Kosovo delegation visits in early April

Posted on March 29, 2013 by henrikblix

By Henrik Blix
Mason Times staff writer

MASON—The city of Mason will host visitors from sister city Vitina, Kosovo, next week for tours and discussion of American business and government .

City Administrator Martin Colburn said there will be three visitors, including Mayor Nexhmedin Arifi, the mayor of Vitina.

“I’m just excited for them to be here,” said Mayor Leon Clark. “We were there for a week and they are such wonderful people. We became friends in a very short period of time.”

Colburn said the guests from Kosovo will fly in Saturday afternoon and on Sunday they will visit people in Mason who immigrated from Kosovo in the late 1990s.

Colburn said although the itinerary is not finalized, they have several events planned. Continue reading →

Mason reacts to December shootings

Posted on March 11, 2013 by katvellalingl

By Katarina Vella Lingl
Mason Times staff writer

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Simone Jardim and her daughter, Alexas

MASON—The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 shocked parents and school administrators in the Mason area.

Resident Simone Jardim said her 3-year-old daughter Alexas attends preschool and childcare in Mason. She said she was “glued to the television” after hearing about the shooting.

“I actually cried and felt heartbroken because those innocent kids lost their lives in such a tragic and unfortunate event,” Jardim said.

“Alexas is my world and I am not sure what I would do without her,” she said. “Our children are not supposed to die before us.”

Jardim said parents should keep their children informed, but not scare them. She said there is always evil in the world, but we cannot allow that to take our children’s innocence away.

Jardim said if Alexas asks about the incident in the future, she would talk to her about it.
She said security should be stronger, making it harder for a complete stranger to enter the grounds of any school.

“Most of the time it seems like problems are with high school students bringing weapons to school. However, for elementary and middle school, problems would include the supervision of who comes in and the people that work there having contact with the children,” Jardim said.
Continue reading →

Mason Police Department releases five-year use-of-force study

Posted on February 22, 2013 by henrikblix

By Henrik Blix
Mason Times staff writer

MASON—A study by the Mason Police Department revealed that most incidents involving a use of force by police occur at night and involve people using drugs or alcohol.

The study documented every incident in which officers used force on subjects and categorized each incident by level of force used, contributing factors and time of day.

The types of force used by the Mason P.D.

Levels of force were categorized as soft empty hand control, hard empty hand control, pepper spray deployed, Taser pointed, Taser deployed and firearm pointed. According to the report, a firearm has not been discharged at a subject since 2008.

Sgt. Don Hanson said the data mostly reinforced what officers already know, but any information can only help.

“It shows we’re doing our job and we’re a transparent department,” said Officer Matt Thorne, a defensive tactics instructor for the department. Continue reading →

ServiceMaster Clean Disaster

Posted on February 11, 2013 by katvellalingl

By Katarina Vella Lingl

Mason Times Staff Writer

ServiceMaster Clean prides itself on helping businesses and homes recover from fire and water damage.

On July 11, 2012, employees found themselves working with a client that was all too familiar; their own building had burned to the ground.

Vice President Desiree Howard received a phone call at 3 a.m. and rushed to State Street to see her business engulfed in flames.

“My immediate reaction was to cry,” Howard said.

Howard said news stations arrived when she did and they watched firefighters try to manage the fire. The way the building was constructed there was no saving it, she said.

Howard said their vehicles contain all the essential equipment for their business and they were parked outside the building that day.“Unfortunately the keys were in the building so we needed a key maker to replace them all,” she said.Howard said they were as prepared as they could be because refurbishing fire damage is what their business is known for.She said the fire devastated the staff, but ServiceMaster did not close their doors.

“We actually closed out our best year,” Howard said. Continue reading →

Gift of fire truck may lead to bigger things

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Joe Grimm

By Alena Davis and Marissa Russo
Mason Times staff writers

MASON–On Jan. 4, city officials will show pictures from their trip to deliver a fire truck to Kosovo last October.

The meeting at the high school will also include details about the possibility of forming a sister city alliance with Vitina, where the truck was delivered, said Mayor Leon Clark.

“There were four of us that went on this trip to Kosovo,” said Clark. “Between the four of us, we took over 1,800 pictures. The fourth of January we have the auditorium at the high school lined up and we are inviting anybody that is interested to come between 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. We are going to show all the pictures and tell the story of how this project got started.”

This project was started a few years ago when the former mayor of Vitina came to Mason to visit his son. He received a tour of the fire department and was astounded by the equipment. Continue reading →

Jail in Mason key issue in sheriff’s race

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Joe Grimm

By Rokeyta Roberson
Ingham County Chronicle staff writer

HOMTV and Meridian Township have teamed up to provide county residents with coverage of local elections. Ballot Meridian 2012 coverage includes live debates, candidate interviews, and candidate statements.

“I think it is very important for local candidates to share their stances on problems facing the communities they wish to serve,” said Ingham County resident Ashley Lawrence. “If debates between candidates that are running for a county-wide position are broadcast, then it can help residents become more informed and not place their vote because off of familiarity.”

Continue reading →

Mason fire truck going 5,000 miles to Kosovo

Posted on April 29, 2012 by mpaetow

By Michelle Paetow
Mason Times staff writer

Mason, a city of 8,144 people, is helping a city of almost 60,000 by sending a recently retired fire truck 4,988 miles overseas to Vitina, Kosovo, in southeastern Europe.

Mason has a fully equipped fire department to service five square miles, while Vitina lacks the large equipment necessary to service its 350 square miles.

Two years ago, Mason Mayor Leon Clark met Jakob Jahiri, former mayor and city administrator of Vitina while he was visiting his son, Petrit, in Mason. Clark, a volunteer firefighter for 34 years, gave Jahiri a tour of Mason. After hearing about the conditions of the Vitina fire department, Clark started planning to donate a 1984 1,000-gallon pumper truck, which was taken out of service in March.

“We know it is in good condition. It has passed all of its Department of Transportation inspections, everything has been updated, it is a good functioning truck and should last these people 10-15 years,” Clark said. “My understanding is that to get it to Kosovo, it is going in the belly of a C-141 using the Denton Company.
Continue reading →

Citizens still unhappy over hours cut at urgent care

Posted on February 21, 2012 by laurenkroll

By Lauren Kroll
Mason Times staff writer

MASON — Last November, Sparrow Urgent Care decided to cut two full hours of their operation time each day.The Mason location is now open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. instead of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Residents and emergency response units must now go 17 miles away to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing if they go to the Mason location outside of the daily hours of operation.

Mason Urgent Care

Mason Ctiy Administrator Martin Colburn was not happy when the change was first announced. Colburn told the Mason Times last December that “Mason residents are very frustrated with Sparrow that it would close and lock its doors on us. People have seen the reduction of services to our community.”

Colburn said via email on January 31 that there was nothing new to report regarding the hour changes and that he will still fight to get them back but that Sparrow Health is not budging.

Sparrow representative John Foren said that the change will help the hospital transfer doctors from Okemos to the Mason urgent care. When asking how they transfer these doctors back and forth between the locations, Foren said, “Previously when someone in need of care might have shown up to the Mason location and no doctor was on-site, now we have the freedom to have doctors there every day, with these new hours.”
Continue reading →

EVE tries to ease domestic violence

Posted on February 13, 2012 by briannharvey

By BriAnn Harvey
Mason Times staff writer

Sgt. Hanson, Mason Police Department

MASON - End Violent Encounters, otherwise known as EVE, provides shelter and supportive services for the victims of domestic violence while seeking to end the violence through public awareness and community education.

EVE is a non-profit organization that provides services to shelter and non-shelter residents of Ingham County.

EVE was the first domestic violence program in Lansing and was founded on Dec. 15, 1977, by Diane Windischman.

EVE offers free and confidential programs which include a 24-hour crisis line, a 365-day shelter, advocacy, counseling, a personal protection order office, children’s services, community education, dating violence prevention education, court advocacy, and a domestic violence support unit.

The domestic violence support unit is in Mason at the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Tonya Avery, an EVE legal advocacy coordinator, said, the office in Mason would not be possible without the grant provided from the Mason Area Community Fund.
Continue reading →

Sparrow cuts Mason urgent care hours

Posted on December 17, 2011 by

By Kate Vogel
Mason Times staff writer

MASON — Sparrow Urgent Care, the sole urgent care provider in Mason, has recently cut out two hours of service each day.

The exterior to Mason Urgent Care. The center now closes at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

This change amounts to 30 days of service a year that is lost from the Mason community. Sparrow representative John Foren said this change was made to create more efficient service for the patients. Sparrow Urgent Care, 800 E. Columbia St., is the closest urgent care provider for Mason residents.

Mason City Administrator Martin Colburn said, “[Mason residents] are very frustrated with Sparrow that they would close and lock the doors on us. People have seen the reduction of services to our community.”

Sparrow Health’s announced the reduction in an Oct. 19 news release that read, “As of Nov. 6, both locations [Mason and Okemos] will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to provide more continuity and consistency for patients. As always, Sparrow Urgent Care is open 365 days a year providing non-life threatening urgent care to walk-in patients.”