Monday, December 22, 2025

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

State promotes Web site use on signs

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land will be redesigning branch office signs in an effort to save money and raise online awareness with her new campaign, "Save Time, Renew Online!" The new design will not force a complete replacement of existing signs.

MICHIGAN

Cool Waves' fashion struts into Harper's

GastonGarcia is organizing 25 models, their clothes and the order they strut down the runway in the VIP fashion show tonight at Harper's Downtown, 131 Albert Ave. Garcia will bring together Detroit DJs, 25 models and more than 500 people for the East Lansing retailer's first fashion show. "I want to make it very local where everybody knows these people and to be able to identify with these people," he said.

MICHIGAN

Officials: Student is innocent

As a lawsuit ensues against Kimberly Hostetler, an English sophomore who was driving the car that struck two women on Chandler Road in October, officials have determined the 19-year-old was not at fault. Bath Township police released a report Monday, which Clinton County Prosecutor Charles Sherman reviewed, detailing the accident that killed elementary education and child development sophomore Clare McCormick and injured 19-year-old former MSU student Ashlee Nichols. The two women were walking along Chandler Road near the Village at Chandler Crossings at 5:05 a.m.

MICHIGAN

City Council vote might boost student turnout

East Lansing voters can eliminate primary elections for City Council races on November's ballot, which would allow returning students greater impact on local politics.City Council unanimously supported Tuesday to let residents vote to eliminate the primary.

MICHIGAN

Easter, Passover provide hope to locals

There's a war winding down half a world away, but members of MSU's religious community plan to celebrate Easter and Passover as they always have.Shira Weinstein, program director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center, 360 Charles St., said it's business as usual, celebrating the Jewish holiday Passover, which began at sundown Wednesday."The way we try to do things around here is we like to keep a nice balance," she said.

MICHIGAN

Police say cell phone trend means fast invites, big riots

During the March 30 riot, human resources senior Tim Choi emptied his phone book on his cell phone, letting friends all over the state and campus know what was happening."Whether we win or lose, it's going to be a good time here," Choi said he remembers thinking while watching thousands of people pour outside his apartment in Cedar Village.

MICHIGAN

CATA reaps federal $1 million

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers delivered a "little present" to Capital Area Transportation Authority officials Wednesday at their administrative facility.It turns out the present, an oversized check for $1 million, wasn't so little.

MICHIGAN

Bars strive for safer 21st birthdays

The ritual of excessive drinking in bars and restaurants on a 21st birthday hit a snag Tuesday as 16 bars and restaurants in East Lansing passed new management practices for the often-celebrated birthdays.Members of the Responsible Hospitality Council are hoping to avoid tragedies such as what happened to MSU student Bradley McCue, who died in East Lansing on his 21st birthday after drinking 24 shots in 1998."We're trying to change the ritual and change it to an appeal that on your birthday you can just go out and have fun," said Joe Goodsir, owner of Rick's American Café, 224 Abbott Road, and co-director of the council.Owners say they want to focus on friends of the birthday person to cut down on peer pressure.

MICHIGAN

Omi offers Japanese cuisine, retro atmosphere

While the introduction of Omi Japanese Restaurant might have gotten a late start, owners and new patrons still feel they came out with a bang.Journalism senior Hunter Stair said he didn't expect to go to dinner and eat "on the set of '2001: A Space Odyssey.'"Stair and his friend William Baldwin described the restaurant, located at 210 M.A.C.

MICHIGAN

Filers rush to post office for today's tax deadline

In Michigan, nothing is certain. The Red Wings can lose and it might snow in April, but everyone knows April 15 is tax day.Students and area residents will be scampering around the city to finish their taxes today, hoping to postmark them as tonight's midnight deadline rapidly approaches.Li Xiong, a graduate international student, was busy copying forms at the East Lansing Post Office, 1140 Abbott Road, on Monday.

MICHIGAN

City might cut police cadet program

While nearly 2,000 people filled East Lansing streets on March 30 trying to avoid spending the night at police headquarters, Heather Dunn started her night there.Dunn, an East Lansing police cadet, spent the night after the Elite Eight MSU loss to the University of Texas running water and food to officers, managing phone calls from concerned residents, coordinating an onslaught of media calling for updates, grabbing requested equipment and listening intently to the police radio."We were just basically behind the scenes," the criminal justice junior said.

MICHIGAN

Another student charged for involvement in riot

Another student who was arrested this weekend for his alleged involvement in the March 28-30 disturbances was arraigned Monday in 54-B District Court.Criminal justice freshman Tony Oliver Warren was charged with unlawful assembly and preparing to burn less than $200 in property, East Lansing officials said.

MICHIGAN

Capitol update

Michigan Legislature resumes next week The Michigan Legislature will not be in session until April 29, due to a two-week spring recess. When session resumes, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education will conduct a vote on the budget for Michigan's 15 public universities, postponed last week. The subcommittee is expected to introduce a plan to review the tier system of per-pupil university funding.

MICHIGAN

Lawsuit filed against developers in accident

The family of a former MSU student hit by a car near The Village at Chandler Crossings has taken legal action in a $5 million suit against Bath Township apartment developers.The family says the developers failed to provide adequate walkways and lighting.Ashlee Nichols, who was 19 years old at the time of the accident, was struck by a car near the apartments at 5:05 a.m.

MICHIGAN

Lansing Community College eliminates 22 staff positions

Lansing - Recent budget cuts resulting in 17 layoffs and the elimination of five staff positions for Lansing Community College were needed in order to keep tuition low, Trustee Todd Heywood said. "We're at a place where really tough decisions have to be made to avoid increasing tuition rates so that they are affordable," he said.

MICHIGAN

Granholm declares LBGT Day of Silence

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is relying on a gay rights organization to publicize her historic gay-friendly proclamation she made this week. On Monday, Granholm declared April 9, 2003, as the Day of Silence in Michigan at the request of the Detroit-based Triangle Foundation, Michigan's leading gay rights advocacy organization.