Rewind the news, week of July 29, 2026

Lansing was awarded a $1.2 million grant for preliminary engineering and planning that could lead to roadwork and improved intersection safety in south Lansing. The grant covers the IPACE intersection area – including I-96, Pennsylvania Avenue, American Road, Cedar Street and Edgewood Boulevard. The grant could help make the area safer, Mayor Andy Schor said, in a statement. The federal BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant would allow for only planning and design work; construction funding would need to come from elsewhere. “This funding will allow the city and MDOT to develop and plan for a safe, efficient design for the S. Cedar, Pennsylvania, Edgewood area and I look forward to working with our state and federal partners to further study this busy area and design a modernized intersection,” said Andy Kilpatrick, the city’s Public Service Department director.
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A BUILD grant was also awarded to Meridian Township from the U.S. Department of Transportation grant program to improve the intersection of Okemos and Hamilton roads in downtown Okemos. The work is projected to take place in 2028-29. “Revitalizing our downtown is the Township Board’s number one goal, and infrastructure issues have been the greatest roadblock to getting a redevelopment project off the ground,” Meridian Township Supervisor Scott Hendrickson said in a statement. “This grant will allow us to improve vehicular access to Village of Okemos properties, enhance walkability throughout the area, and create conditions that support high-quality redevelopment consistent with our community’s vision.”

Lansing’s new Willow School had a ribbon-cutting last week to mark the opening of the new $40 million school at 1025 Ontario St. It is expected to serve grades K-8, with about 500 students in 18 classrooms. The school was part of a $130 million bond approved back in 2022. Lansing School District also opened earlier this summer the Lewton School, a Spanish immersion school for pre-K-8 students.

DBI, a Lansing-based design and office furniture company, has transitioned to employee ownership. The company is the second business to finalize an Employee Stock Ownership Plan through the Michigan Employee Ownership Pilot Program. DBI employs 54 people across three Lansing locations. They provide interior design, office furniture, architectural solutions, installation, reconfiguration and ongoing project support. Former owners George Snyder and Steve Klaver opted for the state program to keep the ownership local instead of selling to an outside buyer or competitor. “When Steve and I began thinking about what came next for DBI, keeping the company locally owned was one of the most important things to us,” Snyder said, in a statement from the state. “Employee ownership strengthens that commitment by giving every employee-owner a personal stake in delivering exceptional experiences and supporting DBI’s continued success.” The pilot program has provided grants to 10 companies exploring employee ownership. Seven have committed to completing transitions and DBI is the second to finish the process.

East Lansing City Council members approved last week a 12-story project called “The Howard” and denied a different 10-story project. The Howard development plans to have close to 300 units of apartments with commercial/retail units on the ground floor. It will be on Grand River Avenue, rising above the former MSU Student Bookstore location. The proposal relies on neighboring parking for most of the planned residents, which has been controversial. The council also rejected a plan to build a separate high-rise on the Bailey Street parking lot site.

The City of Lansing is receiving a grant to hire a qualified contractor to complete a historic resource survey of properties within the Espanore subdivision, one of the original subdivision plats of the Westside Neighborhood. The survey will serve as a baseline for collecting data about historic resources in the area, which will help guide future decision-making and efforts to recognize, promote, and tell the story of the community. “The City of Lansing is excited to accept and utilize the Certified Local Government grant, its first since 2007, to complete a reconnaissance survey of the Espanore plat of the historic Westside neighborhood,” said Andy Fedewa, principal planner for the City of Lansing. “The survey will document the neighborhood’s architectural and cultural resources, improve understanding of its historic significance, and provide an updated foundation for preservation planning. This effort will help inform future decision-making, educate property owners, and ensure the neighborhood’s unique character and history are recognized and preserved for future generations.”

Lansing’s Child and Family Charities non-profit has launched a series of “Barbershop Talks” at their Dart Foundation Youth Drop-In and Education Center on S. Washington. Drop-in Education Center Coordinator Mandi Woodward told WLNS News that the program was created after listening to what young men, ages 14-21, in the community need most. The makeshift barbershop provides free haircuts with “judgement-free group discussions, to help teens and young men in areas of mental health, coping with gun violence, suicide prevention and building confidence. The “barbershop” is open Mondays twice a month, with the next two sessions scheduled for Aug. 10 and 24 between 1-3 p.m.

The post office in Charlotte is one step closer to being renamed after Ensign Francis C. Flaherty. A U.S. House committee voted last week to advance a proposal by U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican, to rename the post office to honor Flaherty, who died during the Pearl Harbor attack while aiding his shipmates to safety. About one in four bills gets advanced to the full House and this one is likely to be approved, according to GovTrack.us, which monitors similar bills. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Michigan’s other 12 representatives. Flaherty was born in Charlotte and attended the University of Michigan before joining the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1946, and his remains were identified in 2019 as part of a large military identification program and was reinterred at Maple Hill Cemetery in Charlotte. Part of M-50 in Charlotte is named the “Ensign Francis Flaherty Memorial Highway,” which was designated in 2021.

Lansing anesthesiologist Dr. Paul St. Claire was awarded more than $12.2 million last week by an Ingham County jury after he claimed he had been defamed by MiIton Allimadi and Black Star News Inc., a New York-based independent online news source. Allimadi and Black Star were found to be in default and established liability, which left only damages for the jury to determine. St. Claire’s attorney, C. Christopher Newburg, said in a social media post that his client was the subject of a “relentless, vindictive, and malicious online smear campaign.” Allimadi told the Lansing State Journal that he’s attempting to get the damages thrown out and default judgment set aside, saying that he stands by what he wrote.