Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/author/alvers24/)
I am currently a sophomore in Michigan State's School of Journalism.
To Elizabeth “Liz” Williams, dance is much more than a passion. It’s a lifestyle. When she was in junior high, Williams knew she wanted to share that lifestyle with others. So in 1992, she opened the doors to the Elizabeth Williams School-Dance in downtown Williamston. Williams fell in love with the old buildings in Williamston, a community that she was familiar with prior to opening her studio.
After much campaigning, mainly via Facebook, Karen Potter beat incumbent Greg Talberg in the Williamston School Board recall election. Potter was the only candidate running against the school board to beat an incumbent in the race. Potter received 2,711 votes, Talberg received 2,653, out of the total 8,388 registered voters. Votes cast for the recall election came to total 6,078, a 72.46 percent voter turnout according to the Ingham County Clerk website, proving the city’s anticipation of a large voter turnout for a non-presidential election in Williamston correct. “I’m super excited to take this position with all the other board members and help the school district become stronger and start healing as a community,” Potter said.
Proposal 1, the potential legalization of marijuana in the state of Michigan, was one of the larger discussion items on the agenda for the Oct. 22 Williamston City Council meeting. Voters have the opportunity to legalize the recreational possession, production and use of marijuana to those who are 21 and older. This includes infused edibles. The legal limit would permit users to grow up to 12 plants, have 10 ounces kept at home and have 2.5 ounces on their person.
Some voters said voting was part of their “civic duty” despite the “hostile political climate” surrounding not just the Williamston School Board but the wider political climate in general.
In March 2010, the Williamson City Council reviewed and adopted a plan for its parks and recreation. The current Five-Year Master Plan is almost up , and the City of Williamston is looking to update its Master Plan through an online survey. “We have an existing five-year plan and every five years, we are required to look at the plan and update it to be eligible for grants at the state level,” said City Manager Corey Schmidt. “You have to do a certain level of public engagement to update, so we have printed copies at the library and City Hall, and online.”
On Williamston’s website, www.williamston-mi.us, there is a link for the survey which closed Oct. 26.
Small towns all across the nation are preparing for Halloween, and Williamston is no different. The whole community, from kids and adults to dogs, can get involved in festivities throughout the month of October. “We here at the library show Hitchcock movies every Thursday,” said Williamston librarian Micki Magee. “After school on Mondays, we show kid Halloween movies.”
The library already hosted a superhero party, and there’s an upcoming “talk like a pirate day” to get Williamston kids in the Halloween spirit. Adults are welcome at the library every Thursday throughout the month of October from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for the showing of Hitchcock movies.
Williamston’s Darrel Ezmerlian spends his days on School Street working on the new Harold Larson Food Bank for his community. The construction process will soon wrap up, all the major elements taken care of since the project broke ground last October
Within the confines of the dusty concrete floors and the freshly painted walls, Ezmerlian calls himself, “a laborer, an overseer” on the food bank project, which was started by his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Tracie Baise. The Baise’s bought the land where the food bank is being built. Ezmerlian’s been working to see that every detail– from the white painted window sills to the positioning of the shelves– is completed properly. “We’re putting in the freezers and refrigerators right now, and they’re ginormous,” Ezermlian said. “The next step will be moving in shelving, and then the food.
In Williamston, a bar known as the Bucket got a second chance when owners Leigh Baumgras and Luciano “Chano” Loredo took over in 2016. Now, Baumgras and Loredo are taking their restaurant in a new direction to make the Williamston Pub & Grill “go green.”
The partners began working at the Bucket in 2013. At the time, Loredo said, “This place had a reputation, it was the bad bar. People didn’t want to bring their families in here because they’d heard horror stories of this place.”
Baumgras and Loredo bought out the old owner in 2016, made a few cosmetic updates (such as adding a painted mural of the high school’s mascot on the front wall) and got the bar back on its feet, making it the Williamston Pub & Grill.
“Clientele-wise, it took us a while.
Williamston’s Darrel Ezmerlian spends his days on School Street working on the new Harold Larson Food Bank for his community. The construction process will soon wrap up, all the major elements taken care of since the project broke ground last October. Within the confines of the dusty concrete floors and the freshly painted walls, Ezmerlian calls himself, “a laborer, an overseer” on the food bank project, which was started by his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Tracie Baise. The Baise’s bought the land where the food bank is being built. Ezmerlian’s been working to see that every detail– from the white painted window sills to the positioning of the shelves– is completed properly. “We’re putting in the freezers and refrigerators right now, and they’re ginormous,” Ezermlian said.