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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Awards honor residents, U

Rollie Ledebuhr’s family knew. His friends knew. His colleagues knew.But when the 48-year city resident realized he was the only one who didn’t know he was being honored at Monday’s 14th annual East Lansing Crystal Awards, he began to cry.“I’ve always felt happy because the community accepted me when I was just a darn old dairy farmer,” he said, barely able to hold onto his engraved crystal bowl.

MICHIGAN

E.L. Council to review budget

The East Lansing City Council will continue discussing revisions to the 2001-02 budget at today’s work session. Council members are working to eliminate a proposed $325,000 dip into the city’s savings to cover recent increases in health care and recreational project costs. Another work session will be held Tuesday to discuss budget changes before it is finalized on May 15. During the April 10 work session, council members raised questions about possible ways to add revenue or cut costs. East Lansing Finance Director Gary Murphy said he hopes to provide more answers for the city council tonight. “These are just possibilities,” he said.

MICHIGAN

Senator introduces bill to ban riverfront casinos

State Sen. Burton Leland, D-Detroit, introduced new legislation Thursday that would make it illegal for Detroit to place casinos on riverfront property along the Detroit River. “Detroit’s riverfront is a jewel, one that should not be squandered,” Leland said in a written statement.

MICHIGAN

McPherson, senators debate university funding

FLINT - MSU President M. Peter McPherson pleaded the university’s case for increased funding before the Senate Higher Education Apportions Subcommittee on Friday at the campus of the University of Michigan-Flint. McPherson cited rising costs of employee health insurance, increasing wages for faculty and the funding gap between MSU and the state’s other research-level schools, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. State Sen.

MICHIGAN

Democratic candidates speak at Jefferson Jackson dinner

DETROIT - A crowd of approximately 1,600 Democrats filled a banquet room here Saturday night to hear from all five 2002 Democratic gubernatorial candidates. The event, held at the Cobo Conference Center, was also highlighted by a keynote address by Georgia congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Lewis followed speeches by former Michigan Gov.

MICHIGAN

E.L. to reduce liquor licenses

Some East Lansing business owners and officials have little concern that a dropping population in the city will lead to fewer available liquor licenses.Because Census 2000 numbers indicate a population drop of more than 4,000 city residents, East Lansing’s seven available liquor licenses would be reduced to five.

MICHIGAN

Community takes part in Earth Day events

LANSING - Local environmental enthusiasts joined together Saturday with events to celebrate the day before Earth Day. The Adopt a River Program took place during the weekend with more than 400 volunteers collecting at least one bag of garbage each from the Grand and Red Cedar rivers’ banks, program Director Jennifer Rostar said. “I was very happy with the dedication people had with coming out,” she said.

MICHIGAN

Local businesses, organizations prepare for Earth Day activities

When the first Earth Day was born April 22, 1970, Americans were slurping leaded gasoline through oversized sedans. Thirty-one years later, Americans are slurping unleaded gasoline through road-wide sport utility vehicles. While there have been improvements in the way people treat the environment, there’s still work to do, said Kyle Tisdel, a member of the East Lansing Commission on the Environment. “We’re taking some steps back in some areas, but I think it’s changing as well,” the international relations senior said.

MICHIGAN

U-M woman assaulted near Mile event

ANN ARBOR - A woman who was walking across the University of Michigan’s campus was sexually assaulted Tuesday night, the same time as the “Naked Mile.” She was not participating in the annual nude celebration that marks the end of spring semester classes, said Ann Arbor Police Sgt.

MICHIGAN

New area codes to be added this fall

Katya Koganova is not a stranger to area code changes. In her hometown of Troy, the area code has changed three times since 1993, and another code will be added soon.“It is the way it is going to be, we just have to get used to it,” the marketing and Spanish sophomore said.

MICHIGAN

CATA hopes to implement railway; reviews options

The Capital Area Transportation Authority is moving along the tracks toward its proposed $85 million Lansing to Detroit Passenger Rail System.CATA secured the next step in a needed rail study for the project, which will review all transportation alternatives to the system that would have stops in Lansing, East Lansing, Howell, Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit.

MICHIGAN

Skateboarders request funds for city project

When Dave Spruit was a high school senior in Grand Rapids, he and his friends were ticketed while skateboarding.As a human resources management senior at MSU, Spruit fears it will happen again.“I’ve worried about that in East Lansing,” the MSU Skateboard Organization member said.

MICHIGAN

Groups rally for sexual orientation rights in Michigan

LANSING - MSU students and community members held a rally Tuesday on the steps of the Capitol Building to voice support for legislation that adds sexual orientation as a trait that cannot be discriminated against. The Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay and Transgendered Students, an MSU student group, organized the rally to bring awareness to the issues that face their community and the legal challenges they face in Michigan. Alliance member Jeremy Grzymkowski said his group is supporting a proposed amendment to the state’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act that makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

MICHIGAN

New senators set records

LANSING - The state Senate convened Tuesday morning to swear in its two newest members. The two new members happen to be the state’s first Mexican American senator and the sixth female senator, who brings the highest number of women ever in the senate. “I remember taking the oath of office,” said Lt.

MICHIGAN

Fluctuating temperatures frustrate local residents

Students and locals may not have been dreaming of a white April, but that’s what they woke up to Tuesday morning. Saginaw resident Scott Seeburger expressed the thoughts many Michigan residents had as they ventured out of their homes to face temperatures between the mid-20s and mid-40s. “I wasn’t anticipating it being this cold,” Seeburger said.