Haslett family owned farm fights inflation

HASLETT, Mich. –  The cost of taking a trip to a local cider mill is a little more expensive this year due to rising inflation rates, but Barkham Creek Farms tries to keep their prices affordable for customers. 

“No one’s complained, no ones said oh my god what are you doing,” said Robert Barkham

Barkham and his wife Jana started their farm 8 years ago and haven’t looked back since. 

“I think it’s in my blood, the farming part,” said Jana Barkham. 

The Barkham’s want community members to be able to enjoy their product without breaking the bank. Local Michigan State University student Tessany Burton works with elders, and enjoyed every moment of her trip. Burton states, “I mean this really is an experience that is really affordable.” 

Barkham Creek Farms will be open Thursday through Friday up until Halloween. To learn more about the farm and what it offers visit their Facebook page Barkham Creek Farms.

Grand Ledge Public Schools, Hayes Middle School, COVID-19, mask mandate

Passions run high over COVID and schools, but debate remains civil

Across the country, school board meetings have erupted as parents and sometimes students have clashed about COVID vaccinations and masking. Some meetings have turned raucous and personal. School leaders have resigned or been removed. In and around Ingham County, people report that while interest and passions have run high, the climate had been civil. East Lansing Public Schools

Shelley Davis Boyd, president of MacDonald Middle School’s parent council

Boyd said the parents’ council has a very close relationship with the school district’s administration and superintendent. 

“We’re constantly kept in the loop on what’s going on … the reaction has been very positive,” Boyd said.

This is a photo of the front of the Meridian Mall

Meridian Mall Fights Back After Devastating Pandemic

Imagine walking into the mall as a child and smelling the food court, there seems to be excitement in the air because of the shopping that is going to take place. Then COVID-19 hit and some people were feeling the urge to connect back to the mall setting that they once knew. Now, the Meridian Mall is open and ready to welcome back customers again, with a few changes.

HOMTV to film live shows again

With vaccines on the rise and an end to self-isolation in sight, HOMTV, Meridian Township’s government television station in Okemos, will broadcast its first live show of the year next week.   

Some interns haven’t even been able to visit the newsroom. Bryanna Idzior, a senior at MSU and reporting intern at HOMTV, recently interviewed a source via Zoom while she was in the station. Other than the tour of the studio she received when she was first hired on, this was her first time in the newsroom. 

“It’s kind of been amazing over the past year or so what journalists have learned what they can do remotely,” Idzior said. “Zoom has been a really great tool to get to speak with people.” 

She will be a part of the team filming the Meridian News Now live show. They are planning on working after-hours at the station so that there are less full-time staff in the building to accommodate social distancing.

MSU faculty, students weigh in on Biden’s environmental plan

Carbon neutral by 2050

President-elect Joe Biden’s main goal in The Biden Plan is to stem climate change by reaching by 2050 carbon neutrality, which means emissions released are offset by being absorbed by an equivalent amount from the atmosphere. 

To help achieve this goal, the President-elect aims to have U.S. electricity production carbon-free by 2035. “It’s attainable, yes, I think it is, but there are many prohibiting factors that could prevent it from happening,” said Bruno Takahashi, a research director at MSU’s Knight Center of Environmental Journalism and associate professor in the School of Journalism. A prohibiting factor could be Congress should it become Republican-controlled. Next month, the country will find out the Georgia Senate runoff results, determining party control. Despite the prospect of future administrations reversing the advancements Biden will potentially make, Takahashi is optimistic that the carbon-free goal is still attainable by 2050.