Education secretaries get contract, no raises
By: Katy Barth
The Lansing Board of Education recently passed a contract without raises for educational secretaries for the next three years.
The board voted 6-1 for the five-year Lansing Association of Educational Secretaries contract on Wednesday, March 27.
“It’s all about salary and concessions,” said Angela Mathews, head of human resources. “It means they can’t get a raise.”
The secretarial staff voted to accept the contract 37-3. Armbuster said she thinks everyone involved with the school district has the best interest in the district and keeps it solvent.
Purchase of Genesee School for $1
By Nourhan Dakroury
Lansing Township News staff writer
On March 21, Lansing school board voted 8-2 to sell the Genesee School building for $ 1 to a non-profit organization called Zero Day.
The building will be the headquarters for Zero Day and a training facility to teach veterans construction sciences with the help of the National Center for Construction Education and Research.
Medicaid expansion not affecting Lansing Township
By Nourhan Dakroury
Lansing Township News staff writer
Medicaid supporters are waiting for the legislature to approve Governor Rick Snyder’s Medicaid expansion proposal.
“The (Medicaid) expansion is a critical step for health care in Michigan,” said Judy Putnam, communication director of Michigan League for Public Policy.
Not only will this expansion provide an additional 400,000 to 600,000 Michigan residents with affordable health care.
Staff layoff a possibility for Waverly Community Schools
Lansing Charter Township News Writer
By Katlyn Vuillemot
LANSING CHARTER TOWNSHIP – The Waverly Community School Board of Education recently voted to allow the layoff of the school district staff if needed.
“The reason behind this particular action is that contractually, we have to take action as a board so if our budget deficit becomes so great that we have to lay off teachers, we can take that action,” schools Superintendent Terry Urquhart told the board March 12. “This doesn’t say that we are laying anyone off, it says we have that option if we have to.”
The district faces a $1.5 million deficit for the 2013 through 2014 school year. One way to fix this problem is to lay off staff, which account for almost 86 percent of the school district’s budget, according to a Waverly Community School Board of Education report.
New development coming up on St. Joseph Street
By Nourhan Dakroury
Lansing Township News staff writer
Lansing Township officials are considering a plan to turn an abandoned trucking terminal into a business development.
The property is located at 2400 W. St. Joseph St. and consists of three parcels totaling 33.3 acres.
Lansing Township was happy and healthy during its St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
By Katy Barth
Alex Wisney, manager at Claddagh Irish Pub, said the pub quadrupled its sales compared to other Sundays and increased its St. Patrick’s Day sales by 25 percent compared to last year. The increase in profits was a great surprise since St. Patrick’s Day was on Sunday instead of Saturday like last year, he said
“It’s our Super Bowl,” said Wisney. “We put a lot of time and effort into it every year.”
Wisney said they had better advertising this year by putting the pub’s St. Patrick’s Day information on the news and having an ad in the Lansing State Journal. The business was opened from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. and had a mix of live music, live dancers and bagpipe players continuously for 12 hours.
Naomi Snizek, an employee at Big Ten Party Stores, wasn’t able to give specific numbers, but she said the business had a busier weekend “than it would have been if it wasn’t St. Patty’s Day.”
While liquor establishments reaped the benefits of St. Patrick’s Day, those in public safety had a quiet evening.
Kay Hoffman, chief of police for Lansing Township, said it was pretty quiet around the town.This was most likely because people had to be up early for work or school Monday morning, she said. Most of the celebrating happened Saturday night.
“I’m just amazed it was very calm compared to most years,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman said officers kept “a watchful eye” on the bars and liquor stores to make their presence known.
The officers monitored parking lots and bars with long lines. If things seemed too full, they’d check in, she said. Some things police officers check for are making sure the establishment isn’t over capacity and safe liquor consumption of the guests.
“Since we’re a small community, we’re familiar with the liquor establishments, which is usually where activity begins and ends,” said Hoffman.
Police officers were more diligent when it came to motor vehicles and pedestrians, Hoffman said.
“We just have to make sure we watch and make sure people don’t consume too much and try to drive or walk in a dangerous area,” said Hoffman.
Mike Kaloz, captain of the township’s fire department, said the ambulance service had a similar St. Patrick’s Day experience.
“St. Patrick’s days, either this year or in the past, hasn’t really affected the number of calls we’ve had,” said Kaloz.
This year, the Lansing Township fire department had three calls, two on Saturday night and one during Sunday, none were alcohol related, said Kaloz. In 2012, there were five calls on St. Patrick’s Day. Kaloz said only one had to do with alcohol, but he doubts it had anything to do with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day due to the location it was at.
“East Lansing is were all of the action is,” said Kaloz.
The East Lansing fire department was busier compared to Lansing Township. There were 80 incidents called in this year, said? . Sixty-two of the calls required ambulance services.
If you are taking care of a person who has consumed too much alcohol Kaloz said to keep food or liquid out of their mouths. If they are passed-out he said to roll them on their side. This will prevent them from choking on their vomit, should they throw up.
“Other than that there’s not a whole lot you can do other than make sure they don’t hurt themselves regardless of what their condition may be,” said Kaloz. “Help support them or sit them down to talk and wait. Most times it’s common sense type stuff.”
Anita Sukis, emergency coordinator and safety trainer, said to never leave your drinks unattended and celebrate with a buddy, if possible, that way the two of you can look out for each other.
John Foren, manager of communications at Sparrow Hospital, couldn’t comment on whether patients’ symptoms were from St. Patrick’s Day celebrations due to patient confidentiality. However, he did say that it was “a pretty regular day.”
Lansing Township looks to redevelop abandoned property
A local environmental business hopes to redevelop a 32-acre parcel of contaminated land in Lansing Township, resulting in an addition of 200 jobs and more than $2.5 million in taxable value to the property.
Triterra needs to agree on a purchase price and the deal with Lansing Township will be complete. The board of trustees decided unanimously on March 12 to price the property at 2400 W. St. Joe St. at $175,000.
The Lansing Township company plans to buy the land and begin a series of environmental clean-up activities, which the township will reimburse them for, said Triterra owner Alan Hooper. Hooper has bought abandoned properties in Lansing but this would be his first in Lansing Township.
Triterra will work on turning the contaminated, deteriorating property into a healthy, environmentally-friendly area that will improve the visual appearance of the township, said Hooper. Decontamination must first occur so the land and buildings will be suitable for workers and citizens around the work area, according to the plan put forth by Lansing Townships’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.