News Highlights from the Last 7 Days

The East Lansing City Council voted to hire attorney J. Randall Secontine to investigate an anonymous complaint that blames the government’s “turmoil” on “poor and unethical leadership” by Mayor Ron Bacon with the aid of Council members Dana Watson and Jessy Gregg. A Council statement said the complaint was purportedly written by a city employee. The complaint charges the Council members with “what is tantamount to illegally ignoring the Charter” and influencing the city’s daily operations. The allegations follow multiple resignations by city employees in the wake of the Council’s decision to terminate city manager George Lahanas in January. Secontine, a former Oakland county prosecutor, will conduct a “transparent, outside, third-party review” under the supervision of City Attorney Anthony Chubb, the Council said in a joint statement issued by all five members. “We have no reason to believe these allegations are accurate,” it also said. Bacon described the complaint as having “hints of racism.”

 

The Michigan State University Board of Trustees again denied a state request for documents related to Larry Nassar. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently renewed a request for more than 6,000 documents connected to the former MSU physician and convicted sexual criminal, which the school has withheld for years. The board’s makeup, including its chair, has changed since the state’s last request, but its decision remained the same. Board Chair Rema Vassar said the board denied the request to maintain attorney-client privilege and keep from retraumatizing victims. Students took to the Hannah Administration Building to protest the board’s decision. Nessel, who told the Lansing State Journal last year that she believes the school is withholding the documents to hide specific information, said the state will continue to pursue the documents “until the standards of investigation and justice are met.”

In other news:

The trustees voted to increase room and board rates by 6.95% for freshmen this fall, citing inflation, but spokesperson Dan Olsen said the rates are still the third lowest in the Big Ten. First-year undergraduate students who choose the standard double room and silver dining plan will pay $11,754, whereas second-year students will pay the current price of $10,990. The board also approved a 5% increase in rent at the 1855 Place and University Village Apartments and a 3% increase in rent at the Spartan Village Apartments.

The trustees also authorized planning a health education building as a new home to the College of Osteopathic Medicine, among other uses. 

 

Two teens have been charged in the Feb. 5 homicide of 18-year-old Makhi Williams. Keif Chatman, 17, and an unnamed 13-year-old suspect were arrested and charged with second-degree murder and felony firearm possession. Chatman was charged in adult court, while the younger suspect was charged in juvenile court. If convicted, the younger suspect would undergo specialized treatment. If the youth does not show progress, the youth will be moved to adult court.

 

A Wisconsin-based development company wants to turn the site of the former El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy into low-income senior housing, the Lansing State Journal reported. The 1919 building, originally the Barnes Avenue School, was designed by architect Judson Churchill, who also designed numerous other area schools. It needs to be added to the National Register of Historic Places so the developer, Commonwealth Companies, can use federal historic tax credits and other financial aid to help with the $16 million renovation cost. The U.S. Interior Department is reviewing the firm’s application after federal officials requested revisions. Once the review is finished, the department has 45 days to list the property as a historic site. Commonwealth Companies executive Greg Baron said he also expects the state Housing Development Authority to grant low-income tax credits. If the project continues, Commonwealth Companies will create 21 units from classrooms and add a new section to the building off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with 30 units.

 

A mobile pizza oven was stolen from Slice by Saddleback’s west Lansing location, then found and returned by police and community members. The theft came just a week after Slice’s south Lansing location was broken into. Owners Matt Gillett and Travis Stoliker said on Facebook that the $12,500 oven holds a special place in their hearts because it was used to feed people affected by the tornado in Gaylord last year and has been “an integral part of countless funerals, graduations, weddings and other significant family events.” They offered a $1,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the oven’s recovery and worked with neighboring businesses, the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office and the Hastings Police Department. A Facebook tip led them to Hastings, where they found the oven near a home. Gillett told the Lansing State Journal that it’s believed the thief sold the oven to a buyer who was unaware of the circumstances.