeley, was the target of Tuesday’s protest, said in a statement to MLive-The Flint Journal that the demonstration on Beogle Street, which used a casket as a prop, crossed the line.
Police plan to charge 17-year-old for fire that destroyed Homeboy Barbeque

1 week ago | mlive.com | Ron Fonger

CLAYTON TWP., MI -- Township police believe a 17-year-old Flint Township youth started a fire that destroyed a popular barbeque takeout restaurant on Beecher Road on Tuesday, May 6. Police and firefighters from seven departments responded to a call reporting the fire at Homeboy Barbeque about 11 p.m., said Swartz Creek Area Fire Department Chief Dave Plumb. The restaurant, which featured award-winning brisket, pork, chicken and sausage, was a total loss, Plumb said.