Rewind: News from the last 7 days

Lansing police are investigating vandalism of several Old Town businesses on July 30. One or more individuals tried to break windows at Odd Nodd Art Supply on Cesar Chavez Avenue, wrote expletives on those windows and desecrated at least five other buildings with hate speech and symbols that the Old Town Commercial Association called “racist, xenophobic, and homophobic graffiti” on its Facebook page. The association added that its members are working with Lansing police and the city to “bring the perpetrator to justice.” Lansing police are collecting video evidence and investigating the incidents as hate crimes. Lansing police ask anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to call 517-483-4600.

Ninety-four MSU Extension employees will lose their jobs, and nutrition and physical activity programming previously provided under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) program will be discontinued on Oct. 1, Extension Director Quentin Tyler said in a letter to staff. Stricter guidelines for who can access SNAP benefits were signed into law by President Donald Trump last month. The new SNAP rules also included cuts to all funding for SNAP-Ed, which provides nutrition and active lifestyle information to low-income families, including a $10-plus million grant.

MSU has also laid off Dr. Swapna Hingwe, its director of Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS), and other psychiatric staff as part of other university-wide cuts, The Detroit News reported. Layoff opponents launched an online petition with more than 1,200 signatures as of Tuesday. The petition stated the decision to terminate Hingwe, the first woman of color to lead CAPS, and CAPS’ psychiatry services was “abrupt” and would hurt the care students received on campus. MSU spokesperson Amber McCann said the university will still prioritize psychiatric care through MSU Health Care and CAPS will still provide counseling services.

Delta Township and Eaton County have signed a contract to preserve the Sheriff’s Office patrols in the township after county voters rejected a 2-mill tax increase for sheriff’s deputies and road patrol, as well as animal control and other services, back in May. Delta Township will pay $8 million annually for police services over the next 10 years. Township officials have been working on a plan to fund the new police services contract with a special assessment in which they would assess township property owners 1.5 mills, about $150 per $100,000 of taxable value annually, beginning this year. The township board is planning public hearings in August and September, hoping to adopt a final resolution by Oct. 20 that would place the assessment on winter tax bills.

An Aurelius Township couple has filed a federal lawsuit against a township code enforcement officer and the township for conducting multiple allegedly warrantless searches of their trailer in violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs, John and Betty Argersinger, allege that Michael Lam and the township “have a practice and custom of warrantlessly and permissionlessly entering private properties to conduct unlawful searches contrary to the Fourth Amendment.” Township Supervisor David Droscha declined to comment. See the full story at www.lansingcitypulse.com.

Earnestine Hayes of Lansing, 34, has been charged with violating Michigan’s Firearms Safe Storage law following a July 14 incident when a 5-year-old child suffered a non-life-threatening injury when a gun went off in a home on the 800 block of Vincent Court. Hayes pleaded not guilty. The charge is a felony offense punishable by up to five years in prison. Police said they believe the gun went off unintentionally and are not saying who pulled the trigger or how it went off.

Steve “Wordsmith” Sarder of BOP (harvey), a key figure in Lansing’s progressive music scene during the 1980s and ’90s, has died. The news, announced Tuesday on the band’s Facebook page, read in part: “We’ll all be chiming in over the days ahead with our various memories as we grapple with this monumental loss and reflect on the many years of crazy musicmaking the cosmos afforded us. For now, we’ll be cranking up some of his best songs and shedding more than a few tears as we dance him into the Great Beyond.” After forming at Michigan State University in 1984, BOP (harvey) perfected its unique mix of reggae, soul, Latin, funk and psychedelic rock. The band was featured on MTV and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and played at Bill Clinton rallies in 1992, including his presidential inauguration. The band broke up in 1994 but reunited for its 25th anniversary.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Wanda Stokes sentenced former Lansing Community College faculty member Jonathan Tenbrink, 43, to concurrent sentences of three to 20 years in prison for charges of child sexually abusive activity and using a computer to commit a crime. Tenbrink, who was faculty chair of LCC’s music program, was charged with four counts, including child sexually abusive activity and accosting a minor for immoral purposes, after a sting operation involving Lansing police and the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office in July 2024.