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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Houseless fraternity continues recruitment

Warning signs restricting access to Alpha Tau Omega's house were still posted on Wednesday as fraternity President Alex Brown prepared for a Recruitment Week open house. Even though their house is uninhabitable, the fraternity has set up a make-shift Rush site each night in front of the damaged fraternity house using a mid-size white canopy, some long tables and plastic folding chairs. "It's kind of hard showing (the pledges) the outside of the house and not being able to show them the inside and what it has to offer," Brown said. The three-story brick building, at 251 W.

MICHIGAN

Lansing area to gain 2 Macy's

Eleanor Long shops once-a-week at Marshall Field's in Meridian Mall. The East Lansing resident considers herself a good patron, but even so, she's not lamenting the news that 62 Midwest Marshall Field's stores will be replaced by Macy's next fall. Instead, Long said she'll welcome the new retailer, long synonymous with New York City shopping and its Thanksgiving Day parade. Federated Department Stores Inc. announced Tuesday it will convert Marshall Field's stores into Macy's to build the retailer into a national brand. Federated plans to extend Macy's to about 850 stores nationally, including locations at Meridian Mall and Lansing Mall, spokesman Jim Sluzewski said. "Stores like J.C.

MICHIGAN

Study: Oral sex on rise for teens

Jennifer Toland
September 22, 2005

Almost 70 percent of teenagers have had oral sex by the time they are 17, according to a study released by the National Center for Health Statistics last week. The study, which is the first to look at sexual behaviors of both men and women to be released by the federal government, found 68 percent of both men and women ages 15 to 17 have had oral sex.

MICHIGAN

Officials seek student input in after-game party spot decision

Margaret Harding
September 22, 2005

Students are expected to play a major role in determining if an organized spot for students to celebrate after a major sporting event is established, MSU and city officials said. Members of the independent commission investigating the April 2-3 disturbances have discussed creating a specified party place on Bogue Street as one of their recommendations for its draft report, commission member Joe Tuchinsky said. "The likelihood is that there would be music provided, the street would be closed to traffic and it would be a place where people could let off steam, display their excitement, and scream and dance and yell," Tuchinsky said. East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said the feasibility of the event hinges on students' response. "It depends on if it's attractive enough to students that they show up," Wibert said.

MICHIGAN

West Nile virus still problematic as public concern dwindles

Jennifer Toland
September 21, 2005

Researchers say not as many people are paying attention to the West Nile virus, despite findings that it caused two recent Michigan deaths. "There's less enthusiasm compared to the last few years," said Jon Patterson, veterinary pathologist at the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health at MSU. "People realize West Nile virus is here and we have to live with it," Patterson said.

MICHIGAN

Mayoral candidates suit up for election

Kris Turner
September 21, 2005

The ballots have been ordered and the city of Lansing is preparing for another election season. City Clerk Debbie Miner said the city is ready to handle the voter turnout, even if it is greater than the city has projected. "It is going to work out very well," Miner said.

MICHIGAN

Outdoor Circus brings sense of nostalgia to Lansing

Before Tetyana Synovyat launched herself 100 feet into the air at the Cole Bros. Circus on Tuesday, she stiffened her muscles and pressed her legs flat against the cannon's floor. The petite projectile's legs were locked, arms were tight and mind was focused. After a deafening boom from the human cannonball launcher, she detangled herself from the safety net and was again backstage, prepping for a motorcycle tightrope stunt later in the show. "You feel like you fly," the 9-year Cole Bros.

MICHIGAN

Traffic system aims to accelerate rescues

Kris Turner
September 20, 2005

With the push of a button, Lansing-area emergency vehicles can clear traffic by switching a stoplight from red to green. The Lansing Regional Emergency Vehicle Pre-emption System Project, which will be finished next year, works by sending a signal from a strobe light mounted on an emergency vehicle to a sensor placed on a traffic light.

MICHIGAN

Local speaks about gender on 'Oprah'

Kris Turner
September 20, 2005

A Lansing woman who has run for several political offices was featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last week because of her gender experiences. Melissa Sue Robinson, who is transgender and was born male, said she was asked to take part in a special segment on identical twins who have sex changes by a producer of the show. "Somehow they found out about me," she said.

MICHIGAN

Update: E.L. firefighters help with relief

As East Lansing Fire Marshal Bob Pratt drove on Sunday down a residential street in Bogalusa, La., a city that Hurricane Katrina devastated with high winds, he tallied the damaged houses. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; eight out of 10 houses on a random block have tarps on roofs," Pratt said on his cell phone, as he sat by his partner, East Lansing Firefighter-Paramedic Dawn Carson.

MICHIGAN

Motorcycle memorial

Muskegon resident Dave Johnson looks on during a memorial speech for veterans of all wars classified as missing in action or prisoners of war at the seventh annual Michigan Remembers Run on Saturday. Johnson, a veteran of the U.S.

MICHIGAN

Judge strikes down abortion ban

Jennifer Toland
September 19, 2005

Members of a pro-life group, MSU Students for Life, will work to voice protest to an abortion ban that was struck down last week in Michigan. "We are trying to educate our members so they can have more knowledgeable discussions with people who may not know that much about it," said Ken Curell, the president of Students for Life and international relations junior. The Legal Birth Definition Act, passed by the Michigan Legislature in June 2004, was declared unconstitutional by U.S.

MICHIGAN

Pedaling police to monitor crowds

Margaret Harding
September 16, 2005

As MSU police see it - two wheels are better than four. And they're putting that policy into practice during home football games for the first time this year during home football games with the MSU bike police on patrol "They're able to get into places our vehicles can't," MSU police Sgt.

MICHIGAN

Officials: Free-roaming felines shouldn't be fed

Kristi Jourdan
September 16, 2005

Just like when Garfield the Cat tried to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi, East Lansing officials are trying to eradicate a city wide cat problem. The city's feral and "free-roaming" cat populations are steadily on the rise because of food left outside to feed the feline floaters. Jamie McAloon-Lampman, Ingham County's Animal Control director said the cars are a problem. "Feral is a cat that's never been held by a human being.