Program turns empty tanks into cash for grillers

Gas grills around the state were fired up on Wednesday for the Fourth of July, but where do users go to refill their propane tanks once they’re empty? If the tank doesn’t have an overfill prevention device, or OPD, it may be difficult to find anyone to refill it. New regulations in Michigan will prohibit tanks that lack the prevention device from being filled, beginning April 1, 2002.

Company offers renewable energy

It’s not easy being green. But G is for green power, and that’s good enough for John Strickler, director of communications for the Lansing Board of Water and Light. The board has a contract with Granger Electric Co. to purchase methane gas from landfills and sell it to customers as renewable energy. Joel Zylstra, president of Granger Electric Co. said as a landfill begins to decompose it emits methane gas, which can be used just like natural gas. “It has significant environmental benefits,” he said.

Breslin offers e-mail updates for events

Have you ever missed an event at the Breslin Student Events Center because you didn’t know about it, or you found out about it, but it was too late to get tickets? Political science junior Blane Emery has.

E.L. seeks grant to fund City Center II building

East Lansing is hoping to create more foot traffic downtown with what is being termed “City Center II.” East Lansing City Council approved an application for a Core Communities Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. If East Lansing receives the $700,000 it’s asking for, the city would purchase the building at 303 Abbott Road, which housed the Old Kent Bank. “We would use it as part of a redevelopment,” City Manager Ted Staton said. The city is considering using the land for a movie theater, retail space, condominiums and a parking area. “I think it is a good idea because we are looking for additional space for owner-occupied housing downtown and looking for space for a theater,” Councilmember Beverly Baten said.

Kids learn at vet camp

How would a blood and guts smoothie taste? To campers at the MSU Veterinary Camp, they tasted great.On Wednesday, campers, like 13-year-old Jessie Priestley, wet their whistles with the strawberry, banana and lemon flavor of “cow intestine smoothies.”“I liked when we got to make the smoothie things,” the Dexter resident said.Suttons Bay resident Laura Patmore, 13, said when she got to “do the guts,” it was one of her favorite moments at the camp.

Police briefs 06/28/01

Police to watch for drunken drivers

The Michigan State Police are putting the brakes on drunken drivers during the Fourth of July holiday.“Our troopers are being instructed not to work on investigations that are not essential, but to concentrate on patrolling,” said Sgt.

Police, firefighters battle blood deficit

The battleground has been set and lines have been drawn in the sand. When it is all over, members of the Lansing Police Department or the Lansing Fire Department will stand victorious, while the others will hang their heads in shame. The two departments have squared off in a blood drive for the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross, 1800 E.

Bosses Day contest invites university employees to recognize supervisors

Is your supervisor exceptionally skilled or sensitive to your needs? If so, nominate him or her for the first annual MSU Supervisory Award, sponsored by MSU Child and Family Care Resources. The prize is meant to reward bosses who have demonstrated sensitivity toward managing the professional and personal demands of their employees. “We’ve had some nominations and the response has been favorable,” said Lori Strom, coordinator of Child and Family Care Resources.

E.L. enters 425 agreement

Ted Roudebush said he is unhappy that he now has to follow East Lansing’s rules.Roudebush, who bought a house in DeWitt Township in 1995, now lives on land that is part of a 425 agreement between East Lansing and the township.A 425 agreement allows local adjoining governments to agree to foster development on a shared piece of land, said Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing’s director of planning and community development.“The land is in DeWitt Township, but there were developers that wanted to develop that land, but DeWitt could not provide services to them,” he said.

Levin visits, declares need for patients bill of rights

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin was in East Lansing on Monday to promote a patients’ bill of rights that would allow people to sue their health care provider.“Too many times insurance companies are saying ‘no,’ while doctors are saying ‘yes,’” the Detroit Democrat said.

Authorities drive away thieves with identification etchings

LANSING - If you are a car thief, you won’t have much luck at selling these cars.The Lansing Police Department and the Michigan Automobile Theft Prevention Authority offered free window etchings Tuesday in the AAA parking lot, 2829 E.

Redistricting plan draws controversy

Republican plans to redraw Michigan’s congressional and legislative districts passed quickly through the state Senate on Tuesday. The assembly, after a 21-14 party-line vote, approved a plan analysts say would likely flip Michigan’s representation in Washington, D.C., from a Democratic to a Republican majority. Democrats have cried foul, saying the process has been unnecessarily hurried by the Republicans, who are in a strong position to decide the new boundaries, as they control both state legislative chambers and the governor’s office. District lines are redrawn every 10 years after each U.S.

ACLU files request

The Lansing-area chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed another Freedom Of Information Act request for the university’s files regarding the undercover police infiltration of Students for Economic Justice on Monday.Henry Silverman, president of the ACLU Lansing-area chapter and an MSU history professor, said the ACLU is not trying to make a nuisance of itself.“We are not trying to harass the university, we are simply trying to find out if there was any reason for this action,” he said.Silverman said the ACLU will push the case as far as possible, even if it means going to court.

Professor remembered for kindness, enthusiasm

Although cancer affected sociology Professor Chris Vanderpool within weeks, his wife, Mariam Sticklen, said Vanderpool had prepared her for his death.“It was a shock, but he really prepared me, I suppose,” she said.

Police briefs 06/27/01

Researchers find pesticide hazardous to human health

When Rachel Carson published the novel “Silent Spring” in 1962, she warned that the pesticide dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane, or DDT, might have more long-term effects on the environment than killing insects.The pesticide, which had been produced in lots of 600 million pounds per year in the United States, was later banned in the country in the late 1970s.MSU researchers have found dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene, or DDE - a metabolite of DDT - might have a long-term effect on human beings.Wilfried Karmaus, an associate professor of epidemiology, researched children in areas of Germany where the pesticide is still used, with the help of epidemiology graduate student Scott Asakevich.Many of the girls exposed to the pesticide were nearly an inch shorter than average.

Conference addresses race issues

After a year of sit-ins, takeovers and death threats, members of Penn State University’s undergraduate student government decided to take action against racism on campus. And they brought the rest of the Big Ten with them. During the Association of Big Ten Students annual summer conference last week, eight representatives from ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, and eight other schools’ representatives signed a bill sending condolences to Penn State and standing up against racism in their own schools. The student governments also supported a Sept.

Cops welcome updated forensic lab

DELTA TOWNSHIP - The Michigan State Police on Friday opened the doors to its new state-of-the-art forensic science laboratory on Canal Road. The new 82,710 square-foot facility came with a $23.5 million price tag and replaces the lab’s old offices, which were housed among six different buildings at the state police headquarters compound on Harrison Avenue in East Lansing since 1932. Together, the old offices constituted about 15,000 square feet.

Police briefs 06/25/01