The Michigan Civil Rights Commission will hear from the public about actions of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative at 6 p.m.
Work on the East Village Master Plan appears to be drawing to a close, but some East Lansing residents say they still don't have enough information about the project. The East Lansing Planning Commission is likely to take a final vote on the plan tonight. Several community members have asked why specific studies of the environment, traffic or housing markets in the area were not conducted as part of the planning process. The Michigan Municipal Planning Act requires commissions to "make careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of present conditions and future growth" when developing master plans. "I think that's something they've failed to accomplish," said Ryan McBride, an agriculture and natural resources and communication senior who lives in FarmHouse fraternity, located on the edge of the East Village at 151 Bogue St. But city officials maintain that doing studies ahead of time isn't necessary or desirable. "What you see in the plan is just a general statement of a vision, not what will happen," said Jim van Ravensway, the city's director of planning and community development. The East Village plan, most recently revised in December, calls to restructure the Cedar Village area into a new community with buildings up to eight stories high, expand access to the Red Cedar River and significantly increase the area's population by constructing higher-density housing. The 35-acre area — between Bogue Street and Hagadorn Road south of Grand River Avenue — is adjacent to MSU's campus and home to more than 1,800 people, primarily student renters. Andrea Brown, executive director of the Michigan Planning Association, said the planning act doesn't require specific studies, but they could be helpful in attracting developers and reassuring residents. Conducting studies of the East Village would have costs of more than $100,000, said Tim Dempsey, East Lansing's community development administrator. But the city did spend $55,000 on a conceptual plan and drawings.
Local governments could lose the right to decide what type of seeds are grown in their counties if a Michigan Senate proposal passes. Senate Bill 777, introduced in November 2005, would remove a local government's power to decide whether farmers can grow genetically modified seeds or organic seeds. Genetically modified seeds are technologically manipulated to become resistant to herbicides or have more nutrients, said Sen.
Before participating in the age-old cleansing ritual known as the mikvah, Jewish women must rid themselves of everything except for what they were born with — no makeup, no nail polish, no contact lenses. They are even encouraged to clip their fingernails. A new mikvah, a ceremonial bathing area for women of the Jewish faith to use once a month in order to reach spiritual purity, was dedicated in East Lansing on Jan.
Police continue to investigate a car and pedestrian crash that killed MSU student Dannielle Brandt Friday night. Brandt was on her way home from walking a show cow at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education at about 10:20 p.m.
Employees of a Lansing Township bar escaped what police call a hostage situation after an unknown man broke into the back window of the closed bar and chased them around the building early Sunday morning. "The (employees) were finishing up when they heard a crash in the back and observed a man running toward them," Lansing Township police Lt.
Carolyn Kronenberg, the Lansing Community College professor murdered last year, could have died one of two ways, said Dr. Joyce DeJong, who conducted the autopsy. DeJong, Lansing's Sparrow Hospital's forensic pathologist, testified Monday in the trial of Claude McCollum, a former LCC student charged with the murder and rape of Kronenberg, 60, who was found dead 15 minutes before her class was to start on Jan.
Weekend traffic accidents were lower than average in the Lansing area, after a snowy Saturday night to Sunday morning. A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids said Lansing had 5.2 inches of snow.
Waleed Lado wanted to understand American's obsession with football on its biggest day. Lado, who came to Michigan recently from Saudi Arabia to study microbiology at Lansing Community College and to practice Christianity, watched the Super Bowl on Sunday from Buffalo Wild Wings, 360 Albert Ave., like many other college students. Lado said he was trying to understand the obsession and the commercials. "When you say 'football,' all the Americans stand up," Lado said about the excitement fans show.
A symphony plays in the background as Lisa Panetta-Sawaya serves a muffin to one of the first customers at Mona Lisa's Coffee House, her newest café. Panetta-Sawaya opened the first Mona Lisa's café in Haslett in 2004, and after its success, she decided to open another café when Ooh la la Crepes, 1133 E.
Brenda Young didn't know why she was called into her Lansing Community College office on a Sunday morning last year.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Detroit People Mover was a public transportation adventure. Patrons were greeted at stations by bomb-sniffing dogs. Riders were liable to break out into choruses of "Let's go Steelers" without warning.
The man charged with the murder and rape of a Lansing Community College professor last year had slept in campus buildings on more than one occasion, testimony in his trial showed Thursday. Carolyn Kronenberg, 60, was found beaten, strangled and raped before her class was scheduled to begin the morning of Jan.
By Andrea Byl For The State News America's number one killer of women took Christin Faccio's mother and she wants it to stop. Her mother, Marilyn Faccio, 48, died of a heart attack in 2002; the unidentified heart disease symptoms echoed a common chorus.
With more than 100,000 visitors expected in Detroit, traffic conditions will likely be congested. On-street parking and parking garages will be limited and alternative modes of transportation are recommended. • Park and Ride a carpooling program offered in Detroit, should be the easiest way to travel around Detroit during Super Bowl weekend.
About 100 law-enforcement agencies are combining their resources to keep Detroit safe during this Super Bowl weekend — they've sent divers into the Detroit River checking for explosives, prepared a special response team in case of biological hazards and plan to shut down the surrounding roads. "This is the largest event of its kind that has ever occurred in this area," said Wayne County Sheriff Sgt.
Lansing and East Lansing officials are taking steps to attract high-tech jobs to the region, a collaboration that's been slow in the making. On Tuesday, area leaders announced a formal agreement creating a Lansing Regional SmartZone, a designation allowing city and state tax dollars to be funneled into technology developments, three years after applying to be a part of the statewide program in 2002.
Excess money from the construction of the new Department of Public Works building will be used to pay off bonds on the money used during construction. When the department moved into the brand new building in April 2005, the project cost $500,000 less than budgeted. "We gave a presentation to the (East Lansing) City Council, and there were several items with unsure costs.
Morgan Haeger reached his Lansing Community College class about 20 minutes early on Jan. 23, 2005.
Lansing Community College celebrated the first semester the entire east location is open for use on Tuesday. The location, 2827 Eyde Parkway, is good for students who are dual-enrolled at MSU and LCC because it is close to MSU's campus, said Brian Jackson, LCC East coordinator.