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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Meeting canceled due to small city agenda

Don Jordan
January 27, 2004

The East Lansing City Council work session scheduled for tonight was canceled because of a lack of business. "There is really not enough business to discuss," City Manager Ted Staton said. But council members did not have the week off and instead met in a joint session with the school board Monday night. The city council usually meets with the school board three or four times a year, in months that have five Tuesdays. "It's just a way for the two bodies to learn about issues that we have in common," said Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh. A canceled work session is an event that occurs five or six times each year, Singh said.

MICHIGAN

Friday Shabbat combines tradition, community

Tara May
January 27, 2004

For some, religious moments are observed with silence, bowed heads and thoughtful prayers. For others, it is a community-based gathering, a chance to unite voices in praise. For the more than 100 members of the MSU Jewish community who gather for Shabbat dinner at the Hillel Jewish Student Center, 360 Charles St., it is a combination of the two. Shabbat dinner is a Friday night tradition in the Jewish faith - religious services and a gathering of friends and family for dinner afterward. "It happens all over the world on Friday night at sundown," said pre-medical sophomore Steve Rives, who attends the dinner nearly every Friday, partly for a celebration of his faith and partly to gather with friends.

MICHIGAN

Sorority loses at least $15K to embezzlement

Sarah Mcevilly
January 27, 2004

The housemother of an MSU sorority was arrested last week on charges of embezzlement. East Lansing resident Nancy Olsen, 53, was charged with stealing between $15,000 and $20,000 from Kappa Alpha Theta during her time working there as a housemother.

MICHIGAN

Ice cream parlor to bring retro feeling

If city officials give their approval, East Lansing's bevy of restaurants may soon expand for the addition of one more destination for customers. Owners of The Parlour on Campus, a 1950s-style ice cream parlor and restaurant, plan to open its doors at 321-323 E.

MICHIGAN

Michigan meets the mint

Sarah Frank
January 27, 2004

Hundreds of schoolchildren from across the state flooded the Capitol Monday to celebrate Michigan's 167th birthday. The students, along with coin collectors, watched as Gov.

MICHIGAN

Capitol update

Granholm address to Mich. airs live Tuesday Granholm will deliver her 2004 State of the State address Tuesday from House Chambers at the Capitol. The governor will speak to the Legislature about issues of the past year and is expected to propose a prescription drug discount card and a job creation plan. This year will mark Granholm's second State of the State address after being sworn in to office in January 2003. The speech is not open to the public but will be broadcast live at 7 p.m.

MICHIGAN

State marks Mid-Mich. ash trees

Delta Twp. - A dark war with one of Michigan's deadliest tree killers rages on as surveying crews wearing bright orange vests mark trees with orange spray paint. The Michigan Department of Agriculture is fighting the spread of the emerald ash borer beetle - a tiny, metallic-green insect that wreaks havoc on ash trees while feasting on their sapwood - by employing its Emerald Ash Borer Task Force to mark infected trees for future removal. Last week, the team branded ash trees in a half-mile wide swath of land near Saginaw Highway in Delta Township.

MICHIGAN

Programs aid E.L. house hunters

Elizabeth Piet
January 26, 2004

As Carol Brito walks around her Linden Street home, every room is a source of pride for her. Although she said the kitchen floor needs to be replaced and the walls need painting, Brito couldn't be happier with her new purchase.

MICHIGAN

Local credit union reaches $1B mark

The MSU Federal Credit Union is steadily seeing green. Last year, the university's credit union became one of only two in Michigan to reach $1 billion. Of 439 credit unions in the state, MSU's became only the second institution, after the DFCU Financial Federal Credit Union in Dearborn to reach $1 billion. Patrick McPharlin, president and CEO of MSUFCU, said the milestone officially passed in July, but was not surprising. "It's just a matter of mathematics," McPharlin said.

MICHIGAN

Speed demons cause street-width reduction

Don Jordan
January 23, 2004

City officials are hoping a new ordinance will curb a local street problem - the number of speeders. The East Lansing City Council voted Tuesday night to approve an ordinance that would reduce the required width of local residential streets from 30 feet to 28 feet. "The city has a neighborhood traffic program that noticed a lot of residents have complained about speeding," said Tim Rayner, city traffic engineering administrator. The new ordinance will not affect already constructed streets but will apply to all public streets built in the future.

MICHIGAN

Companies recall malfunctioning cars

Two of the nation's largest automakers announced plans this month to recall more than 3 million cars assembled in the late 1990s, potentially affecting many drivers at MSU. On Jan.

MICHIGAN

Young voters could be key to caucus

Alessa Thomas
January 22, 2004

Dimity Palazzola can't wait for the Michigan Democratic caucus - it's the first time in a presidential race she will be old enough to have a say. "I've always been following politics and looking forward to when I could vote," she said. "I wished I could have voted in the last election.

MICHIGAN

Online ballots continue to amplify voter participation

Although there are almost three weeks left until Michigan's Democratic caucus, officials already are predicting that voter participation might be the largest in recent years. As of Thursday, the Michigan Democratic Party had processed about 23,000 applications to vote by mail or online, according to Mark Brewer, executive chair of the party. Brewer said the number of applications already has exceeded the total amount of votes in three of the past five Democratic caucuses.

MICHIGAN

E.L. City Council to meet with 'U'

Don Jordan
January 20, 2004

The East Lansing City Council will hold one of its bimonthly meetings on campus tonight, offering students an opportunity to voice their concerns to city officials. The event, held three times a year at the beginning of semesters, will begin at 7:30 p.m.