Cold-case detective coming
Mayor Bernero promises to veto City Council's decision to exclude a full-time cold-case investigator in next fiscal year's budget
by Andy BalaskovitzIn his office Monday night shortly after the Lansing City Council adopted a budget for the next fiscal year, the first item Mayor Virg Bernero promised to veto was the Council's elimination of a new, full-time cold-case investigator.
Disclosing pay
Two City Council members' non-disclosure of financial interests suggests a weak ethics ordinance
by Andy Balaskovitz
Lansing City Council President Carol Wood earned at least $4,700 as a consultant to political campaigns in 2012, yet she didn't have to report any information on it under the city's ethics ordinance.
Drive-by policing
Lansing Police Department to purchase three additional Automatic License Plate Readers for use later this summer, raising privacy concerns
by Sam Inglot
Niowave update
Tunnel construction, pollution prevention and the tax abatement
by Sam InglotThe latest chapter in Niowave Inc.'s strained relationship with its residential neighbors is over the construction going on inside the company's controversial pole barn.
Litos a leader
by Walt Sorg
Consumers Mutual Insurance, Michigan's newest health insurer, is ambitious. Its mission is to be "recognized as Michigan's plan of choice for patient-centered care, disease management, lower costs, and greater access for individuals, families and the business community" by 2018.
'A particular genius'
Pianist Sergei Kvitko's road to Carnegie Hall
by Lawrence Cosentino
Quite the spectacle
Lansing Vaudeville band embarks on weeklong, statewide tour for documentary
by ALLAN I. ROSS
There are some natural complications that go along with being a 15-piece gypsy folk band, and being about 80 years out of time is only one of them. Stage size is obviously a key issue, as is the coordination of more than a dozen independent work and personal schedules.
A decade of doodles
After 10 years, local artist's caricatures will no longer be at Biggby
by Sam Inglot
One of Dennis Preston's favorite places to conjure up grotesque and whimsical characters was the Biggby Coffee at 536 Elmwood Road in Lansing, just south of the Lansing Mall. The local illustrator, designer and caricaturist would draw on coffee napkins and leave them at the store, which could then be "purchased" by giving $10 to the barista on duty. It was a tradition that had been going on throughout Lansing-area Biggby's for the past 10 years.
Drawn that way
Lansing children's author keeps character grounded in real world
by Bill Castanier
If Ruth McNally Barshaw has her way, Ellie McDoodle will never see 13, play a video game or use a cell phone. And the Lansing author and illustrator will have her way, since she is the creator of the five-book young adult series "The Ellie McDoodle Diaries," about a 12-year-old who journalizes her life, accompanied by doodle drawings.
Mississippi 'Mud'
McConaughey sheds pride, not shirt, in powerful performance
by ALLAN I. ROSS
After an electrifying breakthrough performance in 1996's "A Time to Kill" — followed by solid showings in "Contact" and "Amistad" — Matthew McConaughey mostly slummed it through the '00s.
Turn it down
A survey of Lansing's musical landscape
by Rich Tupica
Drake White, an EMI-signed singer/songwriter based in Nashville, plays the Whiskey Barrel Saloon on May 30. The Alabama native has a rootsy modern country sound, blended with southern gospel vibes.
New in town
Decker's/ Artie's Food / Athenas Diner / Leaf
by ALLAN I. ROSS
After six years, Jessica Decker has handed over the keys to Decker's Coffee Co., 220 S. Washington Square in downtown Lansing, to a new owner. J.T. Dachtler took over the reins at Decker's Saturday, but Decker is sticking around for a week to smooth the transition.
A tomato by any other name
Decoding the sometimes confusing terminology of organic food
by Laura Johnson
"Organic" has become a buzzword that seems to be everywhere these days. Essentially, organic refers to agriculture that's conducted without synthetic chemicals, but as with any trend, there are a flurry of issues, contradictions and confusions infused about what it really means.
