Rewind: News from the last 7 days

MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz told faculty and staff some will lose their jobs as the university reduces its budget 9% over the next two years. MSU “faces external pressures such as rising employee health care costs and increased operating costs due to inflation” and “expects to receive less money from the federal government due to research cuts and restrictions on international enrollments,” he wrote them Monday. The university may also be affected by state funding cuts as the Legislature works to finalize its budget. Guskiewicz said many units initially looked to identify existing vacancies that they couldn’t fill, but there will be some direct reductions in currently filled positions. MSU will work with employee unions and potentially offer voluntary retirement incentive plans for tenure-stream faculty.

Elijah Larkins of Delta Township, 22, faces charges of open murder and felony firearm possession in Thurday’s shooting of Timothy McGovern, 26. Lansing police found McGovern with multiple gunshot wounds in an apartment in the 3400 block of Beau Jardin Drive. Hospital personnel pronounced him dead. Investigators said that the shooting stemmed from a verbal altercation inside the apartment. Police said Larkins told them he shot McGovern in the chest in self-defense after McGovern charged at him. Larkins fled the scene, but police located and arrested him at his parents’ home later that day. Police recovered a firearm they believed was used in the shooting from a silver Chevrolet Impala associated with him.

The Lansing School District Board of Education has approved a $263 million budget that will require it to spend $11.5 million from its $57.5 million fund balance (about 20%) to operate in 2025-‘26. The board expects approximately $97.7 million, or nearly 40% of the budget, to come from state, federal and local grants, almost $20 million more than it expected last year. The extent to which it will receive those grants depends on the outcome of state and federal budgets yet to be approved.

Styla Denton, an Eaton County teenager who Michigan State Police reported missing on June 19, is safe and unharmed after troopers found her Monday. An unidentified caller tipped MSP that she was in Lansing near U-M Health Sparrow. MSP reported Monday that Denton’s family was offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to her location and return. When the 14-year-old disappeared, she did not have her cellphone or medication that doctors had prescribed to her.

Carl Frederick Mengeling, the former bishop of the Diocese of Lansing, died Tuesday at 94 at the Mother Teresa House for the Care of the Terminally Ill in Lansing. “Bishop Mengeling was just an incredible blessing to this diocese, especially because of the joy that he brought and his incredible enthusiasm,” said Bishop Earl Boyea in a Facebook post. Mengeling was ordained a priest by Bishop Andrew G. Grutka in 1957 in Gary, Indiana. Pope John Paul appointed him as  Lansing’s the fourth bishop in 1995, serving until his retirement in 2008. The diocese has posted funeral arrangements on its Facebook page, including his requiem mass at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing July 10. Dioceseoflansing.org has published his obituary.

An escaped adult emu ran free in a south Lansing neighborhood Thursday, chasing cars and running at people, before animal control officers and police corralled it in a backyard. The emu died while officers were grabbing it and trying to set it down, despite attempts to resuscitate it. Emus are flightless birds that can stand as tall as 6 feet and weigh more than 100 pounds. Dan Verhougstraete, deputy director of Ingham County Animal Control, said the bird’s owner, whom he did not identify, came to pick it up and said he was going to eat it. He added that the man has faced criminal charges for incidents involving loose animals, including dogs, chickens and goats.

K-9 Ares, the retired canine partner of East Lansing Police Sgt. Justan Horst died Tuesday at his home. The dog came from the Czech Republic and specialized in explosive detection, article searches, building searches, tracking (including suspects, missing children and elderly people), area searches and officer protection. “Sgt. Horst and K-9 Ares started their career in May 2015 and retired in October 2022,” an ELPD Facebook post stated. “K-9 Ares served with dedication for over seven years, apprehending several felons, locating missing persons, completing numerous explosive sweeps, and performing countless demonstrations for children.”