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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Jury selection complete in McCowan trial

Witnesses are set to begin their testimonies Tuesday morning in the trial of Okemos resident Connor McCowan, who is accused of fatally stabbing MSU student Andrew Singler earlier this year. Jury selection concluded late Monday afternoon for the trial, which Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III said could last up to two weeks.

MICHIGAN

Face time: East Lansing City Council candidate Ruth Beier

The East Lansing City Council will have new faces come the Nov. 5 election, and MSU alumna Ruth Beier thinks her economics background and financial know-how make her a good fit for the job. Beier, an economist for the Michigan Education Association and member of the city’s Downtown Development Authority, is running for one of two available four-year city council terms soon to be vacated by incumbents Kevin Beard and Vic Loomis. Beier sat down with The State News and answered questions about her candidacy.

MICHIGAN

Professor studies LGBT college experience

The experiences of students in MSU’s LGBTQ community are the subject of the latest phase in a study conducted by higher, adult and lifelong education professor Kristen Renn. Entitled the National Survey of LGBTQ Student Success, the study aims to examine the lives of LGBTQ students during their first year at university.

MICHIGAN

New LGBTQ specialization celebrated by MSU community

Members of MSU’s LGBTQ community convened Friday afternoon in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, or RCAH, to celebrate the approval of MSU’s new specialization. The new specialization in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Sexuality Studies was approved over the summer, allowing students to enroll in the program this fall.

MICHIGAN

Researchers band birds to study effects of exotic plants

Students and faculty from MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife raced to ?finish a bird catching project this weekend before the end of the season approached. The research project, headed by fisheries and wildlife ?assistant professor Jen Owen, is ?an effort to learn more about the impact of invasive plant species on bird health.

MICHIGAN

Wilder sexual assault case heads to circuit court

After appearing for a preliminary exam during which four alleged sexual assault victims testified, Oswald Scott Wilder Jr. will go to trial at Ingham County Circuit Court on Oct. 9, 54-B District Court Judge Andrea Larkin ruled Friday. Wilder, 26, is accused of initiating a string of sexual assaults that took place near campus earlier this year that occurred between March 30 and and May 16.

MICHIGAN

Wilder to face trial in circuit court

The man who police believe committed four sexual assaults in East Lansing earlier this year will face trial in Ingham County Circuit Court after Judge Andrea Larkin heard testimony from each of his alleged victims Friday.

MICHIGAN

Like fathers, like son

It was Christmas Eve in 2005. Kent Love, the communications director for the MSU College of Law, had spent the evening unwrapping gifts with Diego Ramirez, his partner of five years. But unbeknownst to Ramirez, his last gift from Kent would hold a meaning he’d never forget.

MICHIGAN

Living City- Men at work

It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. For cousins Adam Land and Kameron Best, their so-called “dirty job” become a new family affair in a lifelong relationship. The cousins work in tunnels across campus and with other electrical systems that will power MSU’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.

MICHIGAN

E. Lansing Amtrak revamp delayed

The process of transforming the current East Lansing Amtrak Station into the CATA Multimodal Station can move forward now that the Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, obtained a grant originally announced in July 2012.

MICHIGAN

University network down briefly

MSU experienced a brief period of network downtime Wednesday afternoon because of what Information Technology Services staff are calling a main switch failure in the university’s network infrastructure.

MICHIGAN

Jobless rates rise, but education still worthwhile

Michigan jobless rates are up for the third month in a row, creeping to nine percent unemployment. The state was dubbed the nation’s fourth-most unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But getting a college degree still seems to be the best pathway to a high-paying career.