News

Michigan residents weathered a summer of poor air quality

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Nicoline BradfordHaze from the Canadian wildfires hung over Brody neighborhood at MSU in July, 2023. This summer Michigan residents saw the real consequences of climate change. In early June and throughout July, Michiganders woke up to hazy days and air quality warnings. Robert Wahl, an environmental epidemiologist at Michigan State University, said the levels of air pollutants this summer are very unusual for Michigan. The Air Quality Index, AQI, is used to measure levels of air pollutants on a scale of “good” to “hazardous.” While AQI measures multiple pollutants, the most concerning is particle pollution smaller than 10 micrometers.This is called fine particulate matter and is a direct result of the wildfires raging through Canada.

Business & Economy

Strange Matter Coffee comes to East Lansing

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Popular, local coffee chain Strange Matter fills the space left by Biggby at the MSU Student Union. 

“I’m excited to have another non-MSU food option at the Union,” said Grace Densham, an MSU undergraduate. “I’m especially pleased with the fact that it is a small, local business. It was really sad to see Biggby go and be replaced by vending machines for so long.”

Strange Matter owner Cara Nader, understands the difference small businesses can make. “We are small, but very efficient at what we do,” she said. “I can’t speak to other coffee shops in town, but we pay a livable wage.

Federal Government

Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ+ case sparks controversy in state

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When the Supreme Court ruled that Lori Smith, a website designer from Colorado, could deny her services to those of the LGBTQ+, it was unclear how the decision would affect LGBTQ+ clients nationwide. But Fenton resident Ky Orvis wasn’t too worried — yet. “Specifically in Fenton, I don’t see it foreseeing it being a problem,” said Orvis, the president of the Fenton Pride Collective. “The concern of a lot of people, not just in Fenton, not just in Michigan, but across the U.S. is like what does this set the precedent of and justify discrimination against a class of people.”

The ruling is sparking controversy as to what this means for groups, such as minorities and LGBTQ+, and raises concerns for those it affects. “Why does this exist?

News

Summer Circle brings theater to East Lansing families

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Free, accessible theater returned to East Lansing June 15 as the Summer Circle Theatre began the season with a production of “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”

Summer Circle Theatre is turning toward a more family-friendly direction, said Katherine Clemons, the director of the show. “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” was the perfect choice to “chauffeur in the new era of family-friendly theater.”

Even though it is a university-run program, Summer Circle Theatre is a fixture in the East Lansing community. 

“SCT is a staple in the East Lansing Community,” Clemons said. “We have members who have been coming for 40+ years, never missing a show. It’s a place for the community to gather together and partake in the arts for free together.”

The outdoor courtyard was already half filled an hour before showtime. There’s a tradition in the program that awards a pair of season passes for the upcoming Michigan State University theater season to the first arrivals who remain seated until the show begins, Clemons said.

East Lansing

Brave Space offers a solution for East Lansing public schools

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Sabrina SeldonBelynda Cage speaks with an ELHS student at the city’s “School/Public Safety Listening Session” held on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in the Hannah Community Center. After a fight involving students led to a dropped gun outside of an East Lansing High School basketball game on Jan. 19, community leaders, students and parents called for solutions. 

Brave Space founder Alexis Rosado and her mentor Belynda Cage presented one such solution based on mental health at a recent ELHS School/Public Safety Listening Session on Jan. 27 in the Hannah Community Center.

East Lansing

Students take lead against gun violence

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Zoe Touray knows the reality of how gun violence can alter one’s life because she herself is a survivor. 

“I was already a very jumpy person before everything happened,” Touray said. “[Now] any little movement I have to look and see what’s going on.” 

As a recent graduate from Oxford High School, Touray has carried the trauma of surviving the Oxford shooting on Nov. 30, 2021. Since then, her parents have encouraged her to speak out and become an activist for victims of gun violence and the movement toward more strict gun legislation. 

Following the shooting, Touray was contacted by March for Our Lives, a youth-led nonprofit organization that aims to end gun violence. It is through the Michigan chapter of MFOL that Touray serves as a youth member and frequently speaks about her experience at different events. 

“They’re [members of the government] working on giving billions of dollars to schools for mental health resources, they’re working on tighter background checks and waiting periods for the age limit to buy a gun,” said Touray.