Monica Schafer sits at Noah’s Nook with her campaign materials.

Monica Schafer: Republican running for Ingham County District 15

“So many times as a woman we’re home raising the kids,” Schafer said. “Sometimes we put our education just on the back burner because it’s very important to be there with the kids, but now I have the opportunity to step up and use the degree and give back to the community.”

Schafer and her husband own Schafer Raspberries, a U-pick raspberry farm, which is a “labor of love.” Schafer said.

Locke stands in front of a Okemos Biggby Coffee shop.

Brooke Locke: Democrat running for Ingham County District 15

Democratic candidate for Ingham County Board of Commission District 15 Brooke Locke has  close ties to Ingham County but specifically, Williamstown.

“The town’s always meant a great deal to me,” Locke said. 

Although transitioning into policymaking, Locke is currently a full-time real estate agent at Keller Williams Lansing. He also keeps busy working on a separate LLC for reinvestment and a part-time server at Tavern 109.

A "vote here today" sign outside a polling place in Lansing for the November 2021 election.

Michiganders prepare for Election Day

Michigan’s 2022 election entered its final hours as voters and local officials prepared for in-person voting on Election Day. Polls across Michigan open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.

Michigan voters will make choices in a variety of local and statewide races — including governor, attorney general, secretary of state, the state’s 13 congressional seats, and the 148 members of the Michigan Legislature. There also are three statewide ballot proposals up for vote.

City of DeWitt logo

Seeing double? Meet Clay Coey, running for two offices on Nov. 8

If you live in the City of DeWitt, there are 81 names on your ballot for the Nov. 8 election. Eighty are unique.

That’s because Clay Coey, a 13-year DeWitt resident, has a stake in both the City Council and School Board races. Such an occurrence is rare enough that Coey, who has worked in campaigns since the ’90s, had to check if a dual candidacy is legal.

Advertisements aim to push Generation Z to the polls

Although some might argue that issues on the ballot for the upcoming state midterm election affect young adults more than anyone else, it still appears to be a challenge to get them to go out and vote.   The effort to get younger voters to the polls has been apparent on social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and Tik Tok.  

Generation Z is widely accepted to be made up of those born between the late 1990s, and the early 2010s, a demographic more likely to experience the effects of elected officials and proposals passed. Still, a large number of them are either not informed about what is on the ballot, or not planning on participating in the election. 

20-year-old Ricky Braman, a student at MSU, is registered to vote, but could not think of one elected official or proposal included on the ballot.  

“I guess I’m just not that interested, but my mom encouraged me to register to vote,” Braman said. 

This isn’t his first time voting either. Braman previously recalls voting in the 2020 presidential election. 

“I knew that the presidential election was important to be a part of, especially the last one,” Braman said. 

 Most young people his age know that presidential elections occur every four years because of media attention, but it is harder to get them to participate in smaller elections because they feel it is not as important.  

“You don’t hear as many controversial debates or negative opinions about these elections like you do for the presidential one,”  Braman said. Instagram shows users advertisements like one from the popular ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s which included a photo of the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot with bold letters reading, “Vote like your democracy depends on it.  Because it does!”

There have been efforts to encourage members of Generation Z to vote and to stress the importance of exercising one’s right to vote in elections, especially because Proposal 2, on the Michigan ballot, aims to protect that right and potentially make it easier for those eligible.

East Lansing makes voting more accessible for MSU Students

One of the voting signs at Michigan State’s library entrance. For the first time in school history, East Lansing will provide a rotating satellite office on Michigan State’s campus until Election Day. For the first time in Michigan State history, the city of East Lansing will provide a rotating satellite office on campus for MSU’s students. In recent years, satellite offices have become common, but voting on MSU’s campus has an update in 2022. “This is the first year we’ve done a rotating satellite office,” said poll worker Amy Gordon.

Eaton County Public Safety hears dept. updates, progress

The Eaton County Public Safety Committee recently met to discuss the recertification of problem-solving courts in the area, in addition to hearing updates from central dispatch and the emergency manager.  

Deputy of Community Corrections, Melanie Achenbach, spoke on the recertification of Eaton County’s problem-solving courts (PSCs) for drug/sobriety, mental health and veterans treatment that serve to rehabilitate people with criminal offenses so that they can live better lives outside the prison system. 

Every four years, the Eaton County PSCs have to undergo a recertification process to ensure that the courts are fulfilling their purpose. 

In Nov. 2021, the Michigan Supreme Court approved a grant of $250,000, intended to be split among the three courts within the Eaton County PSCs. 

“It’s a pretty intensive process for each program,” Achenbach said. “They review all of our documents, attend a staffing session, review hearings, and interview various team members… who work together to accomplish the goals…through these programs.”

Kelly Cunningham, central dispatch director for Eaton County, gave an update on the replacement of the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) System.

CATA giving free rides to the polls

CATA is offering free transportation to local clerk offices and ballot drop boxes up until Election Day on Nov. 8. 

According to CATA’s website, buses will not require identification or proof that they are registered voters.