Catch Up On Our Reporting From This Week

We hope East Lansing residents are able to enjoy Michigan State University's homecoming weekend!

Start your Saturday by reading our reporting from this week.

East Lansing police chief faces backlash over "racist" remark, body cam lapses, misleading arrest narrative.

East Lansing Police Chief Jen Brown faced criticism this week for comments she made in a news interview last week. Along with criticism of Brown's comments, speakers at Tuesday's City Council meeting took aim at city officials for naming a pair of young men named in a city press release about downtown crime. The press release said the men were charged with misdemeanors for fighting, but new footage of the incident shows that the narrative in the release was misleading, and one of the men appears to be acting as a peacekeeper. Managing Editor Luke Day covered the City Council meeting.

Additionally, City Government Reporter Ayah Imran covered last week's Police Oversight Commission meeting. At that meeting, commissioners discussed Brown's controversial comment and suggested ELPD officers be given more training on activating body cameras during high-stress situations. Ayah's story can be read here.

East Lansing parents raise alarm about traffic safety.

For years, parents of East Lansing elementary school students have come to city meetings asking for safer traffic conditions near schools, especially Glencairn Elementary School. Recently, parents invited City Council candidates to walk to school with the kids. Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols walked with parents and spoke with crossing guards at the event.

Ask ELi: ELPS Superintendent Dori Leyko explains the district's approach to discipline.

ELi often receives questions from readers about how East Lansing Public Schools approach discipline. Recently, ELPS Superintendent Dori Leyko spoke with ELi reporter Dustin DuFort Petty about how the district approaches discipline and what tools it has. See what we found out in Dustin's story.

East Lansing City Council rejects pay raise; clash over board appointment transparency.

At this week's City Council meeting, council declined to pass a motion to increase the pay of City Council members and the mayor (for now). Additionally, council members had a discussion about if people who apply to serve on city boards who have relationships with council members should disclose that as part of the application. One council member slammed the discussion as being over a "petty grievance." Read Ayah's coverage of the meeting here.

Ingham County judge gives final approval for $7.8 million East Lansing BWL payout.

Friday, an Ingham County judge gave final approval for a $7.8 million settlement in a lawsuit over a "Franchise Fee" East Lansing had the Board of Water and Light install in electric bills. As part of the settlement, class lawyers will take about $2.6 million. Find out more in Anna's story.

East Lansing Insider Podcast: ELi editors discuss affordable rental housing.

This week on the East Lansing Insider podcast, Managing Editor Luke Day and Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols discuss the affordability of rental housing in East Lansing. During the discussion, Luke and Anna talk about the challenges of adding affordable housing, rent price increases and projects the city has considered in the past or may in the future. The podcast can be accessed through this link, or on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

There are five city meetings next week.

City government stays busy next week, as there are five meetings on the docket. Tuesday (Oct. 14) City Council has a discussion-only meeting and the University Student Commission meets. Wednesday (Oct. 15), the Library Board of Trustees and Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission each gather. Thursday (Oct. 16), the Arts Commission will convene. When meeting agendas are posted, they can be found here.

Additionally, the East Lansing Board of Education will meet Tuesday. School board meetings are being held in the MacDonald Middle School auditorium, starting at 7 p.m. The agenda for that meeting can be found here.

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