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LATEST NEWS

"Save Our City" Protest Planned for Tuesday

Saturday, January 24, 2015

A citizen-run protest on the theme of ‘Save Our City” will occur this Tuesday from 6-7 pm at City Hall, just in advance of Council’s next scheduled meeting.

The protest is being organized by the PAC Neighborhoods 1st and advertised by the group East Lansing Citizens Concerned. Neighborhoods 1st says the protest is directed at three issues:

Suspicion and Frustration Follow Bailey Vote

Friday, January 23, 2015

Since Tuesday’s 3-2 vote at Council to close the Bailey daycare and community center, ELi’s Managing Editor Ann Nichols and I have been soliciting citizen reactions.

Hotel Suddenly Gone from Downtown Development Plan

Friday, January 23, 2015

Image: The previous plan for Building A, which was to include a hotel and to be 10 stories

Plans to put an upscale boutique hotel in “Building A”—the building PDIG is proposing to erect at the corner of Abbot Road and Grand River Avenue—have fallen through. PDIG has informed the Downtown Development Authority there will be no hotel after all—and the building will be eight stories rather than ten.

Report Reveals Insights into City's Finances

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

East Lansing’s public parking system is consistently a money-loser; the City’s large unfunded retiree liabilities are about to become more visible; and property taxes are going up. These were three of the major issues covered last night at City Council during discussion of a report on the City’s finances.

Program Seeks to Grow Community Gardeners

Monday, January 19, 2015

 

The Garden Project, an arm of The Greater Lansing Food Bank, supports over 90 community gardens and helps feed over 700 people each year. The gardens supported through the Project serve a variety of needs in our area, whether they are included as part of a school curriculum, feed refugee populations, function solely as food bank donations, or provide general neighborhood “gathering spaces” to foster community.

Former Mayor Urges Council to Save Bailey Daycare

Monday, January 19, 2015

Image: Bailey daycare parents' Working Group member Charles Hoogstraten speaks to Council late last year

Former East Lansing mayor Douglas Jester is urging City Council to vote tomorrow night to save the Bailey daycare. In a letter to Council that he has shared with ELi, Jester asks Council “to assist the parents who are attempting to establish a non-profit corporation to operate the program, and to undertake a community process to decide the future of the Bailey Community Center.”

Councilmember Ruth Beier is set tomorrow to make the following motion at Council:

City Wants Council, Not Public, to Decide Land Sales

Friday, January 16, 2015

Image: City Manager George Lahanas, courtesy City of East Lansing

City staff are moving to get a East Lansing City Charter amendment on the ballot for May 5 that would change how some public land sales happen—taking the power from the ballot box and giving it to a simple majority of City Council.

At City Council this week, City Manager George Lahanas told Council the current Charter provision is outdated and restrictive.

PDIG Plan Now Exceeds $100M with $32M in Tax Incentives

Friday, January 16, 2015

Image: The corner where PDIG seeks to construct the 10-story "Building A"

The East Lansing Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is moving forward on controversial developer PDIG’s plans for the blighted area downtown. Two major buildings in the area are now estimated together to cost $101 million, and local government is considering $32 million in tax incentives for the project area. At a public DDA meeting yesterday, details emerged on the Tax Increment Financing plan as well as the development agreement being made between the developer and the City.

West Village Area Proposal Coming from DTN

Friday, January 16, 2015

Photo courtesy of Google street view

Local developer DTN Management is set to present a new plan for the empty lot at the northwest corner of West Grand River Avenue and Delta Street, next to the West Village Condos. The empty lot is shown above; to the west are the West Village townhouses, and to the north, Valley Court Park.

ASK ELi: Groceries Downtown?

Friday, January 16, 2015

The question: Any hope of groceries downtown?

If you live in or near downtown—which more and more permanent residents seem to be doing—there are actually a few nearby places you can now walk or bike to get some basic groceries.

EL Teachers Ratify "Less Than Ideal" Contract

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Following the longest teacher contract negotiation on record in East Lansing, the East Lansing Public Schools (ELPS) Board of Education and Michigan Education Association (MEA) have officially ratified an agreement. 

ELPS Superintendent Robyne Thompson addressed the East Lansing community in a letter dated December 18, 2014, indicating she and East Lansing Education Association (ELEA) President Pat Murray had signed a “tentative” contract, which she anticipated would be ratified by a vote in the future.  

Bob Nelson Likely to Be Our BWL Rep

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

In November, Lansing ciitzens voted to change their City Charter to allow East Lansing to have representation on the BWL Board of Commissioners. BWL is the major electric utility for residents of East Lansing. The East Lansing representative, who will start this work in July of this year, will have a non-voting role on the BWL Board.

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