The People's Council of Lansing councilmember Rachel Diskin joined the Merica 20 to Life podcast Tuesday to discuss the "State of the People," including what she said was the power the city of Lansing's Mayor Andy Schor holds and why she thinks there needs to be a shift towards a city manager-system of local government.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor delivered a speech citing advancements and plans for public safety, economic growth, and improvements to the city's housing infrastructure.
MSU Vice President of Police and Public Safety Marlon Lynch and FBI Michigan Special Agent In-Charge Jim Tarasca break down the police response to the Feb. 13 mass shooting on campus.
Nineteen other states and Washington, D.C. have a red flag law, which would keep firearms out of possession of the hands of people believed to be at risk of committing violence or self-harm. A part of the Michigan Democrats package of bills would be a red flag law.
Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, CEO Bradley Funkhouser apologized for the experiences of some students on the night of Feb. 13, when they were displaced after a shelter-in-place order was put out during a shooting on campus.
One of the bills in front of the Senate deals with the issue of safely storing firearms. The legislation would mandate the secure and locked storage of guns when left unattended around minors, or risk time in prison and fining.
The East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission passed a motion designating a March 29 public hearing on best practices in police use-of-force policy as a special commission meeting.
Michigan’s current policy regarding background checks requires only federally licensed gun sellers to run a scan. According to experts, that allows a large number of gun sales to slip through, regardless of the buyer’s history.
Strange Matter Coffee, a Queer-women-owned business, announced on March 1 that their two shops, located in Eastside and downtown Lansing, would be closed until March 3 due to a ten-page letter filled with hate speech.
In an interview with The State News, former Rep. Andy Levin discussed his fellowship at the Center for American Progress, as well as other climate-based initiatives and projects he will be taking on.
After HopCat announced it would be tying its beer sales to the donations to the "Spartan Strong" fund, MSU advised them to end the fundraiser. MSU Spokesperson Emily Guerrant said the university was concerned about encouraging people to drink as a way to raise money.
“I turned around to everyone around me like ‘Are we seriously getting off right now?’” psychology sophomore Sydney Schultz said, recalling the night of Feb. 13 when she along with other students on the 31 bus were dropped off in the middle of an active-shooter situation.
Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin announced on the morning of Feb. 27 she would be running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan following current Sen. Debbie Stabenow's retirement.
Auntie Anne's and Jamba Juice recently opened a shared location on Grand River, which has been met with steady enthusiasm from customers.
Another student who was critically injured during the Feb. 13 shooting on MSU's campus has been discharged from Sparrow Hospital, according to a tweet posted by MSU Police and Public Safety's Twitter account. The student released was previously listed as being in fair condition.
“I hope that we can make changes,” U.S. Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou said. “There's nothing I can say or do that will change what happened already, but I hope that we can make changes for the future.”
"I just want to give back to the community, support my Spartans and really just care for anybody, whether they were a friend visiting a student, faculty, anything," alumna Lily Rzepmowski said. "I really want to be part of the reason why we can overcome this.”
One victim who was critically injured after last week’s mass shooting at Michigan State University was upgraded to ‘serious but stable’ condition this morning, Sparrow Hospital Media Relations Director John Foren confirmed.“Right now, we have one in fair (condition), three in serious but stable (condition) and one in critical, which means one of the students had been in critical and he’s been upgraded to serious but stable,” Foren said.
"Putting a timeline on someone's grief isn't appropriate at all." Students gathered at the Capitol to protest gun violence as well as heading back into classes one week after the MSU shooting.
Student activists, lawmakers and Lansing community leaders joined national gun-violence prevention leader David Hogg at the steps of the state Department of Education to discuss the mass shooting at MSU and what can be done to prevent future mass shootings.