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Sun, moon festivals set to rock Lansing

Karen Confer

June 20, 2010

In celebration of the summer solstice, the Old Town Commercial Association, or OTCA, is holding a Festival of the Moon from 6-11 p.m. Friday, and a Festival of the Sun from 2-11 p.m. Saturday on the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue, in Lansing. The Festival of the Moon, honoring the shortest night of the year, will feature live entertainment from rock groups JHD, Jet Set Drag and Cartel.

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Nature center to host canine hike

Karen Confer

June 20, 2010

Harris Nature Center, 3998 Van Atta Road, in Okemos, will sponsor a guided tour through the woods from 9-10 p.m. Friday. The hike, called Howl at the Moon, takes place each month in the summer on the Friday nearest the full moon. Hikers are invited to bring dogs, as long as they are kept on non-retractable leashes.

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Juneteenth ceremonies celebrate freedom, history

Aseel Machi

June 20, 2010

The Juneteenth holiday is an annual, weekend-long celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the U.S. hundreds of years ago. The festivities in Lansing are a small representation of what Juneteenth really means, where it is the community’s job to more thoroughly educate the public about the holiday.

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Publication collectors gather at Classicon 37

Ashley Brown

June 20, 2010

Collectors gathered pinups, posters and pulps for the semi-annual Classicon 37 on Saturday at the Quality Inn University, 3121 E. Grand River Ave., in Lansing. Classicon 37 was hosted by the Curious Book Shop, 307 E. Grand River Ave., and collectors from East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Lansing, Toledo and Grand Rapids gathered to sell and purchase material, including original movie posters, advertisements, pulps, paperbacks and artwork used for paperback covers.

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City officials meet with Big Ten city managers

Pat Evans

June 20, 2010

Similar communities and common problems are why five city managers from Big Ten university towns got together Thursday and Friday for their semi-regular meeting. East Lansing hosted this year’s meeting of city managers and economic development experts from State College, Pa.; Evanston, Ill.; Champaign, Ill. and Ann Arbor. East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton led a tour of East Lansing and MSU, including a stop at the Cyclotron, and listened to several speakers about projects the city has coming in the future, including the integration of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.

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Council passes liquor license permit in E.L.

Pat Evans

June 16, 2010

After months of lobbying, a new hot dog restaurant is likely to be serving beer in the near future in downtown East Lansing. After an hour and a half long discussion about the hot dog restaurant, East Lansing City Council passed a special use permit for a liquor license Tuesday for What’s Up Dawg?, 301 M.A.C. Ave. The council went through a series of conditions and amendments the restaurant must follow with the approval.

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White Memorial Park revamped, improved

Aseel Machi

June 16, 2010

White Memorial Park featured a dedication Wednesday night at its newly made pavilion. The improvements and new constructions to the park include constructing a pavilion at its entrance, revamping the fencing at the softball field, paving of the area’s parking lots, a new interpretive nature trail that features handicap accessibility and a viewing platform that presents the park’s pond.

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Big Ten university city officials to meet

Pat Evans

June 16, 2010

Several city managers from cities with Big Ten universities will meet Thursday and Friday in East Lansing. City managers from Ann Arbor, Evanston, Ill., Champagne, Ill., Iowa City, Ia. and State College, Penn., will join East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton in discussing common threads in city governments of Big Ten universities.

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Humane Society to host adoption day

Pat Evans

June 16, 2010

To celebrate Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, the Capital Area Humane Society will be holding a Cat Adoption Event 12-7 p.m. on June 18. The event will be held at the Capital Area Humane Society, 7095 W. Grand River Ave., in Lansing.

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Korea culture camp to be held Monday

Emily Wilkins

June 16, 2010

The Korean Culture Camp of Eastern Michigan will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday next week at St. Thomas Aquinas School, 915 Alton St. The camp has been operating for 21 years with the goal of providing a first-hand Korean experience to adopted Korean children.

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Potter Park hosts events for dads

Emily Wilkins

June 16, 2010

To celebrate Father’s Day, Ingham County dads will receive free admission to Potter Park Zoo on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The day will include a Keeper Talk about the role of dads in the wild and at the zoo, taking place at 2 p.m. Fathers will also have a chance to win a penguin feeding. The Magellanic penguin exhibit includes a new father of three penguin chicks born last month.

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MSU educator hosts fishing training workshop

Meagan Choi

June 15, 2010

Mark Stephens, an education program coordinator in MSU’s Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resources Studies, led a two-day Fishing for the Future of the Great Lakes workshop May 15-16 at Gardner Middle School, 333 Dahlia Dr., in Lansing. Stephens, who coordinates the Project Friends Involved in Sportfishing Heritage, or Project FISH, program, said the workshop equips people to teach kids about fishing and aquatic resource stewardship.

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City Council to decide on restaurant liquor license

Pat Evans

June 14, 2010

An idea for a late-night concession stand that might turn into a full blown hot dog restaurant — with beer — will be voted on by East Lansing City Council at its meeting Tuesday night. The proposed business, What Up Dawg?, would occupy a building on M.A.C. Avenue near the St. John Student Center, 327 M.A.C. Ave., one of the prospective owners Seth Tompkins said. After the lease was signed, Tompkins began pursuing the only aspect that potentially will delay the project — a liquor license.

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Vote 2010 kicks off with campaigning

Karen Confer

June 14, 2010

In a kickoff event for Vote 2010, a flurry of volunteers knocked on doors in East Lansing neighborhoods Saturday, asking students to sign pledges of voting in the November elections. Set up by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee, the kickoff event in East Lansing was one of dozens across the state. Volunteers went door-to-door and asked residents to sign a pledge to vote in November.

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Summer Solstice Jazz Festival to hit E.L.

Pat Evans

June 14, 2010

The Summer Solstice Jazz Festival will hit downtown East Lansing from June 18-20. The festival is a joint production by the city of East Lansing, Wharton Center and the MSU College of Music. The two headliners are Somi, a New York-based singer/songwriter and Joe Lovano, an internationally-known jazz performer.

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Teams race along urban adventure course

Pat Evans

June 13, 2010

Dirty Feat is the first urban adventure race in Lansing and East Lansing. The race took more than 80 teams of two people each through downtown East Lansing, along the Red Cedar River, across the MSU campus and throughout the city of Lansing in a race of more than 30 miles.

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Free car seat belt checks Fri. at Lot 89

Andrew Krietz

June 13, 2010

The Capital Area Safe Kids Coalition and the MSU, East Lansing and Meridian Township police departments will host a free car seat check from 4-7 p.m. Friday in Lot 89, on the corner of Farm Lane and Mt. Hope Road. By appointment, people can bring their child in his or her car seat, and a certified child passenger safety technician will inspect the seat and its installation within the car.

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Imprisonment forum to take place

Pat Evans

June 9, 2010

A Wrongful Imprisonment Forum will take place 7-9 p.m June 21 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, 855 Grove St. The forum will educate the community on the wrongful imprisonment affecting thousands of U.S. citizens every year.

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Picnic on the lawn honors women

Aseel Machi

June 9, 2010

With vocalists and Mexican dancers, the Michigan Women’s Historical Center & Hall of Fame’s annual Picnic on the Lawn was a combination of Mexican culture and entertainment. Hosted Wednesday night at the Michigan Women’s Historical Center & Hall of Fame, 213 W. Main St., in Lansing, the picnic acted as a social gathering and fundraiser for the center, which honors the achievements of women in the Lansing area.

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Food bank to honor fund donations

Andrew Krietz

June 9, 2010

The Greater Lansing Food Bank will take time to publicly thank two local organizations for their funding assistance toward the food bank at 1 p.m. Thursday at Kellogg Center. The Capital Region Community Foundation and the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation will be recognized for their combined purchase of a new vehicle for the food bank’s Food Movers Program.