Rewind: News Highlights From The Last 7 Days

The damages from the Aug. 24 storm and tornado are expected to be the most expensive in Greater Lansing’s history. Early estimates place projected government costs in the tens of millions of dollars. Lansing spokesperson Scott Bean told the Lansing State Journal that the city expects to shell out $350,000 to $500,000. The storm debris adds up to about 1,500 cubic yards, or roughly the same amount that the city typically picks up curbside in a year.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced an investigation into the death of a worker who was electrocuted while trimming storm-damaged trees. The victim touched a wire in the 4000 block of Norwick Street in Delta Township on Thursday, the Lansing Board of Water & Light said. His employer, Ohio-based Our Family’s Tree and Mulch, disconnected its listed business number on Friday. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, BWL removed the tree that had killed Vernita Payne, 84, when it fell on her house in Fabulous Acres six days earlier during the storm. 

The Lansing School District broke ground for a new school on Aug. 24. The new facility, at 1215 E. Mt. Hope Ave., will be built where the original Mt. Hope STEAM Magnet School has been since 1949, with the old building undergoing demolition. Slated to be completed in 2027, the project is one of several being funded by a $130-million tax proposal voters approved in 2022. Students who live in the Mt. Hope school’s attendance area will attend Woodcreek Elementary until the new building is finished. 

DeWitt’s City Council fired clerk-treasurer Lisa Grysen over alleged “financial irregularities” involving city funds, WLNS reported. Grysen was escorted out of DeWitt’s City Hall Aug. 16. The City Council officially terminated her employment two days later.  Mayor Sue Leeming appointed Sarah Stoltzfus, a city employee since 2015, as interim clerk/treasurer. The Michigan State Police are conducting an investigation at the city’s request.

A lawsuit has been filed against a physical therapist assistant at Michigan State University who was accused of sexually assaulting a female patient during an appointment, the State Journal reported. The victim claims that the man assaulted her in 2021, when she sought treatment for a leg injury at an MSU medical building in East Lansing. The plaintiff told the State Journal that the accused had made comments about her appearance and proceeded to “rub her pelvic region, collarbone and shoulders, telling her it was connected to her lower leg problem.” The lawsuit, filed Aug. 8 in Ingham County Circuit Court, includes three signed affidavits from physical therapists who had reviewed the victim’s medical records and her interview with MSU’s Title IX office.

Steve Tennes actively participates in many of the tasks necessary to operate a direct farm market and the orchards that supply it. Maybe it's moving …

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney ruled for Stephen Tennes and against the City of East Lansing in a long-running case in which Tennes claimed that the city had barred him from participating in its farmers market due to his religious beliefs. The city denied Country Mills Farms a vendor’s license in 2017 after Tennes said publicly that he would not hold same-sex weddings at the farm and orchard. Country Mills has continued to operate as a vendor ever since, however, after Maloney issued a preliminary injunction against the city that same year. In 2021, the judge presided over a bench trial that brought in eight witnesses called by Country Mill and none by the City of East Lansing. 

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is expected to announce soon that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan that Debbie Stabenow is vacating at the end of 2024, the Associated Press reported. Rogers, a Republican, served seven terms in the U.S. House representing Michigan’s 8th Congressional District from 2001 to 2015. From 2011, he chaired its intelligence committee. If Rogers runs, he would join four others who have announced their candidacy for the GOP nomination. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represents Lansing, is the apparent frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in a field of six candidates. The winner of this race fill the Class I Senate seat held by Democrat Debbie Stabenow since 2001.

Consumers Energy started work on a new natural gas construction project in East Lansing’s Bailey neighborhood. Through Dec. 31, workers will be installing a new natural gas system at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Hagadorn Road. The project encompasses an area bordered by Burcham Drive to the north, Albert Avenue to the south, Lexington Avenue to the east and Stoddard Avenue to the west. A city press release advised motorists to take alternative routes during that period if possible, though Consumers Energy will maintain a shifting lane for residents and businesses near the work site during construction.