Rewind the news, week of August 26, 2026

Lansing City Council members voted 7-1 Monday on a resolution calling on the city to cancel its contracts for Flock license plate cameras. The resolution urges the city to act, but the city administration and police department would need to take additional steps to cancel the contracts for the city’s seven locations of Flock cameras. Council members heard hours of comments from residents, including from Congressional candidate William Lawrence, many of those fiercely urging them to oppose the Flock cameras amid widespread distrust. Some cited national incidents in which police officers have been found to use the camera network to stalk exes, track protesters and other abuses. Several said they planned to run for office if council members didn’t approve the proposal to cancel the contracts. 
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Council member Adam Hussain said he was uncomfortable taking a “tool out of the toolbox” of the Lansing Police Department. He said many of the speakers, like he had done, had weighed the “impact on public safety with the potential for misuse” and made a decision of conscience to call for the removal. Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus defended the department’s use of the cameras, which were installed at intersections primarily in the north side of the city in 2024 with the help of grant money that paid for the previous years. Backus said the department has internal controls over who can use the data and the department does not allow others to have access to local data, including federal agencies. The measure was introduced last week by council member Ryan Kost, who said he was surprised that Backus had been invited to speak at the meeting. Council President Peter Spadafore said several council members had requested the chief.
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Backus listed more than half a dozen local crimes he said were solved through the use of license plate cameras, including violent and recent cases. He said the Flock cameras capture a view of the rear of a car and the license plate, along with a timestamp and officers can infer the direction of travel. The cameras, he said, do not include any identifying information besides the license plate and do not capture images of anyone inside the vehicle. Kost said Backus had said at a meeting earlier this year that Flock information wasn’t critical to solving many of the cases. Backus said the license plate information from the cameras was critical to the cases and he disagreed with Kost. Spadafore was the lone opposition and said the proposal was rushed with unclear consequences for the city beyond the contracts.

The YMCA of Metropolitan Lansing’s Westside Branch will be renamed as the Earvin “Magic” Johnson YMCA to honor the Lansing native, businessman, philanthropist and NBA all-timer. Johnson returned home last weekend and was joined by many members of his family to help celebrate the YMCA of Metropolitan Lansing’s 150th anniversary. The gala helped to raise over $800,000 for scholarships and facility improvements across the Metropolitan Lansing YMCA locations. The renovation plans for the Earvin “Magic” Johnson YMCA include a 2-acre expansion, two new sport courts, two new turf fields, an acre of green space for more youth programming, a new pavilion and a mural honoring Magic and the Johnson Family, painted by local artist Dustin Hunt. A sustaining legacy fund is being established in the Johnson Family’s name for YMCA scholarship and future YMCA uses.

The historic John Bean building in Lansing is up for sale for the bargain price of $100,000, the starting bid on lastbidrealestate’s auction. It’s a century-old building that was born to be part of the REO Motor Car Company’s supply chain, later used during WWII and more recently as a cannabis megagrow that ended with litigation. With more than 460,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest buildings in town. There have been several open houses for potential buyers. The cost to upgrade it – or demolish it or do something in between – will be realized by the buyer. The bid was scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 25).

Lansing officials are planning to revive the dormant Reutter Park fountain, with the help of around $600,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The project is part of a $1.5 million reworking of the downtown park, including a planned dog park, and expected to be done by the end of June 2027, according to reports from Lansing State Journal and WKAR. The park was named for former mayor J. Gottlieb Reutter, founder of Lansing Ice & Fuel, who donated money in honor of his wife. The park has been used for a wide variety of activities, including a faux-ice rink with skates available at the nearby library. Officials, including Mayor Andy Schor, said Monday that they want to revive the park along with the downtown construction boom, including a 28-story residential tower and the Ovation music complex, both near the park.

Lansing Police are investigating the stabbing death of Daniel Lusk, 22. Police responded to a call around 4 a.m. Thursday (Aug. 20) and found Lusk with a stab wound in the 300 block of E. Michigan Avenue, on the Lansing River Trail in the downtown area. Officers and then Fire Department officials attempted life-saving measures, but Lusk was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement from the LPD. Police added that no arrests have been made. It is the fifth homicide of the year, matching the number for the same time period last year.

Lansing Police said they found a man who was struck by a vehicle on the 3200 block of E. Grand River Avenue shortly after they were called to a hit-and-run collision around 11 p.m. on Wednesday (Aug. 19). Efforts at life-saving measures were unsuccessful and the man was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police. Jordan Gulkis, a spokesperson for Lansing Police, said a witness called 911. Police have not issued a description of the vehicle being sought in the hit-and-run.

Two men were killed in a car crash Monday (Aug. 24), the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office reported, when a northbound vehicle on Every Road in Alaiedon Township struck an eastbound vehicle on Holt Road and set off a second collision with a westbound vehicle. Men from the second and third vehicles, a 59-year-old from Flint and a 42-year-old whose hometown was not confirmed, died at the scene. The northbound vehicle was driving by a 40-year-old woman from Haslett, who had minor injuries. Deputies who are investigating the cause of the crash said they do not suspect alcohol or drugs were factors. Those with information can contact Deputy Stalzer at 517-676-8444, ext. 1939.