News, Events & Information - Lansing, Michigan
The Government Relations Office reports news from the three cities in which its staff is located;
Lansing, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Washington, D.C.
Review of past Caucus Events and view upcoming Caucus Events HERE
Next Event: "Putting American Schools Back to Work: The Michigan Model Scales Up "
Featured speaker: Dean Deborah Loewenberg Ball (Bio)
Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
NOTE: House Office Building, Mackinac Room, 5th Floor
UM Club of Greater Lansing Community Service Day
The UM Club of Greater Lansing had a community service day on Tuesday, May 14th at the Greater Lansing Food Bank. (Photo credit: UM Club of Greater Lansing Facebook page) UM Club of Greater Lansing Board, UM alums and Angela J. McCullum, UM Lansing Service Center.
May 22: Scholarship Reception
6:00 pm, Walnut Hills Country Club, 2874 Park Lake Rd East Lansing, MI 48823
Please join us in celebrating our local scholarship winners. Each year the UM Club of Greater Lansing awards $1,000 scholarships to 12 Lansing area students. Last year’s recipients will be sharing stories from their first year on campus and presenting the awards to 2013 award winners. Appetizers and cake will be provided.
Community-University Partnerships: Invested in Michigan’s Future
This event focuses on the increasingly urgent issue of talent development in Michigan. You will have the opportunity to talk with faculty and their community partners about successful community-university partnerships and ideas for implementing educational solutions from early childhood through K-12 and on to adult learners in your community.
This event took place on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. This event was hosted by Michigan's 15 pubic universities and the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. For more information, please e-mail pfarrell@pcsum.org Program PDF Photos by Angela McCullum. 
Mayor Bernero State of the City Address:
For the 8th time, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero will deliver a State of the City address to Lansing residents. According to a media release, Bernero will deliver the address Monday, January 28, 2013 at 7 p.m., at the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Depot. The depot is on the site of the Lansing Board of Water and Light's $182 million cogeneration plant, the municipal utility's first natural-gas fueled power generation facility.
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2013/01/lansing_mayor_virg_berneros_an.html
The 2013 State of the City Address is ready. Read PDF
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero names Mike Yankowski as the city's interim police chief
LANSING, MI Mayor Virg Bernero on Thursday named Mike Yankowski as the city's interim police chief. Yankowski, 40, currently serves as a captain overseeing the Lansing Police Department's patrol division. He was one of three finalists for the city's police chief position in 2011, when outgoing Chief Teresa Szymanski was selected. Read more
Michigan agency reverses unemployment fraud decision
LANSING Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency took back its decision to attend administrative insurance fraud hearings only when large sums of money are at risk after lawmakers said the policy ignored state law.
Agency spokeswoman Lynda Robinson told The Associated Press Wednesday that a directive sent to employees Friday rescinded an earlier order that instructed employees to show up at fraud hearings only if the amount of fraudulent benefits is at least $15,000. Read more
Fighting blight: Michigan Senate approves bills allowing cities to fine, jail deadbeat landowners
LANSING, MI The Michigan Senate today approved a series of bills designed to give local communities new and powerful tools to fight blight, including the ability to jail speculators and landlords who continually fail to maintain their properties. http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/fighting_blight_michigan_senat.html#incart_river_default
"Lansing Launches Financial Empowerment Center to Serve 4,000 Area Residents
Mayor Virg Bernero joined community partners in announcing the opening of the Lansing Financial Empowerment Center, which will provide free, one-on-one, professional financial counseling to an estimated 4,000 Lansing area residents over the next three years. The Center will help participants reach their financial goals, ranging from managing debt and avoiding financial scams to saving for a better life for themselves and their families. Read More
Child Abuse Prevention Month
Since 1985, April has been nationally recognized as Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month. The Michigan Children's Trust Fund has used this special time each year to acknowledge the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child maltreatment in all its forms. To assist our CTF local councils, grantees and other like-minded community partners with their CAP Month efforts this webpage has been created. Included, is a comprehensive toolkit with messaging, statistical, programmatic and fundraising materials along with related website links. We also feature CTF's upcoming and past Prevention Awareness Day (PrAD) and its associated Legislative Education Day (LED) events. Please take a few moments (or more) to peruse these vital and practical CAP Month resources.
Go to Website
Lansing Police Chief Teresa Szymanski to retire
LANSING — Lansing Police Chief Teresa Szymanski will retire April 20, officials announced today. Szymanski, who has been with the department for 26 years, was named interim police chief in March 2010, when she replaced Mark Alley. She was officially named chief the next year. Read More
Michigan secretary of state urges organ donor sign-up
LANSING — Michigan’s secretary of state has kicked off Donate Life Month to encourage Michigan residents to become potential organ donors.
Ruth Johnson was joined by health officials and Michigan residents waiting for organs Tuesday at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit to raise awareness of the need for organ donors. Read More
Mayor Proposes FY14 City Budget
Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Executive Budget Recommendation Summary PDF
Lansing State Journal, Graham Couch: Big Ten basketball still best in show
Michigan's basketball team rescued the Big Ten from a national belittling Sunday. The Wolverines' Elite Eight whipping of Florida put the Big Ten in the Final Four and, to some degree, safely preserved the season-long notion that the conference was college basketball's finest. That is, for the brigades of gleeful Big Ten-haters, plenty of whom had their manuscripts and microphones ready. Read More
State official keeps government honest (Auditor general now in 24th year on job)
Auditor General Thomas McTavish has shown amazing longevity for a man who rarely says something flattering about the government that employs him, quietly becoming the longest-serving watchdog of the state’s purse in Michigan history.
McTavish, 70, is in his 24th year exposing mismanagement and spending boondoggles by state departments, surpassing the previous record of Auditor General Oramel B. Fuller, who served from 1909 to 1932. Read More
President Obama gives State of the Union address.
Watch here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140940n
Obama: 'These cuts do not have to happen'
(CNN) - In his latest push to pressure Congress before a series of massive, across-the-board forced spending cuts kick in on Friday, President Barack Obama is bringing state governors into the conversation.
The president spoke Monday morning before the National Governors Association at the White House, where he urged the state executives to weigh in on the matter.
"While you are in town, I hope that you speak with your congressional delegation and remind them in no uncertain terms exactly what is at stake and exactly who is at risk," Obama told the room full of governors gathered in Washington for their winter meeting. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/Obama-These-cuts-do-not-have-to-happen/-/1719386/19073544/-/4hwat6/-/index.html
Art in the Legislature Program
This initiative is sponsored by the President's
Council for State Universities in Michigan. Lansing Service Center Director,
Veronica Johnson, selected University of Michigan students
Paul DiStefano with the artwork titled: "Whirling Dynamics";
Emerson Schreinerwith the artwork titled: "Last Look" and Eliana Gershon
with the artwork titled "Echo". Link to Slide Show
President Obama at U-M - Unveils Education Plan
By Jillian Bogater President Barack Obama unveiled a higher education plan for the nation that included increased funding for universities that keep tuition affordable and provide value. Read More in the U-M Record Update.
Below are links from Gov. Rick Snyder's office regarding various issues of the State of Michigan.
- 18th Annual Governor's Education Summit
Developing Michigan's Talent - Key to a Strong Economy
This event will take place Monday, April 22, 2013 at the Kellogg Center, East Lansing, MI. For more information, please call the Michigan Foundation for Education Leadership at 517-643-0266. More/ - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder joins 'virtual march' for national immigration reform
LANSING, MI -- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is joining a group of "innovation leaders" calling on Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform in order to keep and attract talented workers in the United States. More -
Governor, legislators announce plan to reform no-fault
LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder joined State Sen. Joe Hune, State Rep. Pete Lund and business leaders to announce a plan for no-fault auto insurance reform that will lower the cost of insurance for Michigan drivers, continue to provide the best catastrophic injury protection in the nation and ensure a fair and sustainable system into the future. More - Report of the Lansing Financial Health Team More
- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder pushes vote on federal partnership for "Obamacare" health exchange
LANSING, MI -- Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing lawmakers to approve a bill that would allow the state to partner with the federal government on an online health insurance marketplace, but Senate Republicans do not appear to be in a hurry to end debate.
Snyder, speaking with the Associated Press yesterday in Detroit, said that if the Senate fails to approve a supplemental appropriations bill before they leave for spring break next week, Michigan likely would default to a "pure federal exchange" run without state involvement
More - Gov. Rick Snyder signs legislation that will lead to changes for Blue Cross in Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that will lead to significant changes for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, allowing the company to transition into a nonprofit mutual insurer. The Republican governor, as expected, signed Senate Bill 61 and Senate Bill 62 at an event in Detroit.
“Reforming the state’s largest health insurance provider is essential to establishing the health care marketplace of the future,” Snyder said in a statement. “Improving the health and wellness of all Michiganders is a major focus, and these changes ensure that quality health care will remain affordable and accessible.” - 2013 State of the State Address can be seen here
- Reinventing Michigan: Our Goals and Objects: PDF
Did You Know....
The U of M Club of Greater Lansing will volunteer at the Greater Lansing Food Bank
Welcome to Be A Tourist In Your Own Town - June 1, 2013
Nineteen years ago, the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau created this event to increase community awareness of our attractions and the tourism industry's impact on the area. So once again we open the doors for you to explore what's in your own backyard, right here in Mid-Michigan. Did you know, over 4.7 million people visit Greater Lansing each year and spend over $424 million on lodging, meals, entertainment, and transportation? More info
The Board of Water & Light Chili Cook-Off
Over 40 local businesses compete annually to win the hearts, palates and votes of attendees. Competitors showcase culinary skills at a riverside party with 1,500 gallons of chili, cold beer, margaritas and live bands. The cook off will take place Friday, May 31st. More
Annual Oldsmobile Homecoming
This is the largest one-day Oldsmobile-only car show and swap meet in the world. Oldsmobiles will range in age from 1903 to the last cars built. Find over 500 show cars and 100 car related swap meet and vendor spaces. And don't miss the pre-event cruise-in in downtown Dimondale the day before! This event will take place Wednesday, May 15th.
Representative Andy Schor's, 68th District represents the Lansing area.http://068.housedems.com/
Senator Gretchen Whitmer, 23rd District represents the Lansing area.
Did you know that we have over 300 famous Alumni. Some include: Actress Lucy Liu, '90; Actor James Earl Jones, '55; Former President Gerald Ford, '35; NFL Player Tom Brandy, '00.
Parade Magazine Ranks Lansing as One of America's Hardest-Working TownsParade Magazine examined several criteria to determine the top 25 hardest-working towns in our country. Lansing was noted for a long average work week and scored several points above the national average in workers giving up their personal time and weekends for work. Lansing is truly "Where Michigan Works!"
Lansing First Fridays - Explore the Fun SideOn the first Friday of every month Greater Lansing rolls out the fun carpet – big time. You'll find restaurants and bars with unique specials, shops and galleries with extended hours, and events for everyone to enjoy. You'll also find free CATA transportation on all buses and the Entertainment Express trolley, with service every 15 minutes between downtown Lansing and East Lansing and dozens of places along the way. Come out on this First Fridays and explore the fun side of Greater Lansing – where you can expect the unexpected.
David Brandon Reshapes Athletic Department to Instill Change Read More Here
New Single Stream Recycling Program Renames Waste Reduction Services
The City of Lansing takes its commitment to carting away trash and recycling very seriously. The Public Service Department has updated the way it receives its recycling. The new single-stream recycling program allows individuals to place all recyclables into one recycling bin without separating materials. The implementation of single-stream positively impacts both residents and operations. Recycling for residents will be even more convenient and allow for more materials to be collected through the program.
What is Design Lansing?
The City of Lansing is undergoing a year-long-plus process of reworking its Master Plan. The Master Plan is the document that guides planning and zoning activities in the city which sounds mundane, but is actually very important. It talks about where future growth will be, how we envision the city and its assets park, trails, entertainment districts, bikes, street designs, mass transit, etc.
Wolverine Caucus
Wolverine Caucus members are U-M alumni working in and around State of Michigan government, including legislators, lobbyists, staff, and advisors who meet with UM experts on timely, relevant public policy subjects during the legislative session. Our mission is to provide diverse forums at which University of Michigan friends can meet one another, exchange views and learn from the world-class talents of U-M faculty and administrators.
We balance programs with U-M experts in economics, international and local affairs, technology, health and medicine, athletics, labor relations, law and the fine arts.
The Caucus is informal: no dues, no elections, no organization chart.
Please join us at a Wolverine Caucus event soon!