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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

E.L. man to seek court re-election

Melissa Domsic
January 25, 2006

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael Cavanagh of East Lansing announced Tuesday that he's running for a fourth term in 2007. Cavanagh, 65, has been on the court since 1983 and is the longest-serving justice currently on the court. "I still have the energy," Cavanagh said, adding that he's a "young 65." This is the last time he will be able to run for re-election because people cannot seek a judicial position past the age of 70.

MICHIGAN

Coalition works to gain school funds

Ken Osborne
January 24, 2006

A proposal which would guarantee yearly funding increases equal to inflation for all public schools, including community colleges and Michigan's public universities, has received significant support from voters across the state. The K-16 Coalition for Michigan's Future has collected about 300,000 signatures supporting its proposal, according to the group's spokesman Ken MacGregor. The number of signatures required for a proposal to appear on the November ballot as a ballot initiative is 254,206.

MICHIGAN

Cell phone collection event rescheduled

Corinne Devries
January 24, 2006

Liberty Tax Service offices in the Lansing area canceled last Saturday's event to collect old cell phones due to bad weather conditions. The company will trade in the donated cell phones for cash, which will pay for 60-minute calling cards for soldiers in Iraq.

MICHIGAN

Bandit arrested, linked to 6 Mich. robberies

Melissa Domsic
January 24, 2006

Local police and FBI agents are investigating to see if the man who robbed an Okemos bank Friday is the "Michael Moore bandit." An armed man drove away in a gray 1990s BMW after robbing National City Bank, 2260 Jolly Oak Road, at about 1 p.m.

MICHIGAN

Book helps bridge languages

Gabrielle Russon
January 24, 2006

Two different languages from opposite ends of the world share something in common. Dr. H.C. Tien decoded the Chinese and English language and discovered a link between them — that there are similar pen motions to form the letters in the two languages. Tien said that there are only 10 strokes that a person makes with a pen to write the letters in both languages. Tien's alphabet simplifies the Chinese language in his book, "Little Dot," so it is easier to teach children how to write Chinese characters.

MICHIGAN

Council approves office park site plan

Bob Darrow
January 23, 2006

New office buildings are planned to join the explosion of recent developments in East Lansing's Northern Tier. A roughly 140-acre plot of marshy land covered by leaning oaks, the overgrown remnants of a pine tree farm and plowed earth could make way for a new road as soon as early summer. The site is located west of Coolidge Road, near the Chandler Crossings apartment complexes, and south of East Lansing's Department of Public Works, 1800 E.

MICHIGAN

New rentals at risk in 2 E.L. neighborhoods

Bob Darrow
January 20, 2006

Sara Liberacki likes where she lives. The neighborhood is quiet, it's close to campus and her immediate neighbors also are students. The kinesiology senior and three of her friends rent a house on the corner of Linden Street and Hagadorn Road — on the edge of an area that could soon be unwelcoming to such properties. In response to a petition signed by residents of the Southeast Marble Neighborhood, the city is considering blocking any new rental properties in the area bounded by Burcham Drive to the north and Hagadorn Road to the west. A similar proposal for the Walnut Heights neighborhood, directly to the north, is heading to the East Lansing Planning Commission. The East Lansing City Council is seeking public input at its Feb.

MICHIGAN

Gift of Life challenges MSU

By Caitlyn Kienitz Special for The State News Frank Ferro, 47, plays volleyball four nights a week. The game had been his hobby for years, but the games put on hold two years ago when he received a kidney transplant. The Lansing resident received the kidney from his brother Patrick Ferro on January 19, 2004. "Our family's really close," said Ferro, a state of Michigan employee.

MICHIGAN

MCRI proposal sent to Mich. Supreme Court

Kathleen Polesnak
January 19, 2006

A proposal to halt the ballot measures made by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court this week by Operation King's Dream. The submission was driven by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, & Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, a civil rights campaign that supports affirmative action. The motion aims to disallow the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, from appearing on the November ballot.

MICHIGAN

WEB EXTRA: House rep. candidate criticizes government at MSU Democrats meeting

Ken Osborne
January 18, 2006

Jim Marcinkowski, a candidate for the 8th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, criticized the policies of the government at an MSU College Democrats meeting Tuesday night. About 40 students had the opportunity to ask Marcinkowski questions about his stances on issues that mattered to them — the goal of the event, according to MSU College Democrat President Stephen Purchase. "One of the things our organization focuses on is bringing politics to campus," Purchase, an international relations and political theory and constitutional democracy senior said. Marcinkowski, a former CIA agent, criticized the handling of the war in Iraq, but acknowledged it will be difficult to leave. He was also critical of the effect the controversies surrounding secret prisons, prisoner abuse and torture are having on the intelligence community. "When you go to recruit an agent overseas, you have to stand for something," he said. He hopes to see a change in the way lobbying and campaign finance are handled. "This is legal money laundering," he said.