Rewind: News from the last 7 days

The Lansing School Board has approved a policy change to eliminate information about students’ addresses, birth places and telephone numbers in the district’s directory. The district will not release directory information for students to any person or party other than the student or their parents without a parent’s written consent. Such directory information is typically not released publicly but shared only with state and federal agencies such as education departments. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and the ACLU of Michigan released guidance last month that schools should limit information collected from students, parents and guardians.

East Lansing city officials said they will comply with a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that a 5% franchise fee imposed on Lansing Board of Water & Light customers by the city since 2017 was an illegal tax. The city sent a letter to BWL general manager Richard Peffley directing BWL to stop collecting the franchise fee and asking it to refund customers any fees already collected but not yet sent to the city. The fee generated about $1.4 million for East Lansing’s general fund each year.

The MSU Board of Trustees removed a proposal to demolish the university’s IM West building from the agenda of its meeting last Friday, delaying a vote due to concerns raised by some trustees. MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz told the Lansing State Journal that the trustees want to understand better how the transition from IM West to the new Student Health and Recreation Center will occur regarding operations. MSU expects to open the $200 million center next year. The board’s Budget and Finance Committee had recommended that IM West, built in 1959, be demolished in spring 2027 at a cost of about $5 million.

MSU’s Board of Trustees has agreed to meet with pro-Palestinian student organizers from the Hurriya Coalition April 10. Students from the coalition interrupted the board’s meeting Friday, causing them to go into recess for more than 20 minutes. The coalition has been pushing MSU to divest from financial holdings in Israel and organized the protest after trustees declined to attend a town hall the students planned. After the town hall, about 100 students marched to Cowles House, where Guskiewicz lives, leading chants and taping a list of questions and demands to the front door.

The Fretail Store, an extension of nonprofits Cardboard Prophets and Capital Area Diaper Bank, will close its Lansing Mall location at the end of March after a dispute with mall management, officials with the nonprofit said. Fretail’s agreement with mall management for the space expires in May, and the mall has asked the store to relocate to a smaller, 3,800-square-foot space. The store opened in the mall in 2021 and provides diapers, clothing, toys and other necessities to people in need. It moved to a 6,280-square-foot storefront previously occupied by Victoria’s Secret in 2023.  The new space the mall offered Fretail needs renovation and renting it would cost $500 a month more. The nonprofit invested $20,000, including a $17,000 grant, to remodel the storefront that it occupies. The mall posted a statement on its Facebook page that said, “It has become clear that the traditional shopping mall environment no longer aligns with its expanding needs.” The Fretail Store and Capital Area Diaper Bank outreach efforts will cease if they can’t reach an agreement with mall management or find a new location.

The Michigan Labor and Economic Opportunity Department announced it will distribute $5.65 million in need-based grants to 41 symphony orchestras throughout the state through the new, one-time Symphony Economic Recovery Program, including two in Greater Lansing. The Lansing Symphony Association will receive $95,016, while the Mason Orchestral Society will receive $1,074. The largest award, of $1.25 million, is going to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The grants will support needs such as the renovation of music halls, instruments, musician staff, administrative staff, professional development and marketing and outreach to expand attendance, a press release said.

Jaivion Husband, 21, has died from injuries suffered in a Jan. 27 shooting, said Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane Thursday in a news release. Five people were charged in connection with the shooting of Husband, who was found in the passenger seat of a vehicle near the intersection of Willow Street and Grand Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head. “Our office had previously charged five co-defendants with two separate counts of assault with intent to commit murder arising out of this incident, along with other felony charges,” he said. “We are now reauthorizing criminal charges to include open murder and discharge of a firearm from a vehicle causing death along with other criminal charges.” Garrard Young, 19; Dauvion Forrest, 19; Anthony White Jr., 20; Dayjian Lenoir, 21; and Tshara Lynch, 35, were each charged in the incident.