Rewind: News Highlights From The Last 7 Days

Krystal Davis-Dunn claimed in a federal lawsuit that her former supervisors at the Ingham County Health Department used racial slurs, including calling her “Aunt Jemina,” and that officials were unresponsive to her complaints. She also alleged the county did not accommodate her neurodevelopment disability, which can make it difficult to process certain audio and visual information. Davis-Dunn is also pursuing a Circuit Court lawsuit in Ingham County that alleges sexual harassment by a supervisor. She worked for the county from 2016 to 2023.

The Lansing school board has made Juneteenth (June 19) an official district holiday. The date typically falls outside the school year, but school staff and those in summer school and education programs will have the day off “to reflect, enjoy, and celebrate the holiday outside of a school setting,” officials said. “This decision by the Board of Education reflects our commitment to honoring and celebrating the importance of Juneteenth in American history.” Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 that Black Americans in Texas were freed — the last state to do so. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made Juneteenth an official state holiday last year.

The Lansing School District graduated 76 percent of its seniors in 2022-‘23, according to MISchoolData, the highest rate achieved since 2013. The rate of students dropping out declined from 24 percent in 2014 to 8 percent last year. “All our hard work together to improve graduation rates has resulted in a historic change for the better, and the new numbers are really something all our school district families can be proud of,” Superintendent Ben Shuldiner said.

Police are investigating the theft of eight new Cadillacs Tuesday from a General Motors storage lot on Davis Highway in Bath Township, two of which have been recovered. The specific models stolen were not released, but the Lansing Grand River plant makes the CT4s and CT5s. The two found were abandoned on eastbound I-69 near Webster Road.

The city of Lansing plans to remove the tree-covered islands on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Ionia and Lenawee streets, if the proposal is approved by the Michigan Department of Transportation. It’s part of a $3.3 million, state-funded project to make downtown streets two ways. The city says the removal is necessary to accommodate changes on Ottawa and Allegan, which run perpendicular to MLK, and to “optimize traffic flow,” but some westside residents are concerned about the disappearance of green space and navigating five lanes of nonstop traffic.

Kenneth Mazur, a former Eaton Rapids High School teacher and coach, has been ordered to stand trial on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a student starting in 1997. The alleged relationship began when the student was 15 and a member of Mazur’s volleyball team and continued until she graduated. Authorities said she came forward in 2002, but then-Eaton County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sauter declined to authorize criminal charges, determining at the time that the girl was 16, the age of legal consent.

Thomas Olson, 35, of Grand Blanc Township, was convicted by a 29th Circuit Court jury of second-degree murder and felony firearm possession charges in the 2018 Bath Township killing of Chong Yang, 68, of Lansing. Both were hunting at the state’s Rose Lake complex during firearm deer season. The jury had deliberated about 18 hours over three days. Judge Shannon Schlegel scheduled sentencing for April 8.

East Lansing was named the second-best college town in the Midwest in a market insight report from RentCafe, which analyzed how affordability, livability and education factors influence prospective students when they make their college choice. In its nationwide rankings, East Lansing was 13th. Athens Ohio, home of Ohio University, was ranked #1 in the Midwest, while Bozeman, Mont. topped the national rankings.

Mason Public Schools Superintendent Gary Kinzer is one of five finalists for the same position at Forest Hills Public Schools in Grand Rapids. 

Public safety:

Two Mason teenagers and a Holt man were hospitalized Sunday after a two-vehicle crash north of Mason. … Lansing police are seeking individuals connected to a shots-fired complaint Tuesday after the suspects escaped officers after a short vehicle chase in southwest Lansing. Officers determined no one was hit with the shots. … MSU police and public safety officers are asking for community help in identifying a vehicle that struck a pedestrian on Jan. 22 on Kalamazoo Street in front of Jenison Fieldhouse.