Rewind: News from the last 7 days

Former Lansing wastewater treatment plant employees Kenneth Davis and Joshua Brown are suing the city in federal court, alleging racial discrimination, retaliation and racist comments by department leadership. They faced “discriminatory treatment by the white male leadership” at the plant, their suit says, which included maintenance supervisor Scott Keloskey “regularly” following them around the plant to make reports that they weren’t doing their jobs. Both Davis and Brown resigned “to escape the racially hostile and retaliatory work environment” that they said included comments about the Ku Klux Klan. City spokesperson Scott Bean declined to comment on the lawsuit to the Lansing State Journal.

Mayor Andy Schor (right) and State Sen. Sam Singh are asking state legislators to approve changes to a tax district and direct about $100 million into Lansing projects during its current lame-duck session. Lansing’s Tax Increment Financing Act districts brought in around $5 million in the 2022-‘23 fiscal year and, over 20 years, would raise about $100 million. The measure would not increase taxes but redirect that money from local authorities like Lansing and the Lansing School District toward the incentives the city chooses to pursue. Schor and Singh said this could help Lansing recover from pandemic-era losses of downtown state government workers.

Auditors told the Potterville Board of Education that its budget shortfall of more than $500,000 is due to poor internal financial controls and underestimating expenses. Potterville Public Schools has a $12.7 million annual budget but only about $72,000 in its fund balance. Under a 5% state savings requirement, it should have a minimum of $635,000. Board President Stacy Ann Sipes said that previous budgets portrayed the district’s financial status better than it was and that the previous administration and business manager were responsible for the financial discrepancies.

General Motors announced it would sell back its investment in the new Ultium Cells battery plant adjacent to the GM Lansing Delta Township plant off Davis Highway to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution. GM believes it can meet demand for its electric vehicles using its two joint-venture battery cell plants in Ohio and Tennessee. GM CEO Mary Barra had told investors earlier that the company is becoming increasingly prudent in its capital allocation to align production capacity with demand. GM also announced that it and LG are extending their 14-year battery technology partnership to include new battery cell technology called prismatic cell development.

Matrix Consulting Engineers Inc., a mechanical and electrical engineering firm, will spend $5 million to expand and consolidate its operations in a new facility in Delta Township, said the Lansing Economic Area Partnership. That will create 55 jobs over three years. The new facility will be at 544 Cherbourg Drive, off St. Joe Highway, between Creyts and Snow roads. The company plans to hire engineering professionals, and LEAP said the expansion will create new jobs for MSU graduates, among others.

Thirty undergraduates will receive the new, merit-based Joseph R. and Sarah L. Williams Scholarship, MSU’s first full-ride scholarship covering tuition, room and board and an experiential learning opportunity, starting next fall. It will fully fund an education abroad or other experiences for up to eight semesters. The scholarship is named for MSU’s inaugural president and first lady.

Good Truckin’ Diner, the 2024 Top of the Town Best Breakfast and Best Diner winner, which has operated in REO Town since 2014, said it will relocate to The Creole building at 1218 Turner St. in Old Town. Owner Nick Sinicropi and business partner Nora Gorman said they plan to transform their 1107 S. Washington Ave. location into a bakery and dessert shop. The previous Old Town tenant, the Creole Burger Bar and Southern Kitchen, closed in September. The 3,000-square-foot, first-floor space will give Good Truckin’ Diner room to expand to more than 85 seats, Sinicropi said.

Public Safety:

A 55-year-old Grand Ledge man was killed Friday when he lost control of his vehicle on eastbound St. Joseph Highway, near Cochran Road, and struck a fence and tree. The man was ejected when the impact split the vehicle in two, police said. … A Lansing School District bus and an SUV crashed Monday near the intersection of Mt. Hope and Maplewood avenues. Police said students were on the bus, but no one was injured from either vehicle. … James Edward Howard of Lansing (pictured) crashed his car into the new IPOT restaurant at 730 Elmwood Road Friday. Howard was wearing body armor and said he was armed and in possession of a bomb, witnesses said, before Eaton County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him.