Rewind the news, week of September 9, 2026
Michigan’s Secretary of State Office is reprinting more than 8,000 driver’s licenses and state IDs after people received IDs with someone else’s photo and information. The state says the incorrect IDs had a generic photo and generic identifying information, rather than someone’s real data. The IDs were misprinted on Aug. 26. Anyone who got a bad ID should already be getting a correct one automatically and can get temporary IDs from a Secretary of State office in the meantime.
Lansing Community College is hosting a voter registration and voting information drive Sept. 14-17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day outside of the Arts & Sciences Building. There will be absentee ballot applications and information about voting at home and voting early, along with pre-voter registration for 16- and 17-year-olds. City of Lansing voters can use an election drop box across the street from LCC’s downtown campus at the Shiawassee Street Fire Station. “We need to engage and communicate with first-time and infrequent voters,” said Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope, in a statement. “We want to make it as convenient as possible to become engaged and help students plan to vote. Any voter can vote early, vote at home, or vote on Election Day.” For more information about voting and to register to vote online, please visit lansingvotes.gov.
A Ford Explorer struck two cyclists east of Williamston Saturday, killing a 12-year-old boy and critically injuring his 13-year-old sister, while traveling westbound on Grand River Avenue near N. Meech Road. The siblings were riding on the shoulder of the road when the vehicle hit them. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The girl is being treated for a severe head injury. A GoFundMe effort — launched by the family’s church — has received more than $110,000 in pledges as of Tuesday afternoon (https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-shepard-family). The driver of the SUV, a 64-year-old woman from Williamston, was not injured in the crash.
Thousands lost power last week amid thunderstorms, heavy winds and rain last Thursday and Friday. Downtown East Lansing lost power on Thursday night, just before the long Labor Day weekend, with students having freshly arrived at Michigan State University. The storm left significant damage in some area locations, including at a pavilion at Lake Lansing Park South, which also had dozens of trees uprooted in the park and is temporarily closed.
MSU’s Berkey Hall was closed last Thursday after a reported threat relayed by a medical professional. Authorities took a person in Washtenaw County into protective custody, according to university police, and indicated the individual is not a MSU student or employee.
The death of a 57-year-old man found Aug. 30 near Old Town is being treated as a homicide, according to a statement from the Lansing Police Department. The man was found unconscious with facial trauma on Sunday near Old Town around 3:30 a.m. and later died, according to police. “We are currently investigating this as a homicide,” the statement said. “We are waiting for additional information from the medical examiner to find out the cause of death.”
Ingham County prosecutors have charged Edward Joseph Smith with open murder in the Aug. 20 stabbing death of Daniel Lusk. Smith was charged as a habitual second offender and is being held without bond after an arraignment in the 54-A District Court. Lusk was found under the bridge at E. Michigan Avenue and S. Grand Avenue around 4 a.m. on Aug. 20, according to prosecutors.
An Ann-Arbor-based solar energy company, Prometheus Power Group, is seeking a conditional land use permit from Eaton Rapids Township to build a 32-acre, 5-megawatt solar facility. The proposed site is located at 7638 E. Clinton Trail, owned by Mock Properties. The township’s planning commission has set a hearing for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the township’s 2512 S. Canal Road offices, to consider the permit. Prometheus’ project manager Tyler Stark told the Lansing State Journal that the project could create up to 20 construction jobs and generate about $40,000 in annual tax revenues.
The Cyclospora outbreak in Michigan this summer was closely linked to iceberg lettuce and a single restaurant chain, according to a new interim report on the outbreak published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Food history data … indicated that iceberg lettuce and consumption at one restaurant chain were potential exposure sources,” according to the report. The report looked in detail at the May 10 through July 18 time period, which were the early weeks of one of the largest outbreaks of the diarrheal illness in U.S. history. The NEJM interim report does not name the restaurant chain and most of the national Centers for Disease Control alerts and reports referenced identify a supplier, Taylor Farms. But one of the supporting links in the NEJM study goes to a July FDA alert which identifies Taco Bell, and does not name any other restaurant chains, as having stopped its supply from Taylor Farms.
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The interim report uses data from 3,114 patients who were interviewed, with 70% of them having eaten at that restaurant chain and 90% of those people having eaten iceberg lettuce. The report notes that there were likely two batches, or one staggered batch, of contaminated food because of bimodal outbreaks in Michigan. From June 22 through Aug. 26, Michigan had 14,492 cases, 356 reported hospitalizations and two deaths associated with cyclosporiasis. The NEJM report found that “iceberg lettuce at restaurant Chain A was a strong epidemiologic indicator,” but there were many Cyclospora patients surveyed in detail who did not recall eating lettuce or eating at the restaurant. The study also included chain B, which had 27% of respondents recalling eating there, and chains C and D, which had about 10%.
The prediction market platform Kalshi has been blocked, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, from offering unlawful online sports wagers in the state. Nessel’s office said Wednesday in a statement that a preliminary injunction had been issued in a lawsuit that began in March and followed a similar order in June that has since expired. “Kalshi long attempted to pass itself off as a legitimate gaming operation in our state, and I am relieved that this order further protects Michigan residents from its predatory, unlicensed practices,” Nessel said in the statement. The preliminary injunction was signed Monday by 30th Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. In a statement, Kalshi head of communications Elisabeth Diana reiterated previous statements that the company disagreed with the June order and would fight the case in court. “Kalshi is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction,” Diana said. “We won’t be bullied by interests that care more about protecting their monopolies than their consumers. In the meantime, we’re implementing restrictions.” The Attorney General contends that Kalshi conducts business in Michigan without the licensing approval of the Michigan Gaming Control Board and in violation of the Lawful Sports Betting Act, which sets minimum ages and other requirements.
