Wednesday, January 14, 2026

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MICHIGAN

Suspected package only delivers hoax

A package delivered to the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building on Tuesday appearing to contain an explosive device turned out to be a hoax, MSU police said. Police Chief Jim Dunlap notified the MSU community about the incident through an e-mail Wednesday.

NEWS

Police: Son killed prof

Mason - MSU alumnus Bramlett Hamilton pleaded innocent on Wednesday to charges that he fatally strangled and stabbed his mother, Professor Ruth Simms Hamilton, in her Meridian Township home. On Tuesday, Meridian Township police found the 66-year-old urban affairs professor dead at about 1 p.m.

NEWS

Cafe aims to rock Detroit

Detroit - The line wrapping around the outside of Detroit's Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday made the newly opened restaurant look more like a hot new nightclub than a place to sit down and get some grub.

NEWS

Top 10 Box Office

1. "The Matrix Revolutions" Total gross: $83.8 million2. "Elf"Total gross: $31.1 million3.

NEWS

'Love Actually' actually excessive

"Love Actually" is actually several interwoven tales of love, lust and loneliness, held up by a superb cast and simultaneously let down by rather subpar organization. Fumbling toward relationship bliss are: England's new bachelor prime minister (Hugh Grant) and his perky secretary Natalie (Martine McCutcheon); Jamie, a writer (Colin Firth) who falls in love with his Portuguese housekeeper after discovering his wife's adultery; a lonely and preoccupied Sarah (Laura Linney) harboring a two-year crush on her Clark Kent-esque co-worker, Karl (Rodrigo Santoro); and an 11-year-old boy named Sam (Thomas Sangster) with an agonizing crush on the "coolest girl in school." If you are lost already, keep in mind that there are more stories told than just these four, involving more adultery, sex, humor and lustful nuances than even director Richard Curtis is used to. Curtis, who wrote "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill," is not a stranger to romantic comedy or the aloof charm of Grant, his frequent leading man. The problem encountered in "Love Actually" arises when there are so many plotlines to follow that it becomes difficult to tie them up at the end. The strongest relationship, between fresh-faced Sam and his stepfather Daniel (Liam Neeson), is heartwarming but slightly unbelievable. Recovering from the recent death of his mother, Sam comes off as unnaturally wise beyond his years as he comfortably questions Daniel about his love life. But it is hard to imagine any 11-year-old so candidly discussing the prospect of his stepfather dating again.

NEWS

Victim warns students to be safe after E.L. beating

She didn't hear any footsteps before she felt the clasp of a large man grabbing her as she walked alone in downtown East Lansing on Monday night. To silence the screams of the 21-year-old MSU student, one of the three attackers punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

MICHIGAN

Contractors try to expand downtown shopping

An updated market study for East Lansing is expected to be released in December, as new developments replicating City Center are being considered for downtown, officials said Tuesday.The study is a current version of one conducted in 1995, which focused on retail downtown compared to competition around the region and the future market for potential retail, said Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing's director of planning and community development."Based on that report, it indicated there was a strong market potential for additional retail space in the downtown, which led to City Center," van Ravensway said.

FEATURES

Michigan under the lens

Marker. Roll camera. And, action. Hollywood and Los Angeles, not Detroit and Lansing, have been the typical cities where directors, producers, actors and writers work and live. But Michigan filmmakers are proving that conception wrong.

ICE HOCKEY

Unbeaten streak propels icers to No. 15

The Spartans head to the unfamiliar confines of Goggin Ice Arena in Oxford, Ohio, in their CCHA series, testing their six-game unbeaten streak. During the Spartans' surge, which put them in the rankings after a five-week hiatus, they have only played two games away from Munn Ice Arena.

MSU

Human research office seeks accreditation

MSU might be the next Big Ten institution to receive accreditation to ensure research on human subjects meet tough ethical standards.Approval would come from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Inc., or AAHRPP, a nonprofit organization offering accreditation to universities for human subjects research, which involves research in biomedical, behavioral and social sciences.

COMMENTARY

Our veterans

On Veterans Day a year ago, the thought of beginning a war with Iraq was on the mind of many Americans.

NEWS

State university leaders gather to discuss funds

Presidents from Michigan's 15 universities say they are scrambling not to overprice a college degree for prospective students, while the state sends less money to the schools each year. The presidents are gathering for the first-ever State of the Public Universities Address to put out a unified message today to remind residents of the value of higher education. Wayne State University President Irvin Reid is expected to call for the state to renew its commitment to higher education that "is on the fringes or at the crossroads." An average of 10 percent of state appropriations have been chopped in the past two years, and another round of cuts are expected as the state faces a $920 million deficit in this year's budget.