Wednesday, February 29,2012

Casino referendum brewing

Could Sault Tribe members put a stop to the downtown casino deal?

by Andy Balaskovitz

The chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is worried his members will overturn the tribe’s vote to support a downtown Lansing casino, putting an end to over a year’s worth of confidential negotiations and month-long buzz over Kewadin Lansing Casino.

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Wednesday, February 29,2012

It's personal

Facts are subjective in the political saga between Virg Bernero and Kelly Rossman-McKinney

by Andy Balaskovitz

Last week’s political theater staged by Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero was the latest act in a professional relationship with PR executive Kelly Rossman-McKinney that shows things are getting personal.

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Wednesday, February 29,2012

Politics and your food

by Terry Link

Ahh, 2012: Leap Year, a presidential election and the beginning of the rest of our lives. Michigan is not immune to the onslaught of negative campaigning that swamped Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and other states whose primary elections are over.

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Wednesday, February 29,2012

Under the bridge

by Joan Bolander

Last week thousands of Lansing Community College students and commuters dashing between the suburbs and their business downtown noticed an old wooden boat suspended by a crane 20 feet above the Grand River just north of the Saginaw Street Bridge.

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Wednesday, February 22,2012

Battle over the bond

East Lansing school plan divides a passionate community

by Lawrence Cosentino

Supporters of the plan say the district needs to act on a grand scale now, before plunging property values erode its capacity to apply for bonds in order to replace or upgrade 40- and 50-year-old elementary school buildings.

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Wednesday, February 22,2012

Byrum takes big swing heading into clerk’s race

by Kyle Melinn

Standing in front of the Veterans Memorial Courthouse in downtown Lansing, Byrum took a few digs at the current officeholder, retiring Clerk Mike Bryanton, who is backing Lansing Clerk Chris Swope as his successor in the Democratic primary.

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Wednesday, February 22,2012

Vaarwel, Meijer - for now

by BERL SCHWARTZ

Meijer reached out to me late Friday to suggest the magazine rack as at least a temporary solution, but that will accommodate just a fraction of the 3,000-plus papers readers pick up in Meijer each week. Moreover, it will be far less visible and accessible.

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Wednesday, February 22,2012

Eyesore of the week

by Andy Balaskovitz

Architecture critic Amanda Harrell-Seyburn says: It’s easy to dismiss simple houses as not having a specific style, but the fact is, nearly all buildings fall into a stylistic category. Case in point: 1112 Bensch St. is a variation of American folk architecture known as “Gable-front”

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Wednesday, February 22,2012

Budget 'challenge'

Is it time to reopen the defined benefits/defined contributions debate as pension and retiree health care costs add to deficit? The Bernero administration says yes.

by Andy Balaskovitz

Randy Hannan, chief of staff for Mayor Virg Bernero, said while "time will tell" if the city’s pension and retiree health care systems are unsustainable, "everything is on the table" when asked about reconfiguring those systems to look more like the private sector.

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Wednesday, February 15,2012

Spotting the 'spaceship'

Everybody's a critic as the Broad Museum finally settles to Earth

by Lawrence Cosentino

Even after ground broke in March 2010, it was hard to believe that a grassy plot among the ivy-covered halls of Michigan State would be home to the latest creation of a star architect who is altering cityscapes in Abu Dhabi, London, Rome and Guangzhou.

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