Briefs

A handful of residents spoke out against a proposed amendment to the city’s snow removal ordinance that would expedite the clearing of sidewalks and bill the property owners.

Lansing City Council held a public hearing Monday about the proposed amendment. Currently property owners have 24 hours after a snow event has ended to clear the sidewalks. If it is not cleared, the city process can sometimes take more than five days before the hazard is removed either by the property owner or the city.

The proposed change would allow the city to send a notice after the 24 hours expires giving the owner another 24 hours and then the city can clear the ice and snow and bill the homeowner.

Public Services Committee Chairwoman Kathie Dunbar said the minimum charge is $125. The changes would help speed up the removal of snow especially on primary routes. Council is expected to vote on the amendment Nov. 24 she said.

“There will be snow just like last year,” Dunbar said after the meeting. “It’s going to be as bad or worse.”

Some residents criticized the ordinance as being unfair to senior and disabled citizens.

Bonnie Bayle, who said she was hospitalized for a month recently, wouldn’t have been able to do any shoveling. By the time she returned home, she would have been too weak to take care of snow and ice had there been any.

~ City Pulse

Refugees give thanks to Lansing with food event

After winning the Green Card Lottery in Cuba, Ariel Rodriguez Peña traveled to the U.S., leaving his family behind for an opportunity of a lifetime.

“I love the diversity in Lansing,” Rodriguez Peña said. “I love that we are a community that works together and that the immigrants in the city actually feel welcome.”

Rodriguez Peña has worked with the Refugee Development Center English as a Second Language program and youth educator for nearly seven years on top of his fulltime job as an assistant principal at North Elementary School.

Rodriguez Peña plans to offer fried plantains, rice, beans and yucca at the center’s first “Thanks-LANSING” fundraiser, Sunday at Christ Lutheran Church, 122 S. Pennsylvania Ave. Food, traditions and even clothing will be shared from such countries as Iraq, Burma, Bhutan and Cuba.

Director Erika Brown Binion recognizing the diversity of Lansing is important because celebrating differences and common interests unites and educates international and domestic residents.

“Anyone who has survived the harrowing experiences of a refugee and anyone who can begin a new life in a faraway land is a resilient and future-oriented person,” Brown Binion said. “For these reasons, refugees are a tremendous asset to our community.”

Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward RDC Programming, specifically after school programs, newcomer home visits, parent workshops and ESL classes.

The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The suggested donation is $25. For more information call (517) 253-8025 or go to refugeedevelopmentcenter.org ~ Beth Waldon

Walter the Whale sale to benefit cancer research

Buying a T-shirt or hoodie could make a whale of a difference for neuroendocrine cancer research.

Proceeds from “Walter the Whale with Wings” clothing until the end of the month will go to to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“Walter the Whale with Wings” is a children’s book written by eastside author, Eddie Lahti, who died in January 2013 of several rare forms of cancer. His friend Quincy Gow has been working to create a documentary, “Ed’s Whale,” telling Lahti’s story.

“It was one of his big gripes, ‘I have this super rare form of cancer, make me a guinea pig, stick however many needles you can into me,´ " Gow said. “I didn’t get into this to raise money I did this to help a friend.

It seemed like the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

All the profits will go toward neuroendocrine cancer research, Gow said.

The documentary is nearly finished, he said.

“We’ll have a rough cut done by the beginning of the year, at that time I will present it to the family,” he said.

The clothes can be purchased at: http:// custom.flavoredthreads.com/shopwalterswings/home.

Some items, including the book, can also be purchased at Everybody Reads, 2019 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing.

~ Belinda Thurston

All that ‘Jazz’

On Wednesday author Jessica Herthal will appear at Everybody Reads Books & More, 2019 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing’s East Town neighborhood for a book talk and signing.

Herthal will be there to discuss her new children’s book, “I Am Jazz, ” about living as a transgender child, The book was co-authored with Jazz Jennings, a 13-year-old transgender girl.

Jennings has shared her story on several national television programs and has a 43-minute documentary produced by OWN that can be seen on YouTube. Herthel is the director of the Stonewall National Education Project, which develops LGBT-inclusive curriculum for school districts. Jennings was named one of "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by Time magazine

-Jonathan Griffith