re: The Sunny Side of East Lansing // Alice Dreger

My thanks go out to Matt Kazmierski, Public Response’s Administrator, for his “Sunny Side of East Lansing” post. What a great list! As a follow-up, I’d like to remind people that ELi’s Managing Editor Ann Nichols is always looking for story suggestions about East Lansing, so if you see a “sunny side” story ELi should cover, please be in touch via this page: https://eastlansinginfo.org/contact You can also reach our Managing Editor via ELi’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/eastlansinginfo and Twitter account @eastlansinginfo. Our readers especially value stories that feature specific individuals doing good work, little-known sports and games, and arts/entertainment opportunities folks … Read more →

The Sunny Side of East Lansing

Just over a week ago, Public Response asked you all to respond with the things that you like about East Lansing and living here, and your responses did not disappoint. Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond! I meant to send this follow-up post with the compilation of answers sooner… but Spring Break got in the way last week. I apologize. However, it seems fitting to send out this “Sunny Side” email on a cold, snowy, spring day here in East Lansing 🙂 Here is the list of your thoughtful responses… ————————————————————————- – I love the … Read more →

Objective Assessment of Tax Options // Eliot Singer

I will leave it to East Lansing government to explain why it spent $20,000 tax dollars hiring a private consultant to conduct a scientifically worthless survey of tax options, when if it really wanted unfettered public input, it could have gotten that for free by asking neighborhood associations to hold town hall meetings, with members of Council in the audience in their capacity as citizens. Tabulating data when the data is not scientifically obtained is pointless. The first, and most important, thing I learned about computers back in the stone age (c. 1970) was GIGO: Garbage in, Garbage out! For … Read more →

What Do You Like About East Lansing? // Matt Kazmierski

Apparently – based on Scott Bame’s most recent post – people who live outside of East Lansing have nothing but bad things to say and negative opinions about our city, for the most part. Sure, there are some things going on in the City of East Lansing that are not positive… and it’s very easy to point out the negative aspects of anything, especially when you’re on the outside looking in. I know that the essays published on Public Response often address and discuss such “negative” things… but there is a purpose… to cultivate awareness and communication, with the hope of making … Read more →

Opinions from outside of East Lansing // Scott Bame

It’s been over six months since moving from East Lansing. My wife and I have both lost a lot of stress with the move, after it was completed. When I talk to people I might mention that I just moved from East Lansing. Most folks wonder what in the heck is going on. Most agree that East Lansing is in bad shape. I get the impression that folks are avoiding East Lansing, other than as a cut through to other locations. Folks aren’t happy that LouAnn resigned from MSU When I get a response about interim President Engler, they think … Read more →

Great Lakes Folk Festival–and its successors? // John Kloswick

A “hiatus” for MSU’s and East Lansing’s folklife festival this year would be a mistake, especially since the festival has been moving in the right direction in recent years by returning to its roots as a regional chapter, as it were, of the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife.  This format will not appeal to everybody, but, while P. T. Barnum’s museum aimed to draw as many suckers as possible through the turnstiles, our principal aim is education. Since the land-grant tradition which Mark Auslander invokes to support emphasis on undergraduate students (see eastlansinginfo.org/content/museum-director-explains-folk-festival-hiatus , paragraph 13) is also about supplementary and continuing … Read more →

The Costs of Boozing, Bloody Well Boozing // Eliot Singer

I see the 50-50 rule is being dissed again. For those who do not know the history, the 50-50 rule says that half the revenue from bars and restaurants must come from food not booze. This rule was at behest of the Responsible Hospitality Council, a group of businesses who recognized the need for responsibility when it comes to boozing, bloody well boozing (to quote an old English boozing song). Whether or not the rule has helped over the years is impossible to prove. It was undermined by having several establishments grandfathered in who did not have to comply and … Read more →

Tree Trimming Under Power Lines // Don Bosman

For publication. I’m going to stir this pot. Partly as the devils advocate and partly because I have a very strong opinion about tree trimming near power lines. After a power outage due to trees breaking power lines, I’d like the power companies to publish a list, of property owner who interfered with scheduled trimming or removal that resulted in a broken power line. Why? Public shaming will do, for a start. I like trees. I’m an advocate of permaculture. The cultivation of trees for the benefits they produce and the simple beauty of them. I have more trees on … Read more →

Tree trimming in East Lansing // Frank McAlpine

The Board of Water and Light through its subcontractor Wright Tree Services is doing tree trimming in East Lansing.  You may have noticed that the trimming is much more drastic than in past years.  This is because the Board of Water and Light has unilaterally decided to cut trees back ten feet from the power lines, in all directions, rather than the four feet it has been using for at least the past 20 years.  At our home, while we were out they topped a row of trees in the back yard.  I came home while they were working and … Read more →

Ostrom and O’Regan Granular Enough? (re: Proposals For Budget Reductions) // Sheila Taylor

In their March 7 post, Ostrom and O’Regan called for a granular look at the proposed budget, then made a cost-saving proposal of their own.  I appreciate the considerable work they have done, respect their intentions, and presume many of their suggestions are worth considering (though I suspect that even taken together, they would not fill the financial gap our city faces). I have a problem with their proposal, however, because they misunderstand how the library is funded. At one time, the city budget included funding for the library, but those days are gone.  Several years, ago, when city budget problems already … Read more →

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