Rewind: News from the last 7 days

Jessica Benavides will be leading the Lansing School District as interim superintendent. Benavides, a Lansing schools veteran, had been the district’s number two as first deputy superintendent. She will take over for Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, who has accepted the same position in Seattle. Shuldiner remains as Lansing superintendent until Jan. 31. He had been a finalist for several other superintendent jobs. The Lansing school board voted to begin new contract negotiations during a Dec. 11 meeting and named Benavides as their selection during a Dec. 18 meeting. Her interim superintendent role begins Feb. 1. “The opportunity to serve the Lansing School District as superintendent is an honor,” Benavides said, in a statement. “I look forward to leading alongside our staff and families to ensure the positive momentum across the district continues and that our students remain at the center of every decision we make.” Board of Education President Robin Moore said, in a statement, that the board will later announce the process of picking a permanent superintendent and she expressed confidence in Benavides. “Her experience, commitment to our community, and steady leadership will help ensure continuity for our students, staff, and families,” Moore said.

Lansing’s most prominent homeless encampment, known as Fallen Angels and located near Dietrich Park, will be broken up with the remaining residents, currently about 50, going into a hotel for about six weeks if they don’t find independent housing. The city will be picking up the tab for hotel stays at Causeway Bay Hotel in Lansing following an agreement that will end the encampment, which has been there for at least three years. Scott Bean, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, said the exact number of people and the cost are not clear but the money will be available and the city is looking for additional solutions for the residents after six weeks. Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina (Shown in September encampment photo by Raymond Holt) brokered a deal between the city and the private property owner JAJ Properties (a second property owner had previously been dismissed from the case). The land is expected to be cleared of residents sometime during Christmas week, with transportation being arranged for several days and times, Bean said. The court decision coming on a holiday week means the city is planning to be flexible about the six-week time frame for residents, he said.

A sixth potential location for the city’s Mod Pods/NOVA Housing Initiative has been announced. The city had been considering four city parks and a privately-owned former school building and last week added a county-owned parking lot as a sixth option. The large parking lot at the Ingham County Human Services building at 5303 S Cedar St. is now considered the second-highest scoring option on the city’s rubric. Site preparation there would be more costly, at $675,000, than three of the choices that are expected to be $500,000 (two parks and the former Shabazz school). It would be more costly than the current rubric-topper Washington Park, estimated at $360,000. Scott Bean, a spokesperson for Mayor Andy Schor, said the mayor is waiting for the process to unfold but wouldn’t be opposed to a non-park option.

The East Lansing Police Department is investigating two recent acts of vandalism at the MSU Chabad Jewish Center in downtown East Lansing. Someone is seen on surveillance video throwing rocks at the center shortly after midnight on Dec. 16. Another surveillance video shows someone on Dec. 18 spray-painting swastikas on the glass front door and throwing rocks at windows, which were damaged. The police department is investigating the pair of acts as potentially related hate crimes. “Video evidence appears to indicate that the same subject committed both acts of vandalism and, therefore, the incidents may be related,” the police department said in a statement. If members of the public have tips about these incidents or video recordings of this subject from any camera, on or about the following times, please contact Detective Katey Harrison at kharris@cityofeastlansing.com.

Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductee Dan Boggan was named head football coach at Lansing Eastern High School Friday, replacing Jordan Morgan, who guided the Quakers from 2018-25. Boggan is returning to the sport after a long, successful tenure at Lansing Sexton, where he coached that team to 114 victories from 2002-17. His teams made the playoffs 11 times and finished runner-up in the 2014 Division 4 state championship, losing by just a single point to Grand Rapids South Christian. Eastern, Boggan’s alma mater, has struggled in recent years, having last posted a winning season in 1997. He played there in 1984 and ’85, before playing college ball at Indiana and Western Michigan.

Pete Johnston, a Michigan State University film studies faculty member and interim director, has won his round and advanced in the Jeopardy Second Chance tournament. He has won the semifinals and the finals. The finals round appeared on a Dec. 19 episode, where he made it to the next stage, the wild card round. That episode is expected to air Jan. 8. Johnson had come in second during a summer episode and was invited back for the Second Chance tournament.

MSU turned up the lights on Beaumont Tower this year, decking the halls with warm yellow light. The university has added architectural holiday lights that go nearly to the top of the 104-foot university icon, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2028. The lighting of the tower, for the first time, was inspired by President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., and his wife, Amy, according to MSU Today. The tower is lit through Jan. 4, starting at 5:30 p.m. There’s also a live webcam available at msutoday.msu.edu/webcams.

A 74-year-old woman in a motorized wheelchair has died after being hit by a car Thursday night, Lansing police said Friday, according to WILX and other local media. The collision happened around 6 p.m. near S Cedar Street and E Miller Road. The driver was making a left turn and bad weather may have been a factor, according to preliminary work at the crash scene, police said. Alcohol and drugs were not believed to be factors.

A crash involving a pickup truck and an SUV at the intersection of Island Road and North Canal Road in Eaton Rapids Township resulted in the death of a Potterville man. Michigan State Police said an 18-year-old Grand Ledge man driving north on Canal failed to stop at a stop sign and his Buick Enclave was struck by the Potterville man’s Ford F-250 pickup. The driver and two passengers of the Buick were treated for non-fatal injuries of varying degrees. The name of the Potterville man, 45, was not released.