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News | Michigan

Dena Elian ·
MICHIGAN

Celebrating with a Slurpee

In honor of the company’s 84th anniversary Monday, some customers who entered 7-Eleven, 918 E. Grand River Ave., greeted employees with, “Happy Birthday 7-Eleven.” Every year, 7-Eleven stores give out free Slurpees on July 11, and the public response did not come up short at the East Lansing location with a line that extended into the parking lot.

MICHIGAN

Deficit reduction might call for sacrifices

Whether the federal government is forced to default or a deficit-reducing plan allows for the raising of the nation’s debt ceiling, citizens ­— from students to the retired — could be forced to make sacrifices because of the federal government’s financial woes.

MICHIGAN

Former MSU instructor held hostage

For about four hours, former MSU instructor Steve Helderman was held hostage Thursday by a Grand Rapids man who shot and killed seven people the same day. The whole time, Rodrick Dantzler never took his finger off the .40-caliber handgun he used to kill his wife, child and eventually himself, Helderman’s brother Tom Helderman said.

MICHIGAN

Food cart provides fast food alternative

Last week, Brennan Woods had a meal unlike anything he ever has had before — hand-squeezed sage lemonade, a burger made with tall grass beef, caramelized red onions, balsamic vinegar, organic greens, fontina cheese on foccacia bread — and he got it from a trailer. Woods, an MSU alumnus, first heard about Trailer Park’d “Slow” Fast Food, a nomadic local food trailer based in Lansing, from friends and was encouraged to try it. “It was pretty packed when I went there — there was a long line,” he said.

MICHIGAN

(SCENE) Metrospace to open social media exhibit

On Friday, an exhibit chronicling the effects of social networking in today’s society will begin its run at (SCENE) Metrospace, 110 Charles St. The exhibition, titled “Unfriended,” will be open through August 21 and features ten artists from both local and national scenes.

Birtteny Dee ·
MICHIGAN

Bailey Community Association hosts 37th ice cream social

Children, ukulele players and a clown came together in East Lansing Wednesday evening to participate in the 37th annual Bailey Neighborhood Ice Cream Social Wednesday at the Orchard Street Pump House, 368 Orchard St. The event is sponsored by the Bailey Community Association and the Orchard Street Pump House board.

MICHIGAN

Lansing doctors plan new cancer center

A group of Lansing area doctors are planning to build a facility geared to offer new options for cancer patients in the area. The affiliated physicians and businesses — collectively named Compass Health Care — are amid securing approval to open an outpatient cancer treatment center and will be ready to serve patients by late 2012 or early 2013, said Joe Wald, a spokesman for the physicians and an instructor in the MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

MICHIGAN

Farmers' market begins Sunday

The East Lansing Farmers’ Market will kick off its summer season this weekend, bringing together vendors and patrons from the Lansing area for farm-grown food. The market, entering its third year, will offer a variety of Michigan-grown produce and products every Sunday.

MICHIGAN

Parent company of local book stores declares bankruptcy

The parent company of three East Lansing textbook stores filed for bankruptcy this week, while insisting all locations — including those servicing MSU students — will remain open despite their financial struggles. Nebraska Book Co., which owns the Spartan Bookstore in the International Center on campus, Ned’s Book Store, 135 E.

MICHIGAN

Kellogg Center to receive face-lift

The university’s Kellogg Center is slated to receive a face-lift if construction proceeds as expected this August. Work at the hotel and conference center — approved at the Board of Trustees’ June 17 meeting — is slated to cost about $2.24 million, university officials said. The hotel’s conference rooms will be the prime focus of several of the renovations, university engineer Bob Nestle said. The building’s corridor spaces, ceiling, lighting and wall finishes also will be redone, Nestle said. “It’s mostly aesthetic-type work,” he said. Nestle said much of the work will be completed in phases to coordinate with the center’s busy conference and meeting schedule. Construction on the facility’s meeting rooms — the majority of which is expected to be completed by August 2012 — will be handled by the Physical Plant, Nestle said. As the center is prepared for that work, some of Kellogg’s dining areas already are undergoing renovations.

MICHIGAN

Senator: Michigan not likely to follow in New York's footsteps in gay marriage

The streets of the Big Apple were lit up with images of the rainbow flag this past weekend as New Yorkers celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage. The northeastern state is the sixth, but largest, state to pass the law. Shortly after being approved in the state Senate by a vote of 33-29 late Friday night, the news was announced and quickly became the trending topic of Twitter feeds. Comparative cultures and politics senior Sean Watkins was making his way into Manhattan when he heard the news, but it wasn’t long before he joined the celebration. “I was really happy for it,” he said.