What's Been Going on in East Lansing?
Catch up with our reporting from this week.
Happy Saturday! Ease into your weekend by catching up with the ELi team’s reporting from this week.
Supreme Court rules against East Lansing in Franchise Fee BWL lawsuit.
This week, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled against the city in a legal battle that has lasted nearly five years. A lawsuit over the city issuing a “disguised tax” through Franchise Fee charges on Lansing Board of Water and Light bills figures to cost the city millions of dollars, which will be returned to BWL customers. Read Managing Editor Luke Day’s summary of the court’s opinion here.
Council hears proposal for new pizza restaurant downtown.
St. Anne LLC, which owns FieldHouse sports bar in downtown East Lansing, presented on their proposal to add a special events room to the bar and create a pizza restaurant in a vacant adjoining suite at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Also at the meeting, Councilmember Erik Altmann spoke about financial challenges facing the city. Read Luke’s meeting recap here.
“First Amendment Audit” draws widespread attention to ELPD incident.
YouTube videos of a “First Amendment Audit” of ELPD officers have gathered nearly 2 million views. Reporter Dustin DuFort Petty spoke with the man who created the video about the purpose of his audits and why he chose to audit ELPD. A first amendment expert also shares her thoughts on the role auditors play. Read Dustin’s story here.
4-H Extension offers “Adulting” classes.
Constantly find yourself asking “Why didn’t they teach me this in school?” The MSU 4-H Extension program “Adulting” classes are for you. Participate in the free virtual lessons to learn about finances, medical insurance and much more. Read Arts and Culture Reporter Sarah Spohn’s story on the classes here.
Another busy week in city government is ahead.
Looking ahead, there are six city meetings scheduled next week. Monday (Feb. 10), the Commission on the Environment and Human Rights Commission each meet. Tuesday (Feb. 11), there is a discussion-only City Council meeting. Wednesday (Feb. 12), the Planning Commission gathers. Then on Thursday (Feb. 13), the Community Development Advisory Committee and Historic District Commission each convene. When meeting agendas are posted, they can be viewed here.
The East Lansing Board of Education is also scheduled to meet on Monday at 7 p.m. School board meetings are held downstairs in the high school. When the agenda for that meeting is posted, it can be viewed here.
MSU to hold memorial, events on two year anniversary of shooting.
Thursday, Feb. 13 marks the two year anniversary of the shooting on the Michigan State University campus that killed three, critically injured five and traumatized a community. To support community members, MSU is hosting a community art project, providing drop-in counseling services and holding a memorial. A full schedule of events and resources available can be viewed here.
Children’s Cultural Concert Series returns.
East Lansing’s Children’s Cultural Concert Series returns next week, as an Indigenous Drums concert will kick off the three-part series on Saturday, Feb. 15. The concert series will be held at the Hannah Community Center, and feature story hours starting at 10 a.m., with the concerts from 11 a.m. to noon. To find out more about the full slate of events, read the city’s press release here.
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