Return to Motown

Detroit — I was born and raised in Detroit, and downtown has always been my favorite thing about my hometown.

A growing game

Kevin Corrigan looked up and smiled after an hour of the Hospitality Association's Vegas Night Texas Hold'em tournament on Saturday night.

Officials: Great Lakes need funding

The Great Lakes are reaching a tipping point and without more federal government help, they could be damaged beyond repair, environmentalists say. "The federal government has really been dragging their feet on this issue," National Wildlife Federation regional spokesperson Jordan Lubetkin said.

Police briefs 01/31/06

Motor City spruced up for Super Bowl

While trudging through the puddles around Ford Field on Sunday, I thought hard — went deep, if you will — about my Super Bowl XL predictions: So Detroit might not be the best choice for this year's Super Bowl, but it's probably the city that needs the money the most. And like any good host, Detroit has cleaned up to best of its ability.

Holidays spawn increase in alcohol-related arrests

By Amy Oprean For The State News Michigan police agencies reported a total of 1,323 arrests for drunken driving and another 825 alcohol-related arrests during the 2005 holiday season, nearly 300 more than the same period in 2004.

Fellowship honors slain MSU professor

The first winners of a $10,000 research fellowship will be announced at noon today in the Kellogg Center's Big Ten room. The TIAA-CREF Ruth Simms Hamilton Research Fellowship was established through an endowment by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund, or TIAA-CREF, an insurance and retirement savings provider for workers in the academic, medical, cultural and research fields. An expert in the field of African diaspora, Hamilton was a distinguished MSU professor of social science and a TIAA-CREF board member who died in 2003.

ASMSU to put out student survey about IM addition

Student government officials are taking initial steps toward creating a survey to determine student demand for additional student recreational space on campus. ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, allocated $7,000 earlier this month to fund a survey of student opinions on the project, which calls for the construction of a combined IM facility and student events center.

Bernero to give first city address tonight

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero will give his first State of the City address at 7 p.m. in the Dart Auditorium at Lansing Community College in Lansing. Bernero is expected to outline his plans to address the city's budget deficit.

Online forensic course appeals to professionals

Chris Osborne jumped at the chance to enroll in MSU's new seven-week online course in forensic entomology when she first heard about it. "It is one of the bigger and more important pieces of the pie in forensic science," said Osborne, a lifelong education student who has studied forensic science for 11 years. The three-credit online course, which is new this semester, is titled "Forensic Entomology: The Role of Insects in Crime Scene Investigations." The course focuses on a specific branch of forensic entomology known as medico-legal entomology, in which insect growth can help estimate the time of a person's death, said Richard Merritt, chairperson for the Department of Entomology and teacher of the online course. Although Merritt has a similar course on campus in the fall semester, he said he created the online class so that a wider range of people could have access to the information. Forensic entomology is the study of how insects are used in the legal system. "It's become a lot more important in crime scene investigation in the last 10 to 15 years," Merritt said. "People are very interested in insects, and how they can be used in this way is fascinating." After a person dies, insects will colonize the body within minutes to hours after death.

WEB EXTRA: Simon introduced to Detroit's Arab American community at reception in her honor

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will speak at a reception in her honor at 5 p.m. today at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn.

Mich. lodging fills up as Steelers, Seahawks fans flock to Detroit for big game

Hotels in and around downtown Detroit are filling up as Super Bowl fans travel to the area for the weekend celebration.

Student opinions requested for post-game event

East Lansing and university officials are thinking about throwing their own Final Four after-party, with hopes it could prevent celebrations from getting out of control should the MSU men's basketball team make a run in the NCAA tournament this April. But the key questions remain unanswered — including what to do, where to do it and whether the city and university even want to do it. "I don't think anybody is dead set for or against this," said East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton. The independent commission that reviewed last April's disturbances — which followed the basketball team's Final Four loss — recommended the city and university consider holding an approved event. But the biggest question for any event, officials say, is finding out if students will come. MSU researchers hope to answer that question through an online survey which could be e-mailed to a random sample of about 1,800 undergraduates as early as today. The survey will ask students what kind of an event they'd be interested in attending, and where they would want such an event to be located. A special celebratory events committee, with representatives from both MSU and the city, will discuss and possibly plan an event, eventually recommending a course of action to the East Lansing City Council.

Phones collected for soldiers' use

Fifteen-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her younger brother Robbie, 14, have collected more than 200,000 cell phones since 2004. With an effort that started with a car wash in their hometown in Massachusetts, "Cell Phones for Soldiers" has grown to become a nationwide effort. Cell phones are collected at different businesses and recycled for their parts, or sometimes resold.

Local residents meet Rogers

Williamston — Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, spoke and fielded questions on Friday at a local cafe about prescription drugs, the war in Iraq, torture, trash imports and campaign finance reform. About 50 people gathered at Cappuccino Expresso Cafe to meet Rogers as part of a series of events held last week outlining his principles and agenda for House Republicans. He is seeking to become majority whip, the third-ranking position in the Republican caucus. Rogers represents the 8th district, which includes Clinton, Ingham and Livingston counties and part of Shiawassee and Oakland counties.

Remembering the past

Abraham Pasternak, of Southfield, lost his father, mother and brother upon their arrival at the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. West Bloomfield resident George Vine was taken to a concentration camp at 13 years old. Edith Berman, a Troy resident, would be dead today if the gas chamber she was taken into did not malfunction. In honor of the first International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, the three Holocaust survivors lit candles Friday at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills. The United Nations General Assembly marked Jan.

WEB EXTRA: Visiting professor to speak about U.S. foreign policy

A free public seminar, "American Policy Toward Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Invasion of Iraq," will be held at 4:30 p.m.

Mich. celebrates past

By Katherine LaLonde Special for The State News With 169 candles on its cake this year, the state of Michigan has a lot of history to look back on.

Police briefs 01/30/06

Case Hall to test new water filter

Students might be one step closer to receiving purified water in residence halls. A Culligan water machine will be located in the North Case Hall laundry room, tentatively beginning Feb.