News Highlights from the last 7 days: Aug. 10

Over the weekend, Capitol and Grand avenues downtown were two-wayed. Four more streets will be converted after construction on I-496 is completed. Pine and Walnut streets are due this year, then Ottawa and Allegan next year. The process started more than two decades ago with Shiawassee and Iona streets. The goal is to move more traffic in and out of the city center. Monday’s commute reportedly posed no problem. 

The Lansing City Council voted unanimously Monday to put the question of annexing the Groesbeck section of Lansing Township on the Nov. 8 ballot at the request of 122 residents. If a majority of the affected township voters approve, the city will gain about 2,200 residents and the township will lose about 20% its taxable property value.  

Lansing School District high school students will be riding CATA this year instead of Dean Transportation buses. Students will get passes. Families that opt out will receive gas cards. Dean will focus on K-8, special education and special events transportation for the district. 

Over the next two or three years, Lansing 7th and 8th graders will be taught in 4th to 8th grade schools instead of high schools. That’s a return to the former policy. “If the students are already safe and secure in their school, why move them (to the high school),” Superintendent Benjamin Shuldiner told the Lansing State  Journal. 

Democratic primary candidate Jon Horford conceded the race for the 77th District to Emily Dievendorf, who beat him by 25 votes. Logan Bryne came in third. Dievendorf faces Republican John Magoola in November in the new district, which is heavily Democratic. Dievendorf, 43, a longtime LGBTQ activist, owns Resistance Book Store in the Genesee Neighborhood of Lansing 

Meridian Township residents approved a ballot measure by just 14 votes to allow marijuana dispensaries. The township board will begin working in September on how to regulate them.  

Grand Ledge Public Schools appointed a new superintendent Monday night. Bill Barnes, a deputy under outgoing Marcus Davenport, who resigned for health reasons, was named acting superintendent while a contract is finalized, the district said. He’s the third superintendent since the board fired Brian Metcalf over a controversial social media post.  

An estimated 1,000 pounds of coffee bean caught fire Tuesday morning at Paramount Coffee, a roaster and distributor near Lugnuts Stadium in downtown Lansing, WLNS reported. Crews had the fire under control by 9:30 a.m.  

Mason Police reported a rash of car thefts and auto break-ins. Three cars were stolen over the weekend, and three more had items stolen from them, reports WILX. Police are asking residents to remove their keys and lock their doors and park in lighted areas. 

Michigan State University joined a coalition of institutions of higher education to produce and develop microchips and other microelectronics. The 11 Midwestern schools are hoping to increase a supply chain driven by MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams to increase microchip production regionally 

Sparrow Health System announced it has developed its own monkeypox test. The new test can be completed in 24 hours, compared to the state response of 1.2 days or longer. The test is done in three stages, including looking for similar infections, confirming monkeypox and then determining which variant of the virus is involved. Four cases have been confirmed in Ingham County. 

Lansing Police arrested three older teens in a Friday shooting at Pennsylvania Avenue and Jolly Road. Two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old have been charged with multiple felonies, reported WLNS.  

A court settlement between Meridian Township and the owners of a mobile home community could clear the way for a sale of the property. Winslow Mobile Home Community, owned by D. Venture LLC, has been an ongoing source of trash and other complaints. The company will pay $23,592 in legal fees, and Meridian will not write nuisance citations for 30 days to allow the company to begin evicting problem tenants.  

A man is in the Eaton County Jail after sheriff’s officials use a drone to locate him. At 12:30 a.m. Thursday, law enforcement from multiple agencies responded to a report of shots fired on Renker Road in Delta Township. An Eaton County sergeant located the man on North Dibble Avenue with a gun in his hand. He ran from the sergeant, the Lansing State Journal reports, but a drone team from Eaton County was able to locate him. The suspect was arrested without incident.