Rewind the news, week of September 2, 2026

The Michigan State Capitol won’t have Flock cameras any time soon. The state’s Michigan Capitol Commission met Monday and heard from about a dozen people urging them to drop plans for Flock surveillance cameras at the Capitol. The commission did not take up the issue and commission chair William Kandler said it had never been placed on the agenda or considered by the board. Executive Director Robert Blackshaw said the commission looks at technologies but has not moved forward with any Flock plans. “About a year ago, we looked at it Flock) … but it wasn’t something we decided to move forward with,” he said. “Any tech that can help us make quicker and better decisions; we’re going to look into that.” 
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Many of the people, including DeFlock Lansing members, who spoke at the Capitol meeting also spoke a week before, when the Lansing City Council voted to reject Flock cameras. John Warmb said he lives near the Capitol and, like many of the others, said he is worried about plans for the Capitol to consider autonomous drones. “Even if deployed with good intent, they are operated by third-party companies that sell biometric data of everyone who comes into contact with this drone,” he said. While the commission didn’t directly address autonomous drones during the meeting, Blackshaw said the drone technology and other ways of monitoring and protecting the Capitol would be considered and that the commission shares many of the same concerns as the DeFlock members. He said drones flying at protests like previous No Kings rallies could be operated by anyone. Blackshaw said that while the commission would approve and inform any policies, the day-to-day security work would be done by the Michigan State Police.

In a visit to Michigan on Monday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance did not even once mention the nation’s ongoing trade war with Canada — and The White House’s politically charged renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America as a result — during Sterling Heights trip aimed at boosting President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates in Michigan. Vance’s visit was exclusively billed as a rally for Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers. Both spoke to supporters before Vance’s address. Trump made a similar visit to Michigan in July, days before the August primary. James will face Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the gubernatorial contest, and Rogers is facing Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week asking Interior Secretary Doug Bergum to update geographic systems and maps to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America amid an ongoing tariff dispute. Google has already complied with the request, similar to the change from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. Trump personally called Google to ensure the change happened quickly, Bergum told Fox Business on Monday.

Retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters visited MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotype Beams on Friday as part of his last motorcycle tour of the state. Peters is not running for re-election and said he was pursuing a life outside of politics, as the founders intended, and reiterated his support for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. El-Sayed is facing former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers for the open Senate seat. Peters spoke about $2 billion in federal investment for the MSU facility throughout his career in Congress; he was first elected to the U.S. House in 2008. MSU is one of the world’s top nuclear programs and awards 15% of the nation’s nuclear physics doctorates. The FRIB recently unveiled a new project that will include radiation testing of top-end microelectronics used in spaceflight, defense, wireless communications and autonomous systems. The facility can direct radiation through accelerated beams aimed at the chips, simulating the most difficult environments, including recreating the radiation stresses of a star.

Tailgaters Williamston has opened, with the help of Ingham County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority funds. The former gas station site was cleaned and redeveloped into a much bigger, 9,800-square-foot Tailgaters Sunoco gas station with a drive-thru and a Dunkin Donuts. “This new site lets us serve the community with a modern, welcoming stop that’s built to last,” said Jeff Haddad, owner of Tailgaters, in a statement. The $6 million project was finished in August and created 55 jobs using brownfield tax increment financing, according to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), which guided the project and administered the county program. “Tailgaters Williamston is a great example of smart growth and redevelopment done right,” said Bob Trezise, President and CEO of LEAP, in a statement. “Economic development often results in the cleanup of contaminated sites at no cost to the taxpayer nor a tax break to the developer/business, as is occurring here.” Monica Schafer, Ingham County commissioner, praised the program and the transformation, saying, “What used to be a contaminated, idle property is now generating tax revenue and helping fund the services this community relies on.”

For the first time, Michigan’s Public Service Commission has approved the site location of a solar or wind project rather than local governments. The approval of a 90-megawatt solar farm on more than 600 acres in southern Ingham County is the first test of a controversial state law approved in 2023. The developer sought state approval instead of local approval and the project was authorized through a settlement between Leslie, Onondaga and Vevay townships; the developer and the MPSC staff. It means $2,000 for each township per megawatt and additional funding for legal expenses, drain maintenance and first responder training. Ingham County did not intervene in the case but reached a separate agreement for a separate impact fee of $2,000 per megawatt. The county cannot appeal the siting certificate and waived its right to intervene. The project is expected to create 150 construction jobs and a $136 million investment, according to a statement from Ranger Power.

Former Waverly High School teacher Robert Herzing, 34, was sentenced by an Eaton County Circuit Judge Thursday to five years’ probation with five months in jail after he was arrested in September 2024 during an underage sex sting operation. He was alleged to have arranged to meet at the Delta Township Public Library with a sheriff’s department detective posing as a 15-year-old boy. Herzing will not be allowed during his probation to use the internet or reside in a household that includes anyone younger than 17. He pleaded no contest in July to one count each of accosting a child for immoral purposes and attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct.