City Pulse News Rewind: Bernero plans another mayoral run

 

Former Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said he plans to run for a fourth term against Mayor Andy Schor in November after his campaign sent out a fundraising letter over the weekend which included the new catchphrase: “Together, a better Lansing.” Besides Schor and Bernero, Lansing City Councilwoman Patricia Spitzley has also said she plans to run. None has filed ahead of the April 27 primary election deadline. If three or more candidates run, the top two vote-getters would face off against each other in November. Mayoral elections are nonpartisan. 

 

 

A bombshell report from the Lansing State Journal shows that federal regulators warned Quality Dairy last year to deal with unsanitary conditions at its central processing facility after inspectors found insects, bacteria and unclean conditions. Quality Dairy officials said they’ve worked with the FDA to resolve shortcomings at its plant on Diamond Reo Way in Lansing, which reportedly included cockroaches, flies and a dead mouse and traces of listeria in food preparation areas.

 

 

The Michigan Cannabis Freedom Coalition and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist celebrated the release of Michael Thompson, an inmate who had served more than 23 years in prison on marijuana-related charges and was granted clemency by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in December. Thompson was arrested for selling three pounds of cannabis to an informant in 1994 and while no guns were used during the sale, officers later found guns locked in a safe at Thompson’s home — leading to a draconian sentence of 52-75 years in prison for the combined charges. 

 

 

The city of Potterville received a $25,000 grant this week that will fund a large landscape project along Vermontville Highway. The funding will cover more than 100 ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials that will be installed along the boundary between the city and Lake Alliance Park. 

 

 

The East Lansing Art Festival has been postponed until the weekend of Aug. 7-8 “given the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout,” city officials said this week. The festival was originally scheduled for May, but far too many public health uncertainties remain to confidently plan an in-person festival until later in the summer, according to a release.

 

 

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor issued a request for development proposals this week for projects on three city-owned properties. The initiative aims to dispose of and meaningfully develop a vacant lot at 1020 W. Hillsdale St, two parking lots at 500 E. Kalamazoo St and the former Life O’ Riley property at 6726 S. Washington Ave. Development proposals are due later this month.

 

 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed motions for sanctions in federal court against four lawyers, including Scott Hagerstom of Lansing, who pushed false narratives of election fraud in recent legal proceedings, including a lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that was deemed frivolous. Besides Hagerstrom, the motion requests Novi attorney Greg Rohl, Detroit attorney Stefanie Junttila and Texas attorney Sidney Powell be disbarred. Hagerstrom was the state director of Donald J. Trump’s campaign in 2016.

 

 

Groovy Donuts shops in East Lansing and Williamston are in the process of reorganizing their dining areas to allow for the largest socially distant amount of customers to pick up donuts on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 16. Last year, the company produced about 5,000 packzis for the holiday. Orders can be placed online at groovydonuts.com/products. Dine-in service is not available. 

 

 

A report from the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Christ the King Reformed Church in Charlotte as a white nationalist group. Pastor Brett McAtee wrote in a blog that the white race is “without dispute superior,” also describing indigenous groups as “cannabals” and African people brought in during the slave trade as “savage,” reports FOX 47.

 

 

The Lansing City Council passed a nonbinding resolution last summer to donate 10% of their paychecks back to the city, but three of them have yet to do so, reports the Lansing State Journal. Council members Kathie Dunbar, Brian Jackson and Brandon Betz hadn’t made those donations by Monday, which would have amounted to about an extra $8,000 for the city.