We’ll be briefer than usual.
Catch up now on what you might have missed this week.
As ELi’s Publisher, I asked our staff to try to take some time off this week. It was a quiet week in East Lansing and there are big issues coming down the pike in the City of East Lansing’s government. Council is poised to pick a replacement for Lisa Babcock, make some big financial decisions, and to possibly make significant choices with regard to housing in the city.
Then there’s a new school board being seated soon, so ELi will need to cover that along with staying on top of the discussions over how (and whether) to radically revamp Valley Court Park and what to do about a big cash influx of new taxes coming soon to the Downtown Development Authority. (More on that at ELi soon.)
Here’s the reporting you might have missed at ELi this week:
Agreeing with the changed recommendation of City Manager George Lahanas, the Downtown Development Authority has decided to give up on the idea of The CITADEL, an office-space project that was meant to solve the Evergreen Avenue properties’ debt and improve the demography of weekdays downtown. It took two and a half years for this latest idea for the Evergreen Avenue properties to officially fail. What might come next?
A reader asked why the site where we’ve been told a Trader Joe’s is coming doesn’t seem to have anything going on. Is it really coming? While the developers say the problem is “supply chain delays” – a serious problem in the construction industry today – a search of public records told us some about the backstory of this project. Check it out.
With vacancies in downtown East Lansing storefronts increasing in spots, Canterbury MSU has decided to cross Grand River Avenue and set up on M.A.C. Avenue. Canterbury MSU is an Episcopal ministry to the MSU campus, with the Rev. Dr. Donna McNiel leading that flock. Read more about this in ELi.
This week, we also brought you a detailed look at ELi’s projected budget for next year along with an update on how our fundraising is going. Find that here.
What’s coming up around here?
East Lansing Public Schools’ Board of Ed is scheduled to meet on Monday, Nov. 28, starting at 7 p.m. at the high school.
Because it’s the fifth week of the month, there is only one public meeting scheduled for this week in city government: Housing Commission on Thursday, Dec. 1.
Starting Monday, Nov. 28, through Dec. 12, East Lansing residents can “recycle their non-functioning and functioning holiday lights by dropping them off in the cart in the entrance of the East Lansing Department of Public Works” up on State Road. Learn more here.
The City is also going to be offering extra curbside recycling pickup. Residents who live west of Abbot Road will have extra recycling days on Nov. 28 and Dec. 12 and residents who live east of Abbot Road will have extra recycling days on Dec. 5 and Dec. 19. Learn more here.
No-fee curbside yard waste collection is coming back for one more round. West of Abbot Road, that’ll be Dec. 5. East of Abbot Road, that’s Dec. 12. Learn more here.
Finally, Lansing’s very own USS Tecumseh Chapter of STARFLEET International and the Eastside Lansing Food Coop (ELFCO) will be teaming up on Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to noon to collect donations for the Greater Lansing Food Bank and Toys for Tots. That’ll happen at 1605 E. Kalamazoo St. in Lansing (ELFCO’s location).
The USS Tecumseh invites you to come out and meet the crew, take photos with them, “see the display of Star Trek memorabilia, and spend some time with Santa Claus! ELFCO will give out one free coffee, tea, or hot chocolate for every toy or two cans of food donated to the drive.” Toys must be new and unwrapped Questions about this? Email usstecumseh@gmail.com.
Have something you would like included in this weekly East Lansing Insider newsletter? Let us know!
Thanks for being an engaged ELi reader.
All my best wishes,
Alice Dreger / Publisher
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