Rewind: News from the last 7 days

East Lansing Police Chief Jen Brown said officers were “assaulted” downtown Saturday night as students returned for Michigan State University’s fall semester. Two people with knives were arrested, she said. “Video footage shared by citizens shows large crowds were dispersed by officers after fights broke out on the plaza.” However, an Okemos nonprofit that works with inner-city youth accused the police of “excessive force.” The Honey Bear Project said it will investigate interactions between white East Lansing police officers and a group of Black college students. Classes started Monday.

Members of developer Joel Ferguson’s family are fighting in court over his estate. At stake is at least $4 million, according to media reports. Daughter Jennifer Ferguson, one of five children, claims her father was incompetent when he made changes to a trust in 2023 that benefited his second wife, Anna Strong. His daughter has petitioned Ingham County Circuit Court to set aside changes to the trust that he had made in the two years before he died last October at 85. She claims her father had suffered a stroke in 2023 and was subsequently diagnosed with dementia and that Strong, his longtime girlfriend until they married in December 2022, unduly influenced him to alter his estate planning. Strong said in court documents that Ferguson had suffered seizures but remained capable of handling his affairs. Jennifer Ferguson’s attorney told the Lansing State Journal a trial date has been set for June 2026.

Two were killed and three others injured in a one-car accident when the vehicle struck a utility pole at the intersection of Oakland Avenue and Walnut Street in Lansing at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Police identified the dead as Cheniya Rogers, 20, and Nathan Pentecost Jr., 21. A 29-year-old was in critical condition on Aug. 23. Two others, ages 23 and 33, were in stable condition at a Lansing-area hospital. Alcohol and speed appeared to be contributing factors, police said. The crash temporarily knocked out power lines in the area.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and four City Council members are at odds over what the Police Department should disclose about the investigation that resulted in a former lieutenant’s no-contest plea to embezzlement. The Lansing State Journal reported that the four — President Ryan Kost, Adam Hussain, Jeremy Garza and Brian Jackson — want the internal investigation details made public. The Journal said that Schor stands by the department’s nondisclosure decision because of an ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, all but Jackson questioned the administration’s oversight practices. The police officer, Ryan Wilcox, was accused of charging $105,000 on credit cards for personal use. The Council’s other four members either declined to comment or did not respond to interview requests.

At least four Lansing City Council members posted on Facebook that they were backing away from an Aug. 11 resolution that would have stopped private curbside trash collection in Lansing and made the city the sole provider for waste removal. Council President Ryan Kost (pictured) said he has “pulled back the trash ordinance” and said while it was a good policy, it was a “poor rollout.” Council members Trini Pehlivanoglu, Jeremy Garza and Peter Spadafore made similar Facebook posts, with Spadafore saying he had received hundreds of messages through multiple platforms in reaction to the proposal.

Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency has revoked the licenses held by Viridis, a cannabis testing company with labs in Lansing, and banned its three majority owners from participating in the industry. CRA Executive Director Brian Hanna said Viridis failed to uphold marijuana safety compliance standards and circumvented rules. CRA recalled marijuana products tested by Viridis in 2021, when the company was testing the majority of those on the market, due to inaccurate and/or unreliable results, including inflated THC levels. An attorney for Viridis’ minority investors said they are reorganizing and forming a separate entity to run another lab company in Bay City.

Former Michigan State University economist Lisa D. Cook said Tuesday she will not step down from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after President Trump announced he was firing her. Instead, she will sue the administration to keep her job. The administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud. Cook has voted with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has resisted Trump’s pressure to lower interest rates. Cook joined MSU’s faculty in 2005. She left in 2022 when she was sworn in to the Fed board after former President Biden appointed her. She is the first Black woman to serve on the board.

Public safety
Police said a woman shot Sunday in a domestic dispute near St. Johns is in critical but stable condition. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call alleging the woman’s husband had shot her. Deputies located and arrested the husband after he had left the scene and took him to Clinton County Jail. … Lansing police found three males, ages 16, 17 and 19, with gunshot wounds in the 3800 block of Wilson Avenue on Lansing’s north side. Police said they have not made any arrests and did not report on victims’ conditions. A man was shot on the same block last month.