MSU is inching closer to losing millions in state funding next year as an argument with lawmakers over the university’s student health care requirement escalates.
Students planning to travel along Amtrak’s Blue Water route early next week may experience some service disruptions, the passenger railroad announced in a service notice. The route — which runs from Chicago to Port Huron, Mich. — typically departs from East Lansing at 8:28 a.m., but all stops will run two hours earlier to accommodate work along the track. The change will take place from Monday through Wednesday, with additional work occurring over the next two weeks.
The Taste of East Lansing festival will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday at Parking Lot 1 off of Albert Avenue in the Ann Street Plaza. The event will be hosted by the Community Relations Coalition and will feature a silent auction, live music, raffle and children’s activities.
April snow showers could mean trouble for many fruit growers throughout Michigan after a frost affected some fruit populations earlier than usual, MSU experts said Tuesday. Although the warm spell in Michigan this March was welcome weather for many students, the subsequent snow flurries and below freezing temperatures that occurred for a few subsequent days in April were particularly damaging to perennial fruit populations in the state, MSU Extension educator Amy Irish-Brown said.
A semesterlong class project became a business venture for local business startup Shirtmob when four students conducted surveys to find out where the company’s target clientele stood.
In 1988, East Lansing was named a Tree City USA for the first time. Now, in 2012, the city is sticking to its roots for its 25th consecutive year as a Tree City USA, a national honor given to communities by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.
Construction on a Lansing outpatient cancer treatment center is expected to start before this fall following a state approval process that drew accusations of tampering by local health care entities. A certificate of need for Compass Health Care’s Compass Cancer Center, 1525 W. Lake Lansing Road, was approved earlier this April by the Michigan Department of Community Health, a move that should allow construction to start before this fall.
In 1988, East Lansing was named a Tree City USA for the first time. Now, in 2012, the city is sticking to its roots for its 25th consecutive year as a Tree City USA, a national honor given to communities by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. “It’s a great honor, in particular because it’s our 25th year that we’ve been able to receive this designation,” said David Smith, environmental specialist for the city of East Lansing. “It shows that not only the city, but our residents have a commitment to the positive aspects of having trees in our community.”
Funding for local and major street projects and subsequent repairs is set to fluctuate across the next few years in East Lansing, based on budget projections presented Tuesday to the East Lansing City Council. East Lansing Director of Public Works Todd Sneathen and Finance Director Mary Haskell presented documents to the council at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road, prior to its regular meeting, detailing changes that project a deficit at the start of the next fiscal year in the city’s fund for major street repairs.
The former site of the East Lansing Barnes & Noble once again is slated to be teeming with life this weekend, but only for a short time.
Law enforcement members throughout East Lansing and MSU are working to keep tradition alive by upping the presence of ceremonial honor guards in their departments. This May, the MSU Police Department and the East Lansing Fire Department will host trainings for officers interested in being a part of an honor guard, a ceremonial unit often used to honor fallen officers or to represent police, fire or military units in public presentations, such as parades.
East Lansing police Sgt. Mark Vande Wouwer has rescued children from burning buildings and pursued criminals on foot, and now he’s being recognized for his work.
The East Lansing Public Library was packed Friday night as residents and city leaders gathered at a fundraiser to offer vocal and financial support for the center, stressing the institution’s importance to the community. More than 200 people attended the library’s Books, Bites and Bids silent auction at the library, 950 Abbot Road, the topper on a week of events that ran in conjunction with National Library Week.
Just in time for summer, a new ice cream shop will open its doors for business at 2850 E. Grand River Ave., in Okemos, on April 20. The shop, Twisters Soft-Serve Ice Cream, will be the eighth in a franchise that was started 12 years ago by owner Joe Spadafore, his brother and his father.
Lansing’s second annual Capital City Film Festival began rolling Thursday evening, with leaders and filmmakers gathering downtown for a red carpet opening celebration.
Top city and state transportation officials joined U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., at a roundtable event Wednesday, calling for an increased federal commitment to local transportation funding that would be used to help streamline area bus transportation along Grand River and Michigan avenues. Officials from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, said uncertainties surrounding funding for transportation projects have made it difficult to plan for major infrastructure needs, including a local initiative that would spruce up the Michigan/Grand River Avenue Corridor.
A new online software system could turn East Lansing City Council meetings into on-demand viewing, easing accessibility and transparency for residents and city staff. The council was introduced at its Tuesday night work session, held at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road, to a software system operated by Granicus, a nationwide technology company that works with local, state and national government bodies to promote transparency.
East Lansing Fire Department responded to a log on fire in the woods just north of the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road.
The East Lansing City Council got its first look at what could be a step forward into the digital age at its Tuesday night work session. During its 7 p.m. work session at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road, the council heard a presentation from Jack Melnicoff, a solutions specialist with a nationwide information technology company called Granicus that works with government municipalities to promote transparency.
On April 19, 1917, a new homeland security calvary team trotted out onto the grounds leased from Michigan Agricultural College farmland with the goal of protecting Michigan residents from the threat of a looming war. About 95 years later, that team has grown to become what now is known as the Michigan State Police. Although state troopers no longer are riding horses and the land rented from MSU has been returned to the university, the institution is taking its upcoming anniversary to remember its roots.