Thursday, December 25, 2025

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

City

MICHIGAN

MSU bands use local competitions for fun, exposure

Jessica Sattler
February 22, 2015

On Friday night, downtown Lansing was alive with the passion and sound of the six finalists in the 10th annual Homegrown Throwdown event, hosted this year by The Loft. "We try to pick bands that are local, talented and will bring a diverse sound to the event," The Loft's booking and promotions assistant Lauren Godlesky said. Local judges, including gave live feedback to each band after their performances, a la American Idol style. The sounds thumping through The Loft certainly didn't lack for any diversity.

MICHIGAN

East Lansing resident arrested trying to leave country, claiming to go join Islamic State

Michael Kransz
February 20, 2015

An East Lansing resident who came to the U.S. in 2013 as a refugee from Iraq is charged with lying to federal officials about plans to join the Islamic State in Iraq and conduct jihad, according to court documents. Al-Hamzah Mohammad Jawad, a 29-year-old who shared an apartment in East Lansing with an MSU student, told FBI agents that he had been recruited to join IS by a childhood friend and that he intended to travel from Jordan to Iraq, where he was to attend six months of training. In preparation, he had been running to get in shape and had been to a shooting range, he told agents. But later, when no evidence of the communications between Jawad and his friend could be found on either his cellphone or his laptop, he rescinded the statements, saying he had fabricated the entire story. Unable to provide an explanation as to why he had, Jawad only stated that "his home life was messy." On Feb.

MICHIGAN

MSU students testify on legislation that reduces student debt for graduates living in Michigan

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
February 18, 2015

“A lot of my support for this bill comes from the fact that we not only want to alleviate the financial burden on students but we also like to attract more academics to East Lansing and the surrounding areas," Williams said. "Once we graduate from MSU, which we view as our homes for for four years, we have opportunities available in the Greater Lansing Area that are suited to to our highly skilled degrees and we don’t have to leave the state that we grew to love to pursue jobs ... that will pay off the debts.”

MICHIGAN

MSU Police reveal new MSU Alert Portal

Michael Kransz
February 18, 2015

MSUPD revealed today their newly-implemented alert notification system and announced new measures for emergency preparedness. In a statement released on Facebook, the department said the draw of the new MSU Alert Portal is that users on- and off-campus can tailor more easily the way they'd like to receive emergency alerts and outreach messages. Residents nearby campus and student's parents also can sign up for these messages. MSUPD also unveiled their plan to implement a quicker alert system after March 1 that will send out a short, vital message related to an emergency while a longer message is being written. Lastly, the department will be replacing sirens around campus with speakers that have the ability to broadcast both severe weather warning sirens and vocal messages that tell students what actions to take in an emergency.

MICHIGAN

"Fifty Shades" sparks conversation regarding domestic violence, abusive relationships

Meagan Beck
February 15, 2015

“We found abuse was prevalent throughout the book,”Bonomi said. “Christian uses an ‘interlocking pattern of abuse,’ such as stalking and intimidation." Psychology junior Jillian Convery, who said she has read the books and saw the movie, said she could see how someone who did not read the books before seeing the movie might find the film “abusive and horrifying.”

MICHIGAN

Runners brave cold for Heart Throb 5K

Meagan Beck
February 15, 2015

Mimi Patterson said she was happy to have the opportunity to spend time with her daughter.  “Now that she's off at college I don't get to see her very often and so for her to invite me to do something with her was awesome, so I jumped at it,” Mimi Patterson said. 

MICHIGAN

Recent shooting draws attention to lack of parking lot security

Jessica Sattler
February 11, 2015

In the most recent parking garage incident, two men were shot, resulting in one fatality. As of Tuesday, police have not announced the capture of any suspects, whom they described as two black males, the first being 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing between 165 and 180 pounds and last seen wearing “a hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.” The second was described as a 5-foot-11-inch black male, weighing about 200 pounds.

MICHIGAN

Acafellas, Capital Green, move on to a capella semifinals

Austin Koltonowski
February 10, 2015

This past Saturday, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts held the quarterfinals for the 19th International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). And for two MSU a cappella groups, the final results were aca-awesome. Winning the top two spots in the quarterfinals and heading to Dayton, Ohio for the ICCA Great Lakes Semifinals were MSU’s all male vocal group, the Accafellas, and coed vocal group, Capital Green.  Since 1996 the ICCA has held competitions throughout the nation, giving hardworking a cappella groups the opportunity to showcase their talent.