Here It Comes

Wow, what a big year it has been at ELi! Our service—bringing you nonprofit, nonpartisan, all-real and accurate news—really met our mission this year! And we did it on only about $45,000. Incredible! I'm going to tell you in a moment how we're doing on our hopes of being here for you in 2017.

But first, a reminder about just some of what Team ELi covered for you in 2016:

• the School Board elections and the $98 million school bond proposal
• talks over the sale of WKAR’s broadcast spectrum
• police-community relations including as they relate to race relations and to party culture
• arts opportunities at The Record Lounge, Replay, the Broad, the Pump House, Hannah, Schuler Books, Saper Galleries, ELHS, the Summer Solstice Jazz Festival, the Folk Festival, and the Arts Festival
• neighborhood issues like permit parking in Chesterfield Hills and the lack of sidewalks in the Northern Tier
• the City’s new recycling system and its impact on landfill reduction
• deliberations over landlords’ rights and neighborhood relations
• public school issues such as mental health risks, sex ed, and safety threats like lockdowns and lead in drinking water
• lawsuits brought against the City by homeowners with sewage-flooded basements, by workers potentially exposed to mercury and asbestos, and involving a charge of campaign finance violation against the City Manager
• Council’s decisions on the City Attorney, development projects, tax deals, Indigenous Peoples Day, drones, senior housing, solar power, bike paths, and marijuana decriminalization
• support for and opposition to CATA’s Bus Rapid Transit plans and what the plan would mean for East Lansing motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians
• Costco’s plans to build a new store
• East Lansing opportunities to see the transit of Mercury, five planets at once, and other astronomical delights
• appreciations of local people, including Casey Bain, Afrika Graves, Keith Michael Hagen, L. Soul, and the McAndrews family, as well as the late Dick Estelle and Corey Cafagna
• BWL’s plans for East Lansing and a key lawsuit over tree-trimming
• The We Are All One Art Fair at the East Lansing Islamic Center, the LBGTQ Prom at Peoples Church, the Rotary Club’s Pancakes in the Park
• and soooooo much more!

I am so proud of our amazing team of citizen-reporters, of our outstanding Managing Editor Ann Nichols, of our wonderful tech team and editing team, our volunteer Board of Directors, and of all of you who have stepped up to support their work!

In fact, thanks to so many generous donors stepping up to support the work of our citizen-reporters in their service to all the people of East Lansing, we will be coming back from break on Tuesday at full-strength for all of January! You can count on us to be here for you in January to cover all major local news developments—including on the school bond and the Park District tax financing proposal—and to also bring you the quality-of-life news you’ve come to expect from Team ELi.

We still have a ways to go towards our sustainability drive before the deadline of January 31, but with your help and the dedication of many neighbors-asking-neighbors, we are getting closer!

Remember, today is the last day to make a donation to ELi if you’d like to get a tax deduction from it for 2016.  Here are three ways you can help:

1. Make a lump-sum contribution by credit card using our PayPal donation system: you don't have to have a PayPal account to do this--you just use any major credit card. Click here to send a contribution by credit card. Do it today if you want a 2016 deduction.
2. Donate a lump-sum by check: make your check payable to "East Lansing Info" and mail it to ELi, PO Box 115, East Lansing, MI, 48826. If the check is dated 2016, we’ll send you a receipt for 2016.
3. Become a committed monthly patron to guarantee we’ll be here for all of 2017: Take five minutes to set up a monthly automatic partnership contribution ($5, $10, $20, whatever amount works for you) with your credit card via through PayPal. This will help us reach our sustainability goal.

Yes, you can make a lump-sum 2016 contribution AND sign up to be a monthly supporter!

Thanks to everyone for working with me and Ann to create this service of neighbors-helping-neighbors through the production of high-quality, high-standard, real local news. It is a true privilege to volunteer my services to this wonderful collaboration.