Council completes budget

After a month of discussion, the East Lansing City Council has finalized a budget that all members can agree on.Gary Murphy, the city’s finance director, said the biggest cut the council made was reducing major maintenance for remodeling in city hall - council members cut the $150,000 in half.The $75,000 from the remodeling was used for two purposes: $15,000 will be used to make a wetlands inventory for the Commission on the Environment and $60,000 will be used for a new police officer.“We did some creative financing,” Councilmember Beverly Baten said.

Workshops discuss status of hate crimes

The Michigan Alliance Against Hate Crimes convened Wednesday in Lansing for a conference discussing victim support training and the psychological impact of hate crimes. The conference featured a series of workshops and discussions highlighting the state of progress of combating hate crimes in Michigan. Saul A.

Group to trek cross-country

Four Michigan men left Point Reyes National Seashore in California on Wednesday to walk to Washington, D.C., and teach others about sexual assault on the way.Three former Central Michigan University students and one current CMU student will travel on foot and they plan on camping as they travel from state to state.

Lansing locals seek ward position

Three Lansing residents filed by the Tuesday deadline to run for the Fourth Ward council seat, replacing Kris Nicholoff.And they all had the last name of Smith.The Fourth Ward has jurisdiction on the northwest side of Lansing and all of the downtown area.Geneva Smith, who is also the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Lansing chapter, said she was asked by a “prominent group of residents” to run for the seat.

Artists to honor life of Malcolm X

LANSING - Jothan Callins and Lorenzo Pace grew up together in segregated Birmingham, Ala., and now they are spending the week educating Lansing community members about the life and legacy of Malcolm X. Callins, a jazz composer, and Pace, an artist, sculptor and author, are in Lansing as part of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Public School Academy’s weeklong celebration of Malcolm X’s birthday. Malcolm X, whose Muslim name is El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was a civil rights activist who was assassinated Feb.

New U site offers summer fun

Beginning June 8, 261 children from Spartan Village Elementary School will have nearly three months to amuse themselves however they choose - summer vacation.But Bill Gale, principal of the on-campus elementary school, has a new tool to help parents keep their kids busy.Spartan Youth Programs, a new Web site created by University Outreach, provides a list of nearly every summer camp, activity or program created for children from kindergarten through 12th grade.“This is an amazing choice,” Gale said.

Eight to run for E.L. City Council

Eight people filed petitions for East Lansing City Council elections by the 4 p.m. deadline Tuesday, but Mayor Pro Tem Beth Schwarze was not one of them.Schwarze has been on the council since 1997 and was elected mayor pro tem in 1999.

U professor receives distinguished award

Anil Jain is being recognized by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for his own work with recognition.A professor of computer science and engineering, Jain has spent more than 10 years studying methods of personal identification through recognizing and matching patterns in fingerprints and eyes.He was chosen from a pool of 2,700 applicants competing to share more than $6 million from the New York-based foundation.

Math department hands out awards to hard-working students, teachers

MSU’s Department of Mathematics demonstrated it wasn’t all about numbers and equations last month when it passed out a large number of awards to deserving recipients.Mathematics graduate student and teaching assistant Aurelia Minut is one of them.

Safety commission praises professor for traffic work

Thomas Maleck said he hasn’t had time to think about being honored for his contributions to traffic safety by the Michigan State Safety Commission.

Group to save independent E.L. stores

A community organization is taking steps to preserve East Lansing’s independent stores.The Downtown Community Action League began April 23, after Bagel-Fragel Deli, 527 E.

Commissioner to run for council

Kevin Beard says he’s ready to move on to the East Lansing City Council after seven years on the city’s planning commission.Beard, 45, has been an East Lansing resident for 17 years and has been chairman of the planning commission for the past five years.He said with the experience he has gained on the commission as well as six years on his neighborhood association board, he is more than ready to be a city council member.“I really think I am prepared and qualified to tackle the big challenges the city has before it,” he said.

FBI investigates possible robbery link

Though local authorities say it’s too early to draw a connection between a recent bank robbery and a previous one at the same location, an FBI agent stationed in Lansing believes the East Lansing bank that was robbed Thursday could possibly be connected to a November robbery. The Thursday incident marked the third time in six months the Michigan National Bank, 1390 W.

E.L. tries to Stamp out Hunger

Letter carriers in the East Lansing area collected an unusual amount of outgoing mail Saturday - an estimated 10,000 pounds worth. But it wasn’t a standard load of letters that filled mail trucks at the end of the day; rather it was a collection of nonperishable food items donated by residents who took part in the U.S.

Officials say Lansing could retry for bond

After the Lansing school bond failed May 1, Lansing officials are now trying to decide how and when to have another school bond proposal.The $338.5 million proposal, based on an eight-year construction schedule, would have been used to renovate 39 Lansing schools.

New law regulates statute of limitations

A law signed May 2 by Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus eliminated the state’s statute of limitations in cases of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Alumnus to donate tree; add beauty, shade to campus grounds

When 1962 MSU alumnus Peter Secchia read an article last year about students donating a tree to the university, it made him reminisce about his days on campus. Secchia, a financial contributor to the Student Academic Center and the new addition to Breslin Students Event Center, thought it would be fitting to donate a tree on Arbor Day. Secchia, chairman of Universal Forest Products Inc. in Grand Rapids, and others will be planting a 20-foot autumn blaze maple tree at 10:30 a.m.

Police briefs 04/27/01

Faculty children shadow parents for a day

Mary Blakely wants to be an astronomer.The 11-year-old student at E.E. Knight Elementary in Elsie, Mich., was one of 180 students participating in MSU’s third annual Take Your Child to Work Day.“I’m gonna do my best to get into MSU,” she said.

Michigan celebrates Arbor Day

Kate Bernard, and 48 other local elementary teachers, are bringing their students to the zoo today, to help them learn about trees.More than 1,000 second- and third-grade students from the Lansing area will meet today at Potter Park Zoo, 1301 S.