Tuesday marks the summer’s first occurrence of East Lansing’s Play in the Park series, a weekly event that runs through the month of July. The sessions will occur every Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The 37th annual Bailey Ice Cream Social will take place Wednesday 5:30-8 p.m.
The East Lansing Farmers’ Market will kick off its summer season this weekend, bringing together vendors and patrons from the Lansing area for farm-grown food. The market, entering its third year, will offer a variety of Michigan-grown produce and products every Sunday.
The parent company of three East Lansing textbook stores filed for bankruptcy this week, while insisting all locations — including those servicing MSU students — will remain open despite their financial struggles. Nebraska Book Co., which owns the Spartan Bookstore in the International Center on campus, Ned’s Book Store, 135 E.
For students living in East Lansing, the summer can be a time to exercise more than their minds. The variety of summer activities and promotions found on campus and around East Lansing make being physically fit highly obtainable.
The university’s Kellogg Center is slated to receive a face-lift if construction proceeds as expected this August. Work at the hotel and conference center — approved at the Board of Trustees’ June 17 meeting — is slated to cost about $2.24 million, university officials said. The hotel’s conference rooms will be the prime focus of several of the renovations, university engineer Bob Nestle said. The building’s corridor spaces, ceiling, lighting and wall finishes also will be redone, Nestle said. “It’s mostly aesthetic-type work,” he said. Nestle said much of the work will be completed in phases to coordinate with the center’s busy conference and meeting schedule. Construction on the facility’s meeting rooms — the majority of which is expected to be completed by August 2012 — will be handled by the Physical Plant, Nestle said. As the center is prepared for that work, some of Kellogg’s dining areas already are undergoing renovations.
The East Lansing city council authorized the construction of the first building in a high-rise development project that will carve a new shape in the city’s skyline.
The streets of the Big Apple were lit up with images of the rainbow flag this past weekend as New Yorkers celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage. The northeastern state is the sixth, but largest, state to pass the law. Shortly after being approved in the state Senate by a vote of 33-29 late Friday night, the news was announced and quickly became the trending topic of Twitter feeds. Comparative cultures and politics senior Sean Watkins was making his way into Manhattan when he heard the news, but it wasn’t long before he joined the celebration. “I was really happy for it,” he said.
East Lansing currently is in the running to receive a $50,000 grant to support its small businesses. Intuit will give out a total of $100,000 to the top two cities in its Love a Local Business program next month.
The East Lansing City Council is slated to make a significant stride in a pair of development projects that will add to the downtown skyline. The council is set to approve the first of two mixed-use development agreements that would authorize construction of an eight-story, mixed-use building near the Ann Street Plaza, on the corner of Grove Street and Albert Avenue.
In the next few weeks, local police and firefighters are hoping to see as much blood as possible. During the 11th Annual Battle of the Badges, local police and fire departments compete against one another to have the most donors give blood to the American Red Cross in their name.
For the first time in more than a decade, Spartan Stadium will be hosting a concert event, leading many local police to stress the differences between this event and a typical football Saturday. This Sunday, U2 will be making their long-anticipated trip to East Lansing to perform, and MSU police Sgt.
When Michigan banned smoking in indoor businesses more than a year ago, Patrick Kent, owner of Blue Midnight Hookah Lounge, immediately saw his shop’s profits drop more than 15 percent. But the tobacco-based portion of his business still was thriving. Rather, Kent’s losses were more edible in nature: The new law outlawed the food service portion of his business, banning him from selling malts, wraps and smoothies in the same location as tobacco smoking.
More than a year after Michigan’s Dr. Ron Davis Smoke-Free Air Law was adopted, some state lawmakers have introduced legislation that once again would allow smoking in East Lansing bars and restaurants. Four separate bills have been introduced by state Reps.
As Redbox progressively adds more video games to its selection of available media, the company could pose a threat to local video game stores. The movie rental kiosk company announced this past weekend that they will be making video games available to rent at more than 21,000 of their locations. Although movies will continue to be rented out for $1 a night, video games will cost twice that. Redbox is owned in part by McDonald’s Corporation and Coinstar Inc. Together, the companies have distributed more than 27,000 kiosks nationwide in locations such as grocery stores, retailers, drugstores, restaurants and convenience stores. Since its launch in 2003, Redbox, along with other new movie renting and streaming alternatives, have put a strain on the movie rental industry. Blockbuster, for example, has closed thousands of stores worldwide, and Hollywood Video has gone out of business. Tom Leach is the owner of Video to Go in the Frandor Shopping Center, in Lansing, a video rental store that once also carried video games.
Although summer officially begins Tuesday, the East Lansing City Council is set to approve an ordinance that would dictate the way off-campus students respond to winter weather. After more than a year of discussion on the issue, the council likely will approve a new snow removal ordinance that would require residents to shovel sidewalks within a set time frame, subjecting them to a tiered fine system for failure to clear their sidewalks of snow, ice and other debris — including broken bottles and other trash.
This Saturday, Potter Park Zoo will be celebrating summer by hosting a number of activities for people of all ages. The day starts with the Wild 1-Mile race, where children 12 and under will have the chance to run through the zoo, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., in Lansing, and see exotic animals up close. TV personalities Evan Pinsonnault from WLNS and Tim Nester from WILX will be on hand to host the event. There will be games, a bounce house and face painting, along with other activities put on with the help of the zoo’s community sponsors, including Impression 5 Science Center, Meridian Historical Village, MSU Science Theatre and more. Potter Park also will be hosting the eighth annual Volks Folks at the Zoo, featuring various types of Volkswagen cars, which will be located just outside the zoo. General admission still will be charged for the day’s events, although participants in the Wild 1-Mile will have their fee waived after registering for the race. Dads who attend the zoo on Father’s Day, June 19, will receive free admission. The zoo is open daily year-round, with summer hours from 9 a.m.
East Lansing residents will have a new place to take their technology-related problems when a computer repair store opens at 228 Abbot Road.Spartan Tech Center will be filling the vacancy left by Swirlberry and is owned by Adna Technologies, a Lansing-based company that offers information technology services.
On Saturday, Lansing will kick off the 2011 summer tourism season with the Be a Tourist in Your Own Town annual event. Tracy Padot, vice president of marketing for Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she expects more than 12,000 people will tour Greater Lansing on Saturday, when local business open their doors to people from around the area. For a $1 passport, visitors will have access to more than 60 venues in the Lansing area, including pontoon boat rides on the Grand River, an instrument petting zoo at the MSU Community Music School and even the opportunity to rappel down the 23-story Boji Tower in downtown Lansing. “We really hope that we’re educating (people) about all the great offerings we have,” Padot said.
The Board of Water and Light, or BWL, Chili Cook-off has become a Greater Lansing tradition, and this Saturday will mark the 16th year of the charitable event. The cook-off began as a way to offset the costs of the BWL’s Adopt A River program, before ultimately becoming a benefit for local nonprofit organizations, BWL communications director Mark Nixon said. Last year’s event was hampered by rain, but Nixon expects 12,000-14,000 people to attend this year, based on previous years’ turnouts and pre-event ticket sales. “The whole idea was to celebrate the riverfront,” Nixon said.