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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

U aids in research for online resource

Students of all ages will benefit from the creation of “Michigana,” a proposed online encyclopedia of Michigan history and culture. The Michigan Humanities Council announced Monday that Dr. Nancy Nelson Knupfer was hired as the project planning director for the encyclopedia, which will be launched in about a year. A $50,000 grant was awarded to the council for the project from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

MICHIGAN

Officers hope to better serve student groups

East Lansing Sgt. Nancy Hamilton spent eight of her 11 years with the East Lansing Police Department working with the canine patrol. Now she’s handling a completely different kind of animal - students. On top of her regular road-patrol duties, Hamilton will serve as the student alliance coordinator, a position created to improve relations between MSU students and police. “This is to try to get students familiar with officers,” Hamilton said.

MICHIGAN

Click it or Ticket this Labor Day weekend

MSU police are planning to buckle down on drivers who don’t buckle up. Just in time for Labor Day travel, the Department of Police and Public Safety is participating in the statewide Click it or Ticket campaign, putting more emphasis on safety belt wearing. “We do it all the time, but we’ll be giving it special attention,” said MSU police Sgt.

MICHIGAN

Airport may consider changing emergency plans

Representatives from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport agreed Tuesday to consider changes to its plan for handling families of plane crash victims.Directors from the National Transportation Safety Board and the airport testified in front of the state House’s Airport Review Subcommittee to discuss the emergency contacting practices.

MICHIGAN

Bill Knapps decides to downsize company

Bill Knapp’s Restaurants might be closing a location back home. Eleven Bill Knapp’s restaurants in Michigan and five in Ohio have closed because of a lack of customers. “Like any other restaurant, they looked at each location to see what the market is,” said Nick Thole, a spokesman for Bill Knapp’s Restaurants. Thole said in the majority of the cases, the company felt it would be good to pull back and let business matriculate to the others. Local Bill Knapp’s locations in Lansing, Okemos and Delta Township, however, are still safe, he said. “Right now I would say those restaurants are very strong for the company,” he said. Whether other locations will also close is still unknown. “I don’t know the future plans for the company, it is just an ongoing thing and they make the determinations on whether this is the right move,” Thole said.

MICHIGAN

Whitmer tackles new issues, lessening tuition gap

This is the second in a three part series about the Michigan House and Senate reconvening. When the Legislature reconvenes in a few weeks, Gretchen Whitmer wants to give students a tuition refund. Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said when the session begins on Sept.

MICHIGAN

Bags welcome student renters to neighborhoods

Police and resident volunteers distributed about 4,000 bags to student renters as a way of welcoming them back Friday morning.Volunteers representing the East Lansing Police Department, the East Lansing Parking and Code Enforcement department, MSU’s greek community and other interested residents showed up at the Bailey Community Center, 301 Bailey St., Friday morning to pass out the bags to their student neighbors.This is the second time in the past three years the Community Relations Commission has sponsored the program.

MICHIGAN

U argues legislative issues

This is the first in a three part series about the Michigan House and Senate Reconvening. With the second half of the 2001 Michigan Legislature’s session fast approaching, MSU students are hoping to see a greater emphasis on higher education in the legislative agenda. Students from the MSU Democrats and the MSU College Republicans say they are hopeful the tuition tax credit is repealed and funding is lifted to 3 percent when session reconvenes Sept.