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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Student pulled over for drunken driving

Lauren Phillips
March 18, 2005

An MSU student in his early 20s is being held in the Ingham County Jail after being pulled over Thursday by Ingham County Sheriff's deputies for drunk driving, police officials said. After the student was pulled over, a breath test revealed his blood alcohol level was .23, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said. Wriggelsworth was traveling southbound on US 127, when he noticed a blue S10 Chevy pickup, traveling in the same direction, driving "erratically" at about 1 p.m. The student was wearing a green plastic derby hat and had green lips, Wriggelsworth said.

MICHIGAN

Local high school paper censored

Lauren Phillips
March 18, 2005

Distribution of an independent East Lansing High School student newspaper was halted this week after school officials said the student writers did not conform to East Lansing School Board's policies. But students involved in the production of the paper, the Right Way, feel their freedom of speech is being infringed upon. "I thought the school would respect our First Amendment rights, but they didn't," co-editor Tyler Whitney, 16, said.

MICHIGAN

Refugee life relived at event

Melissa Domsic
March 18, 2005

A Liberian refugee woman was terrified when she was confronted by police after leaving her camp to collect fire wood. Although the situation was staged and the gun pointed at her was a toy, she and other women expressed fear as they acted out scenes common to life at a Liberian refugee camp. The skit was part of "The Changing Faces of Lansing: Walking in Their Shoes" a simulated refugee camp event held Thursday evening at The Peoples Church, 200 W.

MICHIGAN

Mich. Supreme Court to rule on beachfront-property case

What started as an argument between two neighbors has blossomed into a Michigan Supreme Court lawsuit that some say will affect the future of the entire state. The court heard opening arguments last week to decide where beachfront owners' properties ends and where public property begins.

MICHIGAN

Chevrolet Blazer highest driver death rate in last 4 years

Yvette Lanier
March 17, 2005

When drivers sit down in their Chevrolet Blazers, they might want to make an extra effort to drive carefully. According to a study released Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Va., the Blazer had the highest driver death rate from 2000 through 2003 of all vehicles. There were 308 driver deaths for every 1 million registered Blazers on the road built between 1999 and 2002.

MICHIGAN

Courts review security following Ga. shooting

Lauren Phillips
March 17, 2005

Ninety-two weapons - including box cutters, a sharpened broom handle and two guns - were collected in January and February at the entrance to the Lansing City Hall. The City Hall screening has been in place for about five years, said Murray Britton, City Hall conflict security administrator. "The screening is considered a necessary part of what we're doing," Britton said. Lansing 54-A District Court is on the sixth floor of City Hall. Courthouses have been reviewing their security measures after Friday's courthouse shootings in Atlanta, Ga.

MICHIGAN

Week celebrates open government

Melissa Domsic
March 16, 2005

Today marks day four of the nation's first Sunshine Week - a time dedicated to shedding light on the significance of open government for citizens and journalists. "The idea of public access to government information, documents, meetings and knowing how their tax dollars are being spent is a fundamental tenant of democracy," Sunshine Week Coordinator Debra Gersh Hernandez said.

MICHIGAN

Credit card numbers exposed

Katie Rausch
March 16, 2005

Customers of the DSW Shoe Warehouse in Eastwood Towne Center in Lansing Township should be watchful of their credit card activity after the company's recent security breech. Last Tuesday, the company announced that personal information, including credit card numbers, was stolen from its database during the past three months.

MICHIGAN

Word on the street: What are you thoughts about public safety in East Lansing?

"I always see cop cars and fire trucks around, so it's obvious they're out working. There needs to be better security at night though, better lighting and more patrols maybe." Sarah Slama no-preference freshman "I'm a mentor on 6 East Akers and every time I've had to call the police, they've been really helpful - their response time has been really fast. Clark Llanzmzon political science senior "I was here for a few of the riots in the past, and then it seemed to me like the cops were pushing the students to do something.

MICHIGAN

Council to decide fate of E.L. rental properties

Kris Turner
March 15, 2005

The debate about limiting rental housing will deepen today when a request to eliminate new rentals in the Bailey neighborhood goes before the East Lansing City Council. Under an ordinance passed last April, permanent residents have the power to petition the City Council to limit or completely restrict rentals in a designated area. Although this process, and the restrictions it dictates, is nothing new, some are concerned about how the council is using its power to add or remove properties from neighborhoods' rental restriction districts. "When the city created the overlay zones, the expressed intent was to create solidified single family neighborhoods," said Jeff Hudgins, co-owner of Hudgins Realty.

MICHIGAN

Greeks gather charitable donations

Tom Keller
March 15, 2005

Several MSU fraternities and sororities will soon have some charitable landscaping done to their front yards. Within the next several weeks, at least 17 greek houses will have drop boxes for Volunteers of America, a Christian nonprofit community-service organization, installed on their properties.

MICHIGAN

Circuit court reverses E.L. speed limit change

Kris Turner
March 14, 2005

The city of East Lansing was successful last week in pressuring state officials to return speed limits along Grand River Avenue and Saginaw Highway to their original speeds. The Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, along with the Michigan State Police and State Transportation Commission raised area speed limits by 10 mph nearly a month ago after conducting traffic studies for about a year. East Lansing officials, angered by the state's decision, took the three agencies to court.

MICHIGAN

Senate passes bills to reduce spyware

Rebecca Mcnulty
March 14, 2005

The Michigan Senate took steps last week to prevent people from illegally installing spyware on people's computers without their knowledge. The legislation, which passed unanimously on Wednesday, would make it a crime to install spyware software on a person's computer and punishable with up to four years in prison and a fine of $10,000 for violations. The bills now move to the House of Representatives for consideration. Richard Wiggins, senior information technologist for MSU's Academic Computing & Network Services, said spyware software is common and can have several effects on a person's computer, depending on what the creator of the spyware wants to find out about a computer user. "There's tracing to see what Web sites you like to visit, and in other cases, it may take over parts of the browser and throws things up on your screen," Wiggins said.

MICHIGAN

Tsunami used as local teaching tool

Leann Matta's twin 8-year-old girls, Anastasia and Ibtisam, read the paper and watch television news each day. Anastasia Matta, a third-grader at Scott Elementary School in DeWitt, said she initially found out about the Dec.

MICHIGAN

Bus drivers check more student IDs

Waiting for a Capital Area Transportation Authority bus in front of Berkey Hall, journalism senior Kristin Cain stood ready with a dollar for her bus fare. Cain said although bus drivers haven't required her to show her student identification in the past to receive a discount, many have begun requiring it recently. Cain said she lost her student card and will likely be asked to pay the regular rate, $1, instead of the 50 cent discounted fare. "It's ridiculous," she said.