Page 14 - Caaron Stephens News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Credit Courtesy / City of East Lansing The game of musical chairs on the East Lansing City Council continues with seven candidates running for three seats in the Nov. 2 election. Five candidates — Daniel Bollman, George Brookover, Adam DeLay, Chuck Grigsby and incumbent Dana Watson — filed this month to compete for two seats serving full, four-year terms. There’s also a partial, two-year term coming open. That’s the seat vacated by former Mayor Pro Tem Mark Meadows. Both Meadows and former Mayor Ruth Beier resigned mid-meeting last year during a disagreement over terminating the city ...

1:12 WKAR's Sarah Lehr reports on a new policy regarding disorderly conduct charges in East Lansing. It instructs the city attorney to consider the underlying behavior of the people involved and whether police could have used a different approach. According to the policy, the city attorney should not file disorderly conduct charges and dismiss ones already filed if doing so is in the interest of “justice and fairness.” East Lansing Mayor Aaron Stephens says disorderly conduct can be defined in an overbroad way, leaving room for racial bias in enforcement. “It’s basically like this cat...

College towns felt ignored by universities and resented the students. Then COVID-19 hit. Chrissie Thompson, USA TODAY Replay Video UP NEXT A dozen mayors wrote to Big Ten officials last fall. Football was returning to their communities, and they wanted help. “We humbly request,” the mayors wrote, “a few practical measures that the Big Ten Conference can take to ensure we have the tools we need to combat the spread of COVID-19.” A humble request. The words are telling: about where power lies, and where it doesn’t. And about where the leaders of these Big Ten college ...

USA TODAY A dozen mayors wrote to Big Ten officials last fall. Football was returning to their communities, and they wanted help. “We humbly request,” the mayors wrote, “a few practical measures that the Big Ten Conference can take to ensure we have the tools we need to combat the spread of COVID-19.” A humble request. The words are telling: about where power lies, and where it doesn’t. And about where the leaders of these Big Ten college towns — often dwarfed in size and in influence by their university neighbors — fit into the conversation. Which is to say, often on the side.

View Comments EAST LANSING —  East Lansing officials are raising concerns as a debate over short-term rentals resurfaces in the Michigan Legislature. Bills moving through the House and Senate would stop local governments from using zoning to ban or restrict vacation rentals, like the ones available through Airbnb or Vrbo. East Lasing has 21 overlay districts where rentals, including short-term rentals, at single-family homes are prohibited or restricted. But if House Bill 4722 or Senate Bill 446 becomes law, vacation rentals would become legal in those districts. The bills define shor...