Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/author/gabsmalt/)
Gabi is a journalism student at Michigan State University. As a member of the Class of 2020, she is currently a beat writer for the Spartan Newsroom. She also minors in Spanish and plans to use her bilingual skills for local and international news reporting.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a state-wide lockdown; negatively impacting sales for small businesses. One business in particular opened late February on the busiest street in East Lansing. This was just days before the pandemic forced everyone to stay at home and socially distance themselves. “I’m also just trying to take it day by day”, said Dan Chilla. “Spring break happened and then we got back, we’re back to normal and then coronavirus hit”.
The second annual Lumberjack Festival was held in Old Town, Lansing, on Saturday, Feb. 24. The event featured a series of competitions involving strength, beards and mustaches, as well as a stream of food and merch vendors.
A grant from the National Parks Service is helping  the City of Lansing and the Historical Society of Greater Lansing create a multi-dimensional story about the effcts of building the I-496 freeway through an African-American Lansing neighborhood.