Rewind: News from the last 7 days

A 51-year-old man died of smoke inhalation after a house fire early Tuesday morning on South Clemens Ave., just off Michigan Ave., according to a statement from Lansing Fire Department. Two other men, ages 49 and 33, were injured. The fire was noticed by a passerby, who entered the home and rescued two people, according to firefighters. Linda Losik, who lives next door, told City Pulse that she was awoken around 3 a.m. Firefighters arrived quickly, she said, stopping the fire and shutting down the street. Losik has lived at her brick home since the early 1990s and said she had seen people coming and going from the home recently but had not met them. One firefighter was given a medical check for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital and was discharged.

Kim Coleman, the director overseeing Lansing’s response to homelessness, has resigned. The resignation of the Human Relations and Community Services director was announced Monday in statements by the mayor’s office, which said Coleman will continue to work with the city’s Mod Pod/Nova Housing Initiative. Coleman’s resignation is effective on Feb. 13 and the city’s statement said she resigned to “spend more time with family, pursue other interests and continue to help people in a more targeted way.” Coleman was hired in February 2020 after the retirement of Joan Jackson Johnson. Delvata Moses was appointed as interim director.

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The statements from the city praised a variety of Coleman’s work and says the mayor plans to continue to work with her on the city’s Mod Pod community. “I look forward to continuing to work with her on the Nova Housing Initiative and seeing what she does next, for our city and region, as well as with her family,” Schor said in the statement. Coleman’s resignation letter was included and said, in part: “I’ve decided to step down, effective February 13th, to spend more time with my family and pursue partnerships and collaborations that allow me to continue focusing on the issues I am most passionate about, leveraging my background to drive tangible, lasting progress for our community in a new capacity. I’ll do everything I can to ensure a thoughtful handover while continuing to work on the Nova Lansing Housing Initiative.”

The most famous groundhog saw his shadow on Monday, signaling six more weeks of winter, according to Groundhog Day lore. Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania-based rodent, is the biggest name brand in groundhog forecasting, but there are somewhere around 90 forecasting groundhogs, according to groundhog-day.com’s listing. The organization checked with 74 of those groundhogs in 2026, leaving us with the closest result since a straight-up tie in 2020. The colony of groundhogs gave ‘six more weeks of winter’ a slight edge, at 53%. Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs are the largest member of the squirrel family and have no formal weather training. Michigan’s only forecasting groundhog, Livingston County’s Woody the Woodchuck, concurred with Punxsutawney Phil this year. They agreed it’s hella freezing outside; neither one wanted to come out. For what it’s worth, the human forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information are throwing shade on the rodent’s track record. They say Phil has gotten it right in the past decade, but only 30% of the time.

The most famous badger-person saw his shadow last week and will drop out this winter. Samuel “Elyon Badger” Smeltzer, a long-shot candidate in the 7th Congressional race, often appears in a marijuana-patterned suit topped with a honey badger head. Badger received national attention for his eccentric and inflammatory campaign. He cited supporting his spouse’s health as he suspended his campaign and endorsed William Lawrence. Matt Maasdam and Bridget Brink are also leading candidates. Smeltzer said in a video that he endorsed Lawrence, whom he had critiqued, after learning more about him. The colorful former candidate urged Lawrence to “be as feral” as he was about healthcare during the rest of the primary and general campaigns.

MoMo Tea in East Lansing is seeking the return of its larger-than-human-sized teddy bear. The bear has sat on a chair in the shop for more than a decade, according to Fox 47 News. Security footage from Friday shows someone wearing a mask and sitting in the shop next to the bear. The individual then stood up, grabbed the bear by the neck and heaved it over their shoulder as they casually walked out the door. Baristas told Fox 47 that they hope the bear gets returned or someone shares information with police.

The MSU Board of Trustees plans to vote on the demolition of the IM West building during a meeting Friday, Feb. 6, the Lansing State Journal reported. The Board had originally planned to vote on the demolition a year ago, but the item was removed from the agenda before they could vote on it, due to concerns from some members about the transition process to the new Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Last June, the board approved a planning study to consider whether IM West, built in 1958, should be demolished, refurbished or reused.

Paczkis are starting to arrive. Paczki Day (Fat Tuesday) is Feb. 17 this year. The Lansing favorite, Roma’s Bakery, has been closed for years and has left a big gap that needs to be filled. Just like a good paczki. More than a dozen local shops aim yearly to fill that gap with a variety of, well, fillings. Check out places like Quality Dairy, Groovy Donuts, Bake N’ Cakes and more than a dozen other local shops and let us know what you think. Quality Dairy is having a paczki eating contest on Feb. 13 at the REO Town Clubhouse.

Two Michigan natives won Grammy Awards this week. Lansing-born Billy Strings won Best Bluegrass Album for his “Highway Prayers” release. Strings was raised in Michigan and played many of his early shows in and around Lansing. He now resides in Nashville and still pulls off small secret performances near his hometown. Detroit native CeCe Winans won the Best Gospel Performance/Song award for “Come Jesus Come,” feat. Shirley Caesar. Lansing resident Sergei Kvitko was nominated for Producer of the Year in the Classical category. Elaine Martone won that honor this year, her third consecutive and fourth time winning overall. The category is dominated by eight producers, who have won all but three awards since 1996. Kvitko is a pianist, sound engineer and owner of Blue Griffin Recording. He told City Pulse prior to the ceremony that being nominated was a tremendous honor.

Michigan high school seniors can enter an essay contest from LAFCU this winter, with applications are due March 31 and four $5,000 scholarships being awarded. It is the 18th year of the essay contest; this year it requires a 500-word essay on the topic: “Describe a problem facing your community and explain how you would help address or solve it. Discuss the impact your solution could have on others.” For full contest details or to submit an entry, visit lafcu.com/writetoeducate