Rewind: News from the last 7 days

MSU has announced a $401 million commitment from Greg and Dawn Williams, largely for athletics programs, according to a statement Friday from the university. It is the largest gift in the school’s history and one of the largest single amounts in college athletics history. Greg Williams is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Acrisure, an insurance company based in Grand Rapids. Most of the gift, $290 million, will go toward FOR SPARTA: The Capital Initiative, a fundraising campaign announced earlier last week that aims to make MSU a national powerhouse and signal that it has the resources to compete. Another $100 million will go into an affiliated organization called Spartan Ventures.

Spartan Ventures will be run as a non-profit organization separate but affiliated with the university and it will take on many of the athletic ventures such as broadcast rights, licensing and intellectual property rights. The Williams gift also includes $11 million for academics and extracurricular activities including the MSU Burgess Risk Management and Financial Insurance Program in the Eli Broad College of Business, the Spartan Marching Band and Pep Bands and the Sparty Mascot Program. The Williamses have previously donated over $25 million to university efforts. The fundraising changes come after the firing of second-year head football coach Jonathan Smith and the hiring of former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald to replace him.

Lansing Fire Department Chief Brian Sturdivant and the city are being sued by a female firefighter who alleges the chief and other firefighters checked whether she was wearing a bra at work. The lawsuit acknowledges potential undergarment requirements but says the firefighter was singled out in front of coworkers and had two male supervisors assigned by Sturdivant to check on her bra usage daily, according to the Lansing State Journal. Hannah Fielstra, the firefighter’s attorney, said in a statement that the case harkened back to 1950s attitudes and had nothing to do with the firefighter’s ability to do her job. Sturdivant and Scott Bean, a spokesperson for the city, declined to comment for the State Journal article.

Lansing’s Code Blue status has been extended for a third week, now until at least 7 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 12. The city’s Code Blue declarations allow local shelters to have more flexibility during extreme cold, or snow. The Letts Community Center will be open from 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. as an overnight warming center during Code Blue periods. Many public buildings — including the Foster, Gier, Letts and Schmidt community centers, libraries, and the Capital Area Transportation Authority Transportation Center in downtown — will be open during the day as well. CATA will offer free rides to warming centers. For more information, visit LansingMI.gov/coldweatherplan or call 311 (a city information line distinct from 911).

John Czarnecki, an East Lansing city council member from 1975 to 1983 and then its mayor for the next four years, died in November at age 79. East Lansing Information published a remembrance of the former mayor, who was an economic developer for the state and for regional organizations. He also started the Tri-County Bicycle Association in 1972 and worked to develop an area trail system and a network of recreational bicyclists.

The Eaton Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) has received a grant of nearly $117,000, which will help update the equipment in its mobile pathway labs and give Eaton County elementary school students a chance to learn about semiconductors and electric vehicles, according to the Lansing State Journal. The labs are designed for elementary-aged students to expose them to trades and career paths that have matching programs at higher grade levels. The grant funds come from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Winter property taxes will rise 5% for Lansing residents this year, due in part to a state constitutional rule tying property value growth to inflation, Fox47 News reported. A social media post by Mayor Andy Schor said voter-approved services funded by taxes are another reason for the increase. He added that property value assessments rise at 5% or the rate of inflation—whichever is lower. With inflation recently rising, the state-mandated 5% cap is now taking effect. Residents needing assistance paying for taxes, which are due Feb. 14, 2026, are encouraged to call 311.

Holt Public Schools Superintendent David Hornak has announced his plan to retire Dec. 31, 2026. He has served in that role for the past 11 of his 32 years in the district, after working as a Young Fives, kindergarten, and first-grade teacher and elementary school principal. He also coached high school soccer. Hornak wrote that he would support a smooth transition with a 12-month notice and would work with an incoming superintendent.

A man was critically injured in a shooting on Lansing’s eastside early Tuesday morning. Police found a 37-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his chest on the 900 block of Eureka Street, who was then transferred to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Another shooting victim, whose age was not released, arrived at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening wound in his shoulder that was part of the same incident. No arrests have been made.

 

Meanwhile, Lansing police are searching for a suspect in a Monday night shooting that left a 15-year-old boy with non-life-threatening injuries. Police responded to the 1900 block of Georgetown Boulevard on the south side of town and found the victim, who was treated at a local hospital, with a gunshot wound to the leg. Those with information on either shooting are askfed to contact the LPD at 517-483-4600 or send a private message through the department’s Facebook page.

A 35-year-old man, arrested by Lansing police Sunday in connection with a stabbing incident and taken to the city’s detention center, is also accused of attempting to fight officers and kicking one of them. No officers were injured, Lansing Police Public Information Director Jordan Gulkis said. Police had gone to the 2400 block of North Cedar Street in Delta Township after the stabbing of another man, also 35, was reported, and later determined the incident took place at near Kalamazoo and Cherry streets about three hours earlier. The victim, who knew his attacker, was stabbed in the hand and had non-life-threatening injuries.

A historic building and destination in Escanaba County, the House of Ludington, was destroyed in a fire on Dec. 5. The 160-year-old bar and restaurant also is home to seven apartments and 10 hotel rooms. No one was seriously injured in the fire, according to the Daily Press.

The Michigan minimum wage will increase on Jan. 1 to $13.73 per hour. The current state minimum wage is $12.48 an hour, it will bump up again at the start of 2027 to $15 an hour. There are some exceptions to the minimum wage rules: Tipped workers can earn as little as $4.74 an hour now, that will go up to $5.49 in January. Workers under 18 years old can be paid 85% of the minimum wage.