News Highlights from the last 7 days

The University of Michigan’s Michigan Medicine will purchase Lansing-based Sparrow Health System in an agreement expected to be completed in the first half of 2023. The companies hope the merger will “expand services to Mid-Michigan residents, provide access to the highest level of care, improve facilities and technology and begin a new chapter in Sparrow’s storied history,” according to a press release. Michigan Medicine will inherit more than 115 new care centers, including E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, community hospitals in Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and Saint Johns and Sparrow Specialty Hospital.

 

Youth sports referee Gerald Allen Sutter, 70, already being held for previous criminal sexual conduct charges, has been accused of molesting a 5-year-old boy in 2015. Sutter, who was arraigned in 55th District Court on Friday, faces two charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one charge of interfering with a police investigation for allegedly offering to pay the 5-year-old’s family if they did not cooperate with police. He was originally charged on Oct. 26 with three counts of criminal sexual conduct for mulitple alleged assaults of a 16-year-old boy between 2019 and 2021. A hearing is tentatively set for Dec. 27 to decide whether he will stand trial for the second set of charges.

 

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear Michigan State University’s appeal in a Title IX case relating to the school’s swimming and diving programs. MSU got rid of the programs in October 2020, citing financial difficulty related to COVID-19 and infrastructure issues with campus pools. Last year, former women swimmers filed a lawsuit alleging that they weren’t offered equal opportunities for sports participation, a requirement under Title IX. The case will continue in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with a trial set for Jan. 23. The university has 14 days (as of Tuesday) to submit a compliance plan with Title IX, which swimming and diving members and staff hope will include a reinstatement of the programs.

Ohio-based developing company Pivotal plans to build 132 multifamily and senior apartments in Lansing’s Stadium District at an estimated cost of $38 million. Pivotal purchased the land, located at 500 N. Cedar St., Friday. The development has been named Stadium North Lofts and Stadium North Senior Lofts, each including 66 units. The company plans to use $1 million in brownfield grants from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to remove contaminated soil, demolish buildings and install ventilation systems on the plot, which used to be an auto junkyard. The project is estimated to finish in the spring of 2024.