Former Police Chief Daryl Green regrets becoming a cop. If he could do it all over, he said he would have never joined the Lansing Police Department at all — especially after watching political tensions boil over locally last summer after George Floyd’s murder. The job is just too different. more

An accumulation of debris snagged by a new buoy line in the Grand River near the old Eckert Power Station dam kicked up a stink last week after neighbors cried foul over over the putrid smell of river sediment, duckweed and dead animals. more

Despite a recommendation from the Michigan State University Advisory Panel last month to require COVID-19 vaccinations for incoming students, faculty and staff for the upcoming fall semester, MSU President Samuel Stanley has decided to skip the mandate. more

Councilman Brian Jackson partnered with The Village Lansing to host a “Know Your Rights” camp last night. more

Jules Vander Galien often compares the streets of Lansing to a scene from a “Mad Max” movie. more

The lawsuit largely stems from a dispute between developer Scott Chappelle and East Lansing Info publisher Alice Dreger. Chappelle’s attorneys argued that Dreger’s reports — along with online comments from Traverse City resident Eliot Singer, a former East Lansing resident — were inaccurate, have since humiliated Chappelle and his company and jeopardized his company’s business relationships. more

Former House Democratic Leader Sam Singh announced plans on Twitter this week to run for Hertel’s seat next year. Singh, a former state representative, served six years in the Legislature from 2013 to 2018.  more

Hundreds of cannabis companies — including several brands in Greater Lansing — are pushing back against a shadowy group of lobbyists. more

In 2021, few bystanders will bat an eye at an LGBTQ pride parade, and cantankerous right-wing protesters often find themselves drowned out by a rainbow sea of bodies. While there’s work required toward LGBTQ acceptance forevermore, events like pride rallies, marches and parades become more normalized as each year passes. But this acceptance didn’t come from nowhere — it took decades of hard work and statewide networking and organizing efforts.  more

For all their diversity, this year’s recipients share two rare attributes. They excel at bringing people together and they are passionate and tireless builders of safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community. more

With legislative enthusiasm for police divestment continuing to wane in Lansing, Mayor Andy Schor announced plans last week to invest more than $2 million into staffing the Police Department over the next four years and to hire five more entry-level officers in the Capital City. more

The minutiae of queer life rarely make it into the Lansing State Journal or other mainstream media. Small everyday details can best be found in sources generated by LGBTQ+ people themselves, and often signal subtle and meaningful changes in the making. more

The results of the survey — which was conducted through Mayor Andy Schor’s 40-plus member Racial Justice and Equity Alliance — was released one day after the Lansing City Council approved federal grant funding last week geared toward hiring five more police officers in the Capital City. more

Five of the six mayoral candidates facing off in the August primary election battled it out on stage last night at a live, 60-minute televised debate hosted by FOX 47 News and City Pulse. more

The candidates’ ability to repair longstanding racial inequities, reform public safety and help curb the city’s skyrocketing levels of gun violence are undoubtedly key issues in this year’s election cycle. We asked the candidates directly: How do you plan to use your position, if elected, to drive forward some meaningful social equity and/or public safety reforms in Lansing? more

In addition to selecting top candidates running for office in the city Lansing, voters in Ingham County will have a chance to decide on two ballot proposals at the primary election on Aug. 3. Voters in Eaton County will also consider a bonding proposal for Potterville Public Schools. more

WEDNESDAY, June 16 — Over the last month, five mayoral candidates facing off in the August primary election have outlined their platforms in a series of opinion columns published in City Pulse. … more

Two more murders. Two more Lansing teenagers dead, bringing the city’s 2021 death toll by homicide to 15. And it’s only June. At this rate, Lansing is on track to easily outstrip last year’s record of 22 homicides — the most murders in a single year in decades. With the hottest days of summer just ahead, we’re bracing for even more senseless violence while community leaders scramble for answers. more

The headline on the front of the Lansing State Journal on July 25, 1972, might be described as cheeky: “City’s Night Life Can Get Real ‘Gay.’” The accompanying tagline, “Perversion Downtown Varies,” carried a darker message, at once moralistic and salacious. more

This weekly column has allowed me an opportunity to sample some of the best recreational cannabis products available in Greater Lansing. And over the last year, I’ve browsed through just about every store in town. That’s why I can say — with some degree of certainty — that First Class Cannabis Co. holds the title for the cheapest selection in the Capital City. more