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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

CATA extends weekend hours of Northern Tier bus route

Alessa Thomas
April 7, 2004

Students living in apartments a few miles north of campus and in downtown East Lansing have another option when the question arises of how they'll get home after 10 p.m. Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, has recently extended its hours of operation on Route 26, which services Abbott to Chandler roads, and is home to numerous businesses and apartment complexes. The route now runs on 35-minute intervals until 2:30 a.m.

MICHIGAN

Cooley Law School to sue bar association over school's approval process

Lansing - The Thomas M. Cooley Law School is suing the American Bar Association to end what school administrators are calling a lengthy approval process for its new satellite campuses, Don LeDuc, president and dean of the school, said. The Cooley Law School is stating that the association instructed the school to follow one set of rules governing new satellite campuses during their approval process and then "switched" the interpretations of those standards during review. In September 2002, Cooley opened the first of two new campuses in conjunction with Oakland University, and then with Western Michigan University in May 2003. The schools have been waiting to receive approval by the ABA for more than a year.

MICHIGAN

Council to discuss summer plans

Don Jordan
April 7, 2004

With less than two months until the summer solstice and a slew of downtown fairs and festivals in the works, the East Lansing City Council has begun gearing up for warmer weather. City staff and local business owners are seeking approvals for summertime requests from increased outdoor restaurant seating to outdoor concert events at tonight's council meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m.

MICHIGAN

Study: Wireless Internet gaining momentum

Jon Styf
April 7, 2004

Wireless Internet is spreading faster in Southeast Michigan than any other metropolitan area across the country, according to a new national study. Detroit made the biggest jump in the rankings of Intel Corp.'s America's "most unwired cities," leaping from 48th last year to 28th.

MICHIGAN

Council meeting postponed to observe holiday

Don Jordan
April 6, 2004

The regularly scheduled Tuesday evening East Lansing City Council meeting has been rescheduled in observance of Passover. "Passover is a religious observance for part of the community," said Judith Taran, East Lansing communication director. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m.

MICHIGAN

Detroit signing choir gives praise on tour

Tara May
April 6, 2004

Ninety white-gloved hands move in unison. The children lift their hands to sign "glory" with a circle around and over their heads. To sing "It's so good to know God is just a prayer away," they move quickly, ending with a drawn-out sign, left hands held close to the chest while the right hands stretch out from the body. The children's choir, called God's Heavenly Hands & God's Joyous Singers, is made up of 45 hearing youth from Detroit and the surrounding areas. They travel locally, regionally and nationally to perform spiritual songs for both the hearing and the hearing-impaired. "Our goal was to learn to sign to grow spiritually ourselves and to, through song, bring the hearing impaired to Jesus Christ," choir director Vivian Hughes said.

MICHIGAN

Finding the faith

Agnes Soriano
April 6, 2004

As the music of the piano and other instruments drifts in the background, the choir leads the St. John Student Parish congregation in song. With their hymnal books open, the parish stands in Father Mark Inglot's presence.

MICHIGAN

Drama unfolds during mystery game

Friday night, it was curtains for Don "Big Jim" Ravioli. Less than an hour into a gala celebrating the grand opening of a friend's speakeasy, the mob boss was brutally gunned down in front of gangsters, gamblers and scantily clad harlots. The lights flickered out seconds before the shooting and, despite a broken champagne bottle near Big Jim's bullet-ridden body, no other evidence remained.

MICHIGAN

'U' machine group beat by Purdue team

Amy Davis
April 5, 2004

Members of the MSU Rube Goldberg Machine Team spent more than four months tinkering with wires and mousetraps to get their contraption ready for the national competition held Saturday at Purdue University.

MICHIGAN

Small businesses fight to survive

After nearly two decades on the block, John Novak said he has witnessed many a small business' rise and fall on Grand River Avenue. Novak reopened Wazoo Records, 619 E.

MICHIGAN

Senate bills would make insurance info public

Alessa Thomas
April 2, 2004

Some lawmakers are working to make the confidential factors that influence the cost of car insurance public. A nonprofit agency - created to reimburse some insurance companies for providing coverage to injured people needing lifetime coverage after car accidents - is stirring up debate because some legislators say the group is keeping secrets from Michigan's residents. Michigan is the only state that provides lifetime coverage for personal injuries in car accidents.

MICHIGAN

No joke: Newborn wins LCC award

Don Jordan
April 2, 2004

Lansing - Twelve hours after José Robert Gutiérrez first entered the world on Thursday, he got a free chance to prove he was no fool. In a hospital lounge, surrounded by news camera crews, the baby boy and his parents, Reneé and José Gutiérrez, were presented with a free year of schooling at Lansing Community College. The scholarship, awarded every April Fools' Day for the last 10 years, is part of the college's celebration of National Community College Month.

MICHIGAN

Lawmakers debate options for 'sin taxes'

As bills aimed at closing the state's budget shortfall by raising "sin taxes" make their way through the state Legislature, supporters for and against the bills are making their opinions heard. In the state House on Tuesday, a number of Republican legislators proposed amendments to the state's budget that would reduce spending, rather than raise taxes on cigarettes and liquor.

MICHIGAN

City parking department budget expected to come up short; officials suggest creation of task force

Don Jordan
April 1, 2004

After years of budgetary problems, the East Lansing Parking Department is bracing for another budget shortfall at the end of this fiscal year. At an East Lansing City Council work session on March 23, parking administrator Dan O'Connor asked that a special task force be created to find more efficient ways for the city to cut parking costs and increase parking revenue. O'Connor outlined a report of this year's budget as it currently stands and where the department expects to be when the fiscal year ends in June.