It's 11 p.m. on Wednesday, and English senior Nathaniel Janick and his friend, professional writing sophomore Phil DeAngelis, are leaving Wells Hall after seeing a movie. A tad hungry, DeAngelis, Janick and their friends are not interested in eating a full course meal or fast food.
Sitting together, senior citizens and teenagers read a script aloud. The animated group included, one person plugging her nose, imitating a stuffy king.
Icy roads and snow-blanketed highways are causing trouble for local motorists, while some East Lansing residents are faced with fines for not clearing their sidewalks. Since the beginning of the year, nine residents have received an $85 ticket from East Lansing's Parking and Code Enforcement, or PACE, for not removing snow and ice from the sidewalks around their homes.
Would you be willing to pay a sales tax on services such as haircuts, moving companies and financial advising? "Yes, extra tax money for government spending isn't that big of a deal." Joe Gessler finance sophomore "Yes, so the government can get the money to pay expenses like fixing roads, and paying police and firefighters." Matt Gill accounting freshman "Yes, I think the economy is in trouble, and needs anything to help get us back on the right footing." Amber VanderWeide history senior
Some MSU students and faculty members may feel the burn of Pfizer Inc.'s announcement Monday that 2,400 jobs will be leaving Michigan. The company's decision to cut jobs and close facilities in Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo and Plymouth Township triggered a press conference from Gov.
East Lansing's first 100 years will be immortalized in welded steel this year, after being sculpted by the hands of John Neering, a 1951 MSU alumnus and resident of Grand Rapids. The three-part sculpture will depict abstract people joined together as one in a circular build and will stand 7 feet tall at its highest point. The East Lansing City Council approved the design at it's meeting Tuesday, though one member expressed concern about it.
Commemorate Black History Month through a presentation filled with poems, historical readings, art and music The event is Feb.
Decreasing Michigan's sales tax to about 5 percent and implementing a new tax on services is the latest idea being tossed around to solve the state's economic woes. The proposed tax would apply to professional, personal, repair, installation and business services.
With snow piling up outside and spring break six weeks away, travel agencies and students are preparing for the busy weeks ahead. The few months after winter break are when many students flock to local travel agencies to book spring break vacations, said Jenna Corey, a sales representative at Student Breaks in the Student Book Store, 421 E.
Dog owners might have to keep their canine friends on a tighter leash if the East Lansing City Council moves ahead with a new animal control ordinance. Dogs are required to be leashed in public parks.
Michigan's unemployment rate jumped in December, and analysts predict the rate will continue to rise.
For months, tensions have mounted on the Lansing Community College Board of Trustees — tensions that may have driven the board into an illegal closed session. The internal drama has led some trustees to publicly criticize board leadership and decision-making, even causing one trustee to resign from her position as vice chairwoman. And on Tuesday, a former trustee filed a lawsuit against the board for allegedly violating the state's Open Meetings Act, which requires all publicly elected bodies to conduct meetings open to the public. "It's a great concern to me when the public's business is not conducted in public, and it should be a concern to every taxpayer," said Todd Heywood, who served on the LCC board from 2001-03. Heywood charges in court documents that the board held a meeting in September at which a majority of members were present without adequate public notice. He also alleges that board Chairman Chris Laverty illegally moved the board into closed sessions. The State News was unable to reach Laverty for comment. If found in violation of the act, the board could be fined and ordered not to violate the act again with an injunction, said Herschel Fink, a First Amendment and media lawyer. An injunction would take another legal step in preventing the government body from meeting in secret by formally ordering it not to violate the act again or risk additional penalties such as jail time. "If the government is able to act behind closed doors, there are no checks and balances," Fink said.
The room was typical. A dirty mattress and an old wooden desk were crammed into a space smaller than a prison cell, and stains on a tattered La-Z-Boy chair made the site eerily similar to a standard dorm room or rental home. As East Lansing firefighters dropped a burning flare into a trash can filled with old newspapers, a vivid message was delivered. "If your smoke detector goes off because of a fire, you have 90 seconds to get out of the room," said Gerald Rodabaugh, East Lansing's fire inspector.
Tucked away on the third floor of a Fifth Third Bank in East Lansing is a training center for Beaner's Gourmet Coffee employees. It's there that they learn to work the cash register, make well-known drinks and deal with the hassles of being a barista.
One person pulled an elderly man from a burning vehicle, another saved his girlfriend from the clutches of an attacker and another fought off a violent rapist. These former or current MSU students were honored alongside police officers Thursday night at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, during the East Lansing Police Department's annual awards ceremony. Josh Burda, a physiology senior, was honored for pulling a man in his 70s from a car that exploded no more than 10 seconds after saving him, he said. "I was just driving and saw there was a guy pulled over, an old man, and I swear that there was a little bit of smoke inside the car.
The legions of people fearing post-college debt breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday, when the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a proposal to lower the interest rates of student loans. The legislation, which passed 356-71, could decrease the current 6.8 percent interest rate on Federal Stafford Loans.
Creating high-tech jobs in Lansing will be the focus of Mayor Virg Bernero's second year in office. He will detail his plans during his State of the City address at 7 p.m.
Almost 700 people took to East Lansing's streets Wednesday afternoon — but it wasn't to cause trouble. An army of about 180 residents adorned with Spartan-green raincoats stood stationed on M.A.C.
This time last year, gas prices averaged $2.20 a gallon. Now, motorists are gleefully rushing to the pump, in awe of some of the lowest gas prices they've seen in a year. "I like (the prices). It helps my bank account," said Andrew Vaneenenaam, a human biology senior, who filled up at the Marathon gas station on Michigan Avenue in East Lansing on Tuesday. Gas prices dropped under $2 a gallon Monday.
Volunteers are being sought for the East Lansing Prime Time Seniors' Program to help run its Legacy Project, which aims to bridge the gap between young people and seniors.