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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Judge rules Utah company can sell Ephedra products

Local health stores might be able to sell a product containing ephedrine alkaloids after a federal judge ruled last week that a Utah company could sell the supplement. Ephedra is an herbal substance often used in weight loss supplements. The decision landed almost exactly a year after the U.S.

MICHIGAN

Greek Week results in 140K for charity

By Jonathan Junia Special for The State News In the Auditorium on Saturday there were zombies fighting nerds, aliens fighting cowboys and devils fighting angels, in addition to mock appearances by Will Smith, John Travolta, the Blues Brothers, James Bond and a giant chicken. They were all there for Songfest, the biggest and last event of Greek Week - a week devoted to celebrating sororities and fraternities and raising money for local charities.

MICHIGAN

Students take over Capitol

It was a seemingly normal Thursday afternoon at the Capitol - state representatives and senators argued about affirmative action and welfare. But these legislators and lobbyists were high school students. About 750 high school students from around the state spent four days acting as government officials and voting on bills in the YMCA's Michigan Youth in Government program. Eleventh grader Tyler Deerfield said he wasn't sure what a lobbyist was when he signed up for the event. But a day into the job in the mock government, he had successfully lobbied against a bill that would change the high school drop-out age from 16 to 18. "I've always had an interest in politics, and I thought I'd see how it was actually run," said Deerfield, of St.

MICHIGAN

State unemployment rate falls 0.5 percent

Michigan's March unemployment rate fell to one of the lowest in about a year at 6.9 percent. The state rate was at 7.4 percent in February and 7.1 percent in January. A year ago in April, the jobless rate was 6.7 percent. But the state rate last month is still higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.2 percent and is one of the country's worst. Economists said the rate has fluctuated in Michigan between 6.7 and 7.5 percent throughout the past two years.

MICHIGAN

MSU police monitor seat-belt use

Occasional safety belt users beware. MSU police will be looking to ticket unbuckled drivers on campus during select times throughout the next two weeks. Signs will label the locations at the corners of West Shaw Lane and Chestnut Road on April 20, and East Shaw Lane and Wilson Road on April 26. Six people were stopped and ticketed on Thursday, the first day of the three-day campaign. "It's not really to penalize people, the idea is for compliance," MSU police Sgt.

MICHIGAN

Budget could hurt book collection

The East Lansing Public Library could operate with 5,000 fewer books in the next fiscal year if the City Council approves a budget that slashes funding by $50,000. The funds necessary to purchase books are at risk to be cut by nearly one third, said Sylvia Marabate, director of the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbott Road, adding the institution normally purchases about 15,000 books a year. "We will work hard to meet our community's expectations, but it may mean some have to wait a little longer for the bestsellers," she said.

MICHIGAN

E.L. extends ban on fires

With unseasonably dry weather this spring, the East Lansing Fire Department is extending a ban on all fires in East Lansing indefinitely.