After one set of plans for redevelopment never came to fruition, the city is considering accepting new development proposals for Lot 1 on Albert Avenue.
Lansing — Beneath the canopy of trees shading Lansing's idyllic West Shiawassee Street, children ride bikes, and the smell of freshly cut grass lingers in the air on a warm summer evening.
The Harris Nature Center, 3998 Van Atta Road in Meridian Township, is offering family fun for the summer months. "Firefly Frenzy," a story time for preschool and elementary students, will be held at 10 a.m.
Five more properties on the 600 block of Virginia Avenue are slated to be demolished before the end of the summer,pending the approval of the city's brownfield redevelopment plan. The plan will provide $800,000 of long-term funding for the Virginia Avenue project which has a total budget of $5.2 million.
Lansing — Julia Herzog, who graduated from MSU last year, volunteers in the Lansing area, living on poverty-level wages. "The point of it is to kind of make (money) at the level of the people you're living with," said Herzog, who received her bachelor's degree in psychology and studio art.
The Lansing Juneteenth Committee is hosting a Juneteenth statewide Capitol kick-off ceremony at 5:30 p.m.
The MSU Board of Trustees will meet at 9:30 a.m. Friday on the fourth floor of the Administration Building. Items up for vote include authorization to plan Emmons Hall renovations and approval of a transition from Lyman Briggs School of Science to Lyman Briggs College. The trustees also will vote to appoint Jeffrey Riedinger as dean of International Studies and Programs, and Elizabeth Simmons as dean of Lyman Briggs College, both of which would be effective June 15.
Attaching orange, pipe-cleaner hair to her paper plate mask, 7-year-old Lindsey Walker contemplates a stapler.
MSU's new Structural Fire Testing Facility could lead to research that would help save the lives of first responders and those they rescue. The Structural Fire Testing Facility, unveiled Tuesday, will be used to test how buildings' beams and columns react to temperatures as high as 2,200 degrees and weights up to 250,000 pounds, said Venkatesh Kodur, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. MSU's testing facility, which is the first in the nation operated by a university, will generate research that could help engineers design buildings to better withstand great weights and temperatures, preventing the structures from collapsing on firefighters and other first responders, Kodur said. "If it protects injuries and deaths of firefighters, that's very dear to me," Kodur said.
A bill passed by U.S. legislators allowing federal funding of stem cell research will likely be vetoed by President Bush, local political experts said. Stem cell research is legal, but using federal funds to finance the research is not, said Leonard Fleck, professor of philosophy and in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences. "(The government) won't allow any federal funding for that research, or the use of equipment that's been used previously under federal grants, even if the grant has long been expired," Fleck said. The bill was passed with the knowledge that it would not go past Bush's desk, said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics. "As an issue, Bush has vetoed (a) stem cell bill, and he'll do it again," Ballenger said. Bush exercised his first veto last year on a similar bill, which was proposed by a then Republican-controlled Congress. "The people who are talking about it are using it as a political talking point because they know there's public support behind it," Ballenger said. Others agreed with Ballenger's assessment. "The bill is certain to be vetoed," said Thomas Mann, a scholar and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and policy institute.
State officials heard testimony Tuesday from restaurant and bar owners during a discussion in the Capitol of a statewide ban on smoking. The ban, which was proposed by Democrats in the Michigan House of Representatives, would alter the standing law allowing restaurants and taverns to select whether or not they want to allow smoking in their facilities. The proposed ban would be an unnecessary interference, said Andy Deloney, director of government affairs for the Michigan Restaurant Association, or MRA. "We don't need the government stepping in to tell us what's best for business," Deloney said.
Another phase of improvements on the East Lansing Soccer Complex will be discussed today at the East Lansing City Council's work session. Since its construction in 1996, the complex has undergone steady renovations to the seven fields. "The initial construction just installed the fields with underdrainage and irrigation, and some gravel parking lots," said Wendy Wilmers-Longpre, assistant director of East Lansing's Parks, Recreation and Arts program. Phase IV-B of the project would include constructing a team building, with restroom and locker facilities for two soccer teams, press boxes, a central storage facility and an admission booth, Wilmers-Longpre said. Bathroom and concession facilities and lighting are some of the features that have been installed in previous phases of the improvement project. The complex encompasses three Olympic-sized fields and four youth-sized ones, and hosts the East Lansing High School's boys' and girls' teams, as well as youth soccer and several club teams from MSU, City Manager Ted Staton said. "I would say with each generation of soccer parents, somebody's going to have an idea about how to better improve this facility," he said. Future changes could include additional lighting, or converting one of the natural grass field to artificial turf, Staton said. "Some of the purists love that we have these top-notch natural grass fields, but we host championship games so people feel we need an artificial field," he said. Although the soccer complex might not appeal to all of East Lansing's citizens, since the city undertook the project it should be completed, Councilmember Beverly Baten said. "Living in East Lansing, if we're going to do things, we should do it right and finish it up," she said.
Correction: Wayne Duke should have been quoted as saying, "Jack represented the last of the real faculty representatives in the intercollegiate structure.
By combining residential, office and retail space, East Lansing officials hope mixed-use developments will help to create a downtown with a wider variety of businesses - all within walking distance of downtown. "Maybe if we have more condos downtown, then eventually we would be able to support a small downtown grocery market," said Lori Mullins, East Lansing's senior project manager.
Drivers can sharpen their safe-driving skills at a defensive driving course held by the Lansing Area Safety Council, held from 6-10 p.m.
During the early 1950s, MSU professors played an integral role in making East Lansing architecturally diverse. The professors wanted cheap, affordable housing, but couldn't find anything that met their needs.
Lansing — Organizations gathered Sunday to highlight the postitive contributions of local Africans and those abroad. People clapped and encircled the African Masquerade Dancers while they performed traditional African dances Sunday during a picnic to help shed a positive light on African culture. The Peace Education Center's African Affairs and Policy Task Force hosted the picnic at Moores Park, 420 Moores River Drive in Lansing. "We just want to kick off and let the community know we're doing this work.
Two bills proposed in the Michigan House of Representatives could change the way some high school students get their education. The bills would change current education law by allowing 15-year-old students the option of enrolling in a nearby community college, or four-year university, to attain an associate's degree while finishing off their high school education. Presently, schools get $7,085 in funding per student.