Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/community-news/east-lansing/)
Toni Watters is a loving mother of four and devoted wife who lives in East Lansing. Recently, her faith has been tested while she tries her best to provide her family a loving and stable home. This photo essay explores Watters unyielding faith as she perseveres through the trails of life, finding out just how strong faith and belief can take you.
Newman Lofts pamphlet and March calendar of events for residents in the lobby. Picture taken on March 25, 2024. While the streets of Albert Avenue fill with college students at 9 p.m. on a Friday night, Ed Mazlish gets ready for bed right across the street. He lives in Newman Lofts, East Lansing’s premiere 55 plus apartment complex, located in the heart of Michigan State University’s college town. “You know, sometimes there’s noise and I have to tune it out,” Mazlish said.
The way food travels from farm to table is complex. The food that shoppers normally see in massive grocery stores is grown on large farms, harvested in large quantities, stored until it can be transported to market and finally sold in grocery stores. When the food supply chain is local, the process can become even more nuanced. Two stores in Lansing that promote local food production are The Eastside Lansing Food Co-op and Campbell’s Market Basket.
As an increase to this financial windfall for universities, The Big Ten Conference announced a seven-year, $8 billion deal with FOX, CBS and NBC in August last year. Each university in the conference, including MSU, will receive between $80 million to $100 million each for broadcasting rights to their games.
Chronic homelessness is defined as living on the streets for 12 months out of the last 36. A number of shelters and organizations are finding their own ways to address the needs of these citizens in Lansing. One of the organizations is the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness (MCAH). According to MCAH’s communications manager Amy Stephenson, MCAH works more “behind the scenes.”
April 6 marked the final day for GAAY, which stands for GLBTQIA+, Athletes, Allies and You. The non-profit hosts many sports, including dodgeball, kickball and bowling across Lansing, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. For Lansing’s final dodgeball game of the season, it didn’t take long for the group of almost 60 players to mingle, make new friendsn and let the anxiety of gym class fade away.
The Capital Area Humane Society (CAHS) is a beacon of hope for animals in need. While the organization is renowned for its dedication to animal welfare through adoption and rehabilitation efforts, it’s their fostering program that truly shows their commitment to saving lives and nurturing compassion within the community. At CAHS, fostering isn’t just about providing temporary shelter for animals; it’s about offering them a chance to thrive in a loving environment while awaiting their forever homes. Whether it’s a litter of kittens needing round-the-clock care, a shy dog requiring socialization, or an injured animal in need of medical attention, CAHS fosters step up to provide the individualized care and attention these animals deserve. One of the program’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to connect animals in need with the right caregivers.
It is a brisk March day, and Azaadiika park is finally waking up for spring – birds are flitting through the trees, joggers and dog-walkers are making their way through the winding trails, and a myriad of plant life is starting its journey towards blooming for the season. But there is something there that doesn’t quite belong – a pervasive and ever-growing army of buckthorn trees, an invasive species that has long been a disruptive force in the park’s ecosystem.
“The tree itself takes a few years to grow, but it sends little seeds, and then it sprouts little trees, and those little trees can completely cover a landscape,” says Heather Majano. “So much so, that you could actually take a weed whipper out and just weed whip tiny little buckthorn trees and not have to worry about removing any other plant because that’s all there is.”
Three large piles of buckthorn branches line a trail in East Lansing’s Azaadiika Park on Saturday, March 9. The branch piles, which have been cut down and placed there by Stewardship Program volunteers, will serve as habitats for some of the park’s smaller animal inhabitants. Majano, who graduated from MSU with her master’s degree in forestry in 2015, has spent the majority of the past 12 years working as the coordinator for East Lansing’s Environmental Stewardship Program, an initiative focused on reducing the negative impact that invasive species have on East Lansing’s natural environments.
The program, initially founded in 2009 by former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mike Vasievich, devotes most of its energy towards on-the-ground conservation efforts, inviting community volunteers to meet at designated locations on the second Saturday of every month –both to learn more about the impacts of invasive species, and to help remove or repurpose as many invasive plants as possible.
“I’ve talked to some people who are not as familiar with plant identification, and when they look out in the woods or in a field, they see green, [and think] green is beautiful.
Over the last two years, a concerning pattern has emerged in college towns like East Lansing and across the country: an unrelenting increase in rent prices. Worries about the community’s overall economic well-being have been heightened as price increases have made it difficult for many residents and students to obtain affordable housing.
Michigan State University has always been a huge center for sports but it was first known primarily as a football school, winning six national titles between 1951 and 1966. It wasn’t until Magic Johnson led the Spartans to their first basketball national championship in 1979 that they began getting recognition for their basketball program. Once Tom Izzo became head coach of the basketball program in 1995 and led the Spartans to their second national championship in 2000, the Spartans would be put on the map as a basketball school.
In East Lansing, Rental Restriction Overlays allow for neighborhoods to restrict rental properties in their parts of the city, making it more difficult for low-income people to find housing and limits rights of homeowners.
