It seems like every year for the past few years, the Michigan government’s most important goal has been to shave some spending off its shrinking budget. We’ve supported almost every attempt the state has made to reduce its size, since the prospect of raising taxes isn’t a great one.
Two former rental homes will become part of an East Lansing housing development after the East Lansing City Council approved a purchase agreement for the properties at its 7 p.m.
Reptiles and insects were all the rage Tuesday at the final 2009 Play in the Park interactive children’s entertainment event at Valley Court Park, 201 Hillside Court. Preuss Pets, a family owned exotic pet store located in Lansing’s Old Town, was the main attraction with an assortment of reptilian creatures, including a Savannah monitor lizard and a 62-year-old South American red-footed tortoise named Fred. Jessica Howe, a community events intern with the city of East Lansing, organized July’s four Play in the Park events and said Tuesday’s Pets in the Park was unique because audience members were able to interact with animals they might usually only be able to see through the glass in a pet store. “We’re just going to talk about how (the animals) survive in the wild,” Howe said.
Supervisors should be more attentive to the work and family needs of employees to maximize worker health and efficiency, according to a recent study co-authored by an MSU professor. Ellen Kossek, an MSU professor of organizational behavior and human resource management, helped create a training program aimed to ease tensions between employees’ work and family demands by instructing supervisors to address those concerns.
Local lawmakers are sacrificing portions of their paychecks in light of the state’s budget deficit and said slimming their salaries is a step in the right direction for Michigan. “My staff has made sacrifices and I think we should as well,” state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
A man seeking a man got more than a chance encounter when an arranged meeting went awry and a wallet containing $90 in cash went missing. A 21-year-old male student was pickpocketed Saturday in Abbot Hall by a man he agreed to meet on Craigslist.com, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
MSU researchers are working on reducing poverty and mitigating climate change at the same time. Their project, called Carbon2Markets, works to slow climate change through sequestering carbon via agroforestry and helps provide income to farmers.
Those annoying commercials warning about four-hour erections could be a thing of the past if a new bill introduced by Rep. James Moran, D-Va., sees its way through Congress. Moran’s beef with the commercials stems from what he considers a problem of decency. Though, his proposal would probably be better off if he tried to take on prescription drug advertising as a whole, instead.
The College of Human Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Eli Broad College of Business will participate in a federal program to give veterans financial aid beginning this fall. In Michigan, 35 colleges and universities are participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program with the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, as part of the Post-9/11 GI Bill passed in Congress last year. Through the program, more financial aid would be available for qualified veterans, covering tuition, fees, books, supplies and housing. The coverage schools will provide per student per year above the base rate covered by the VA is $15,378.75 from the College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine and $14,465.25 from the College of Veterinary Medicine, according to the VA GI bill Web site.
An East Lansing housing development might be moving forward, pending a decision from the East Lansing City Council about a purchase agreement at its 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road. Two properties owned by GTW Investment Properties on the 600 block of Virginia Avenue soon could be in the possession of the city of East Lansing. Both 660 and 672 Virginia Ave. will be a part of the Avondale Square project if acquired by the city.
The ANGEL system has been a bit devilish this summer, following an upgrade from version 7.2 to the new version, 7.4 in mid-May. Problems with the upgrade were reported soon after the change, said David Gift, vice provost for libraries, computing and technology. “It was quite immediate,” he said.
Although overall voter participation remained statistically unchanged between the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, the people making up the voting population did shift, including an increase in younger voters.
A group of parishioners at East Lansing’s St. John Student Center are taking their protest against its merger all the way to Rome. St. John Student Parish, 327 M.A.C. Ave., merged with St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 955 Alton Road, on July 1. St. John became a St. John Student Center under St. Thomas Aquinas Parish by an order from Diocese of Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea.
Although it may not seem like it, and despite the state’s seemingly endless list of problems, there are good things happening. A Detroit housing development has a chance to be one of those good things.
Have you listened to people, including yourself, who have pondered long and hard on what they should have done, could have done, or would have done if they had only done this or that, known this or that, or understood … Well, you get it.
An accidental fire started between 2:50 and 3:40 a.m. Wednesday in North Wonders Hall resulted in about $850 of damage, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
In-state employees might see bigger paychecks if a proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour makes its way onto the November 2010 ballot. The Michigan Democratic Party introduced the ballot proposal last week as part of a plan to help Michigan workers in a tough economy.
Gay, transgender or disabled people might have more protection under a new U.S. Senate bill that expands the reach of hate crime legislation. The bill was attached as an amendment to a defense spending bill July 16 and now gives the U.S. Department of Justice jurisdiction over hate crimes based on a person’s gender, sexual orientation or disability.
The MSU Board of Trustees is taking the university’s concerns on the road to Holland, Mich., for its annual summer retreat. The retreat, which begins today, lasts until Wednesday.
A tree grows outside the home where Brandon D’Annunzio once lived, marking almost nine years that have passed since he was killed in a 2000 East Lansing homicide. For his mother, Shawn D’Annunzio, the tree, now more than six feet tall after almost nine years, is a grave site — a place to pray and something she can see grow now that she cannot watch her son age.