City Meetings (Mostly) Pause to End June and Start July

It was a bit of a slow news week in East Lansing as few city meetings took place during the final days of June.

One meeting did pop up, as the East Lansing Library Board of Trustees held a special session Monday (June26) to discuss the next steps forward following the sudden resignations of Director Kristin Shelley and Assistant Director Brice Bush. ELi’s Dustin DuFort Petty attended that meeting to chronicle the challenges ahead for finding a new director and how the library will operate in the interim.

As Pride month comes to a conclusion, Dustin also brought us a report on East Lansing High School programs and staff members who help LGBTQ+ students feel comfortable in school.

Tuesday (June 27), ELi announced rules for readers who wish to comment on our Facebook page. It is our hope setting clear boundaries will encourage civil discussion on our reports and clarify why some comments may be hidden or deleted.

Here are some activities to take note of during the Fourth and next week.

While East Lansing is traditionally quiet during the Fourth of July, communities around us have a variety of celebrations going on.

Lansing’s Independence Day celebration begins with a parade at 11 a.m. at the Capitol Loop and a prelude to fireworks concert at 8 p.m. at Adado Park. Meridian Township is NOT doing fireworks this year.

Looking for a small town Fourth of July parade experience? The City of Mason is holding its annual parade beginning at 4:30 p.m.

And, of course, there’s always the Lansing Lugnuts to help us get out of the house. The team is playing home games through the week, including July Fourth.

The City of East Lansing officially lifted the outdoor burning ban as of Wednesday (June 28) thanks to some wonderful, much-needed rain. Here’s the press release from the Fire Prevention Bureau of the East Lansing Fire Department (ELFD). Unfortunately, the air quality alert continues today (Saturday). Here’s the government link to find out our smokey numbers.

The city wants to remind everyone of the rules for fireworks in East Lansing. The ELFD has some important safety tips and a reminder of the city ordinance for fireworks.

Because of the poor air quality on Friday, the June 30 PRIDE Celebration planned for the Ann Street Plaza and Albert EL Fresco was postponed. We’ll keep you posted on the new date.

The City’s Prime Time Seniors Program has partnered with Michigan State University’s Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities Program to host a cohort of Africa’s emerging leaders from the Mandela Washington Fellowship. The fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative. As part of the partnership, two civic engagement events are scheduled with the first on Friday (July 7) at the Hannah Center. Go here for more information.

All-in-all, things do quiet down for the Independence Day week, including at ELi.

There is only one meeting currently posted on the city’s calendar for next week – a special meeting of the library’s board of trustees scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday (July 6). The meeting agenda designates time for public comment and the possible appointment of an interim director.

If anything else pops up, you can find the agendas here.

ELi will also take a break for Independence Day. We plan to deliver a report on Sunday that details some of the actions taken at the June 20 Council meeting before pausing publication from July 3-5.

All of us at ELi hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and holiday and that celebrations are able to take place with safer air quality in the Lansing-area. Here’s to less pesky Canadian forest fire smoke through this week!

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