Ask ELi to Investigate

Photo: www.michiganagriculture.com

If you prefer to have a real Christmas tree there is no doubt about it Michigan is one of the best places to live. Michigan ranks third in the United States in number of Christmas trees harvested, and is home to over seven hundred Christmas tree growers.

The City had planned to do more bulk leaf collection west of Abbot Road this Monday through Wednesday (November 23-25), but rescheduling will be necessary if the snow remains on Monday, according to Ron Lacasse, Infrastructure Administrator for the City. That’s not only because snow and cold temperatures cause problem for the collection equipment but because some of the equipment used for leaf collection is the same as that used for snow removal, according to Lacasse.

A reader asks, "Why are candidate Shanna Draheim's last two campaign mailers paid for by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce instead of by her campaign committee? Is this a campaign violation?”

Above: Photo of Albert Place Condos when they were being built on the site of a planned project whose TIF plan was earlier rejected by the State.

Some residents are wondering if all requests from developers for tax increment financing (TIF) in East Lansing are ultimately approved. There has been at least one plan rejected in the recent past, as explained below.

Above: an image from the mailer in question.

Introductory note:  Two days ago, we published an article about a new analysis of East Lansing’s ballooning retiree-related debt and on a related campaign controversy. In response to that, we’ve been getting lots of questions about the City’s retiree-related debt.

A reader asks: Did anyone ever really claim (before it was built) that the Eli Broad Museum would draw a million visitors a year? What’s the real attendance?

What we didn’t find out: I searched pretty well and I can’t find any claims dating before or after the building opened that it would draw such large numbers. Maybe someone made such a claim, and maybe he or she seriously believed it, but if so, I haven’t been able to find it.

Above: East Lansing's Finance Director, Mary Haskell (courtesy City of East Lansing)

An ELi reader wrote to ask:

One city council candidate keeps referring to East Lansing as having achieved a triple A financial rating This has caused us to ponder a number of related questions.

Above: MSU Professor of Economics Mike Conlin

An ELi reader has asked us to investigate the answer to this question: