lansing

Four Muskegon County deputies and one former Wellspath nurse have been charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday over the death of a man in jail. 

In March 2019, 39-year-old Paul Bulthouse was held at Muskegon County Jail on a probation detainer. He was classified as suicidal, which required him to be monitored every fifteen minutes. This also meant his cell was close to the booking center and was always visible on video monitors. 

Bulthouse died 13 days later after suffering 22 seizures in five and a half hours, according to a release from Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor highlighted his efforts at addressing diversity and accountability during Wednesday’s State of the City Address.

Schor touted his efforts in working with Lansing’s police chief to reform policies for traffic stops and putting an end to “no knock” searches. He also pledged to continue addressing racial disparities through his Racial Justice and Equity Alliance.

Plans for a mass demonstration Sunday at the state Capitol drew a large law enforcement presence, but only a small crowd of protesters.

Some people in Flint are turning to a higher power to deal with a rise in violent crime.

“We pray right now for protection, Lord. We pray for strength, Lord,” Pastor Chris Martin used a megaphone, as he led a small march from his church, past a city park where the city’s latest murder victim was found Saturday.

Update, Monday November 16: After a weekend that was "incrementally better" than expected in terms of COVID-19 patient admissions, Sparrow leadership now believe the Lansing hospital will reach full capacity around Thanksgiving, rather than this week. As of Monday, Sparrow was at 81% capacity with 136 COVID patients, according to the state's census. 

"You never know what will happen day to day," says Sparrow spokesperson John Foren. "The latest I saw was conceivably Thanksgiving week. It'll be day to day." 

The group Stand Up Michigan rallied Thursday at the state Capitol in Lansing. The event came a few hours after news broke of the foiled alleged kidnapping plot against Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Monday, the Lansing city council may take a step toward considering slashing the city’s police department budget by 50%.

Councilman Brandon Betz says his proposal is about “re-envisioning public safety”.

The Lansing Police Department says it will no longer stop drivers for traffic violations that don’t pose a threat to public safety. 

The new policy means Lansing police won’t pull drivers over for so-called secondary violations.  Those include things like cracked windshields, loud exhaust and broken tail lights.  Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green says it’s an effort to protect the constitutional rights of citizens and eliminate bias-based policing. 

Hundreds of people marched from the Lansing Center to the state Capitol on Wednesday as part of a march against police brutality.

The words "Black Lives Matter" echoed across the Capitol lawn at the NAACP’s “We are Done Dying” march.

Nathanael Jefferson has been to several protests in Detroit and Lansing. He says he has personally been profiled in Lansing and sees police profiling all the time.

More than one hundred protesters gathered on the state capitol steps Sunday marking a week of protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, by a white police officer.

About 100 gun rights supporters rallied on the steps of the state Capitol building in solidarity with Virginia, as a lineup of speakers warned the heavily-armed crowd that the gun control measures proposed in that state could happen in Michigan, too.

“They could literally be at our doorstep tomorrow here in Michigan with those same bills,” said DeeDee Dubose, one of the event’s organizers from Jackson. “That’s why we’re here to stand with Virginia, and our people saying, 'No, no, no, that’s not right.’”

Lansing’s Catholic bishop has responded to an internal review into complaints the diocese’s schools were racially insensitive.

The diocese was criticized after several African-American Lansing Catholic High School football players were benched after kneeling during the national anthem in 2017.

Preparations are expected to begin this week for a quarter billion dollar mixed-use development on the border of Lansing and East Lansing.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor says workers will be begin clearing the 36 acre site of the $270 million Red Cedar Development Project. A ground breaking is expected next month.

Local student organizer, Khadega Mohammed, has been working on raising awareness about the current turbulence in Sudan by helping organize rallies across the state and sharing information through awareness campaigns on social media.  

Detroit and Lansing are among ten U.S. cities picked to be part of an effort to improve economic mobility.

Foundations linked to billionaires Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Ballmer are behind the effort to improve the future of America’s children.

Lansing held a ceremony this week to celebrate an end to veteran homelessness in the Capitol City.

The Lansing, East Lansing and Ingham County Continuum of Care, the Capitol Region Housing Collaborative (CRHC), was recently recognized by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as “effectively ending” homelessness among veterans.

The mayor of Lansing wants to power all city buildings with 100% renewable energy starting with the city's new fiscal year.

Mayor Andy Schor is including the switch to primarily wind and solar power in the budget he’s introducing this week.

“We will be the first city in the state of Michigan, as far as we can tell, that will be 100% renewable energy,” says Schor. “And I think that’s really important; we have to lead by example.”

A Lansing Board of Water & Light official says roughly 99% of the power would come from solar and wind sources. 

A company angling to be Michigan’s largest cannabis business harvested its first crop this week.

At Green Peak Innovations' south Lansing grow operation, hair-net wearing workers are spending this week harvesting 600 to 800 pounds of marijuana.

“We are bringing a tremendous amount of production to the market. And some of it's ready to go to the market in the next couple of weeks,” says CEO Jeff Radway.   

Radway says 50% of Michigan’s medical marijuana dispensaries have committed to carrying Green Peak’s Skymint brand. The company is also planning on opening 19 retail stores.  

In the middle of a tight re-election campaign, Michigan Congressman Mike Bishop took time Thursday to escort a top Trump administration official around a Lansing development project.

A recent poll showed Republican Mike Bishop holding a slim lead over Democratic challenger Elissa Slotkin.  Slotkin has raised more money than Bishop in the traditionally Republican district.

There are plans to turn a run-down Lansing golf course into a $100 million mixed used development.

The rough on the old Waverly golf course has been growing wild for years. The city closed the golf course in 2007. City voters agreed to sell it in 2012.