Tuesday, May 4,2010

KIDS IN THE HALL

An aggregation of Lansing government happenings

by Neal McNamara

Mayor Virg Bernero’s administration is asking the City Council approve a plan to spend $350,000 to create a city-run TV production studio at the former Holmes Street School. Deputy Chief of Staff Randy Hannan gave the details during a Monday night budget hearing for City TV, the city...

Thursday, April 29,2010

Virg Watch

Dems still lag in the polls, plus the latest on Bernero's 527 account

by Neal McNamara

A new poll out today by Rasmussen Reports puts Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero neck-and-neck with House Speaker Andy Dillon, but the two leading Democratic candidates are still largely unknown among voters.The poll shows Bernero polling at 12 percent among voters and Dillon at 13 percent. The g...

Wednesday, April 28,2010

Clearing the air

Bars and restaurants prepare for Michigan’s new smoking ban, which goes into effect Saturday

by Neal McNamara

If he had lived to see a smoking ban become law in Michigan, Ronald M. Davis would have been proud. Davis was, as described in his New York Times obituary, a “health crusader” who “stayed in the Sisyphean fight against smoking and other health hazards in a nation of fast foods, caloric binges, lazy ways and the anodynes of liquor and cocaine.

Virg Watch

by Neal McNamara

This week, the fight continued between Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and House Speaker Andy Dillon, plus Bernero sent out another press release requesting that other politicians take action on some things.According to the Detroit Free Press, gubernatorial hopefuls Bernero, Dillon and state Re...

Wednesday, April 14,2010

Virg Watch

Donor lists and labor disputes: Dillon v. Bernero continues

by Neal McNamara

Virg Bernero and Andy Dillon continued to beat on each other this past week, this time not on health care, but on campaign donors and labor.On Friday, Bernero’s campaign released a list of attendees to a fundraiser thrown for him by state Commissioner of the Office of Insurance and F...

Wednesday, April 7,2010

Virg Watch

A new poll sheds light on Bernero's Dillon/Cox attacks

by Neal McNamara

As the gubernatorial race continues, the polls do, too. And they are starting to become more interesting.An Epic MRA poll released Tuesday shows that Democrats are still having a hard time with name recognition, but not as much as in polls past — and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero’...

Monday, April 5,2010

Remembering the Rev. Lester Stone

Activism, worship and science fiction

by Neal McNamara

On a day that brought news of the death of a friend and spiritual leader, former Lansing Police chief Mark Alley could still manage a smile.He remembered a time at the end of a service at Friendship Baptist Church when the Rev. Lester Stone did something slightly uncharacteristic: As the c...

Wednesday, March 31,2010

Virg Watch

A few more endorsements, plus Virg's birthday

by Neal McNamara

First off, happy birthday to Mayor Virg Bernero, who was born on this day in 1964. By our math, he turned 46 today.But it was probably a bittersweet lead up to his birthday for the mayor, as a companion of his daughter, Virginia, was the victim of a drug-related homicide (so say Lansing Po...

Wednesday, March 31,2010

Cable Crisis?

What happened to Lansing's public access, and what's being done about it.

by Neal McNamara

Sinclair is a famed counterculture activist who, among other things, has been a poet, marijuana legalization activist, manager of the band MC5, underground newspaper publisher and founder of the White Panther Party, which sought to help the Black Panther Party.

Virg Watch

A quirky fundraiser for Bernero, and a campaign stop in Kalamazoo

by Neal McNamara

Would you like to eat ice cream at 8 a.m. and pay $250 to have a private conversation with Virg Bernero? Well, you’re in luck.Last week, the Bernero campaign sent out an invitation for an “un-breakfast” fundraiser on April 1 at Perspective2 in Old Town for the gubernatori...