News Highlights from the last 7 days: July 13

Westside Chipotle employees seek to unionize 

Employees of the Delta Township location of Chipotle have joined the national unionization effort by fast-food employees. Paperwork for the union, which would be affiliated with the Teamsters, was filed with the National Labor Relations Board last week. Chipotle corporate spokesperson Lisa Schalow told the Nation’s Restaurant News that the company respected the rights of its workers to unionize but pointed out Chipotle’s tuition reimbursement program, bonus program and the potential for workers to reach a salary of $100,000 a year after just four years with the company. 

Ex-Lansing police chief heads to Alabama 

Michigan State University announced Monday former Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green has been named the associate vice president of public safety and chief of police at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Green left LPD in June of 2021 to become the chief of staff for MSU Police Chief Marlon Lynch. His last day at MSU is July 26, and he starts his new position on Aug. 1. 

Pulse ad goes viral 

The owner of the local cooling and heating service company All Star Mechanical has been the focus of stories in Bridge Magazine and the Detroit Metro Times because of an ad he ran in the June 29 edition of City Pulse. The ad raised significant concerns about racial and gender equity in the shadow of the June 24 ruling by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Kirchoff told City Pulse he didn’t run the ad for publicity, he ran it because he believes in equity and wanted to express his outrage. Someone took a picture of the ad, posted it to Twitter and other social media and it garnered hundreds of thousands of reactions and retweets. 

Police nab man walking a motorcycle 

Lansing Police confirmed they arrested a man walking down Kalamazoo Street at Holmes Road on the city’s east side. He was pushing a motorcycle that matched the description of one reported stolen the day before. He tried to flee, but officers were able to apprehend him. He was charged with receiving and concealing stolen property, resisting arrest, possession of narcotics and a slew of additional warrants already in the system. 

Red Cedar senior residence opening in September 

A $35 million luxury senior housing project in the northwest corner of the Red Cedar Project Development is set to open in September. The luxury senior living facility was created by developer Karl Schneider of Continental Senior Communities. It’s part of a larger development on the former Red Cedar Golf Course, which closed in 2007. The Red Cedar Project is a $262 million product of developer Joel Ferguson and his company Ferguson Development in partnership with Frank Kass, of Columbus Ohio. When done, the new development will include apartments, retail space and two hotels, as well as parking. 

Holy matrimony Batman! 

The caped crusader and multimillionaire Batman/Bruce Wayne and badass Wonder Woman/Diana Prince tied the knot Sunday at the Capital City Comic Con at the Lansing Center. And it was no stunt: The duo are portrayed locally by Shamus Smith and Katie Whitaker. Just before the two took their super dive into matrimony, comedian and actor Tom Arnold stepped up to greet the crowd. WITL radio host Mojo attended the nuptials and shared his experience on the station’s website. 

Newly minted lottery millionaire from Holt 

Jamieson King, 43, of Holt bought a Powerball lottery ticket Aug. 4 last year at the Quality Dairy on Dunckel Road. It turned out to be a gangbusters win of $1 million by matching five white balls drawn for the game that night. For those curious, King’s winning numbers were 05-21-32-36-58. He had a year to claim the prize, which he did last week. He told lottery officials he was going to save his windfall. 

Big Reds no more 

Lansing School District Sexton High School is changing the name of its mascot from Big Reds. A new mascot name and identity has not yet been released, with school officials saying they are still looking for the right match. The change is because the mascot is considered a racial slur by many in the Native American community. The costs associated with the change will be underwritten by an $87,500 grant from the Native American Heritage Fund. The organization is funded, in part, by casino revenues. It has been working with Michigan schools to eliminate racially insensitive mascots, including providing a $213,633 rebranding of Okemos Schools mascot, The Chiefs, into the Okemos Bears. Last year the fund gave Lansing Schools a $47,712 grant to rebrand Riddle Elementary’s mascot, Little Red — a bear wearing a Native American headdress. The school mascot is now the Rhinos, named in part after the young rhino born at Potter Park Zoo in 2019