Two construction projects in downtown East Lansing will continue throughout much of the summer. Construction on the Division Street Parking Ramp, or Colorful Parking Ramp, began Monday and will include replacement of the steel stairwells, re-pouring of concrete and improvements to the window sealants. Construction also will continue outside the East Lansing Marriott at University Place east plaza.
After more than four years at the bottom of the list, Michigan has shed the dubious distinction of being the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country. Nevada took the top spot for the month of May with 14 percent unemployment, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a federal organization that tracks labor economics and other statistics. Michigan had the second-highest rate with 13.6 percent unemployment, followed by California with 12.4 percent.
Lansing’s Old Town puckered up for the SMOOCH! Project at the Perspective2 Studio, 319 E. Grand River Ave., in Lansing, on Tuesday in an effort to reduce violence through human affection. The SMOOCH! Project is a documentary record of the human demonstration to willingly share and welcome love and affection with no regard to social, economic or political boundaries.
The Ronald McDonald House is a building that can house up to eight families at once, said Lisa Gnass, Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan executive director. The house celebrated its 10th anniversary of operation Tuesday afternoon in Lansing. The anniversary event featured an open house for the public, refreshments and a silent auction. Additionally, leaders from the Lansing community, such as state Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, gathered to speak.
The Korean summer camp is a five-day program featuring classes in Korean traditions and culture, including art, music, language and Taekwondo classes. The program is geared toward educating adopted children who have Korean backgrounds, although it is open to all children interested in learning about Korean culture
While many MSU students have been on study abroad programs, East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton has done some traveling of his own. Staton returned June 15 from a nearly two-week adventure to East Lansing’s sister city, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The trip was a continuation of a project started about five years ago when Staton and former East Lansing Director of Planning and Community Development Jim van Ravensway traveled to Romania to begin the relationship between the two cities.
Children practiced their vocabulary and learned to introduce themselves in French on Monday, marking the beginning of a series of six language summer camps taking place at MSU’s Community Language School. The campers in the French Summer Camp for Kids will use their newly attained vocabulary to go on ventures across campus, including ordering ice cream at the MSU Dairy Store in French.
Jody Ackerman, the newly appointed senior director of development and external relations for MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or CANR, is looking forward to connecting with alumni and donors to take CANR and the university to a higher level of fundraising. Ackerman was chosen by Jeff Armstrong, dean of CANR, and Kris Bradley, the senior director of constituency programs for MSU’s University Development, to link the interests and passions of alumni and organizations that want to support CANR through fundraising, Armstrong said.
The American Red Cross will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Physical Plant lunchroom. Although Physical Plant employees are encouraged to give, walk-ins from the public are welcome to donate as well.
In celebration of the summer solstice, the Old Town Commercial Association, or OTCA, is holding a Festival of the Moon from 6-11 p.m. Friday, and a Festival of the Sun from 2-11 p.m. Saturday on the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue, in Lansing. The Festival of the Moon, honoring the shortest night of the year, will feature live entertainment from rock groups JHD, Jet Set Drag and Cartel.
The Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden will sponsor “Wizards Day” from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at the gardens. The day will uncover the magic of the gardens, discovering flora and creating willow wands and herbal potions.
Harris Nature Center, 3998 Van Atta Road, in Okemos, will sponsor a guided tour through the woods from 9-10 p.m. Friday. The hike, called Howl at the Moon, takes place each month in the summer on the Friday nearest the full moon. Hikers are invited to bring dogs, as long as they are kept on non-retractable leashes.
The Juneteenth holiday is an annual, weekend-long celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the U.S. hundreds of years ago. The festivities in Lansing are a small representation of what Juneteenth really means, where it is the community’s job to more thoroughly educate the public about the holiday.
About 160 children and parents gathered for the annual tea party from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., which marked the first of five summer family events. Guests wore fairy and elf costumes for the three-course tea party and did a variety of crafts in the garden, such as making pixie-dust necklaces, constructing crowns out of vines and building small fairy houses.
Collectors gathered pinups, posters and pulps for the semi-annual Classicon 37 on Saturday at the Quality Inn University, 3121 E. Grand River Ave., in Lansing. Classicon 37 was hosted by the Curious Book Shop, 307 E. Grand River Ave., and collectors from East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Lansing, Toledo and Grand Rapids gathered to sell and purchase material, including original movie posters, advertisements, pulps, paperbacks and artwork used for paperback covers.
The Abrams Planetarium, combined with the MSU Physics and Astronomy Department and Capital Area Astronomy Association, invited the public to come and look at the stars, moon and planets through a variety of telescopes Saturday, including one measuring about 24 inches. The 24-inch telescope was built by MSU in 1970 and cost about $125,000, said Horace Smith, a professor of physics and astronomy who said he had the biggest responsibility of the night.
Similar communities and common problems are why five city managers from Big Ten university towns got together Thursday and Friday for their semi-regular meeting. East Lansing hosted this year’s meeting of city managers and economic development experts from State College, Pa.; Evanston, Ill.; Champaign, Ill. and Ann Arbor. East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton led a tour of East Lansing and MSU, including a stop at the Cyclotron, and listened to several speakers about projects the city has coming in the future, including the integration of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.
MSU’s College of Human Medicine, or CHM, is one of the top medical schools in the country when it comes to social mission, or producing graduates who work in underserved areas with physician shortages. The list of 141 colleges, released Tuesday and the first of its kind, was created to provide colleges with an idea of how well they performed in various areas.
The annual Eric ‘RicStar’ Winter Music Therapy Summer Camp is a three-day long program that features several age groups, from young children to adults. It began Thursday at the MSU Community Music School. The program caters to special needs children and adults, but it is not a requirement to be part of the camp.
The Verdehr Trio performed Wednesday evening for a crowd of professors, students and members of the community. After becoming the first violinist ever to receive a doctorate from Juilliard School in New York, Walter Verdehr pursued a career with the MSU College of Music in 1968 and has been with the university ever since. A few years later, in 1972, Verdehr and his wife, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, created The Verdehr Trio. Adding a third musician who was changed periodically, then trio traveled all over the world to Europe, Asia and Australia and have performed in every state in the United States. 38 years later, the trio perform annually in Great Cobb Hall at Wharton Center for the MSU and the greater Lansing community.