Lansing City Council members voted unanimously Monday to remove a make-safe-or-demolish order for 108-110 S. Martin Luther King Boulevard, WKAR News reported, following weeks of advocacy from property owner Alesia Flowers. In May, Flowers told City Pulse that her E.M. Cannon Designs LLC in Dimondale purchased the property, which had been twice featured in City Pulse’s Eyesore of the Week, at auction in 2019, and launched a long-term restoration project. Flowers said that her plan for the two-story, 3,000-square-foot house — the first built by famed Lansing architect Darius Moon (1851-1939) — is for two two-bedroom units on the top floor and a common area on the first floor for offices or, perhaps, a bakery. She told Council that she has already invested more than $80,000 in restoring the house and has more funding lined up, including a $500,000 grant. It may be the first time in at least the past two decades that Council members have rescinded a make safe or demolish order.
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Wanda Stokes gave Assistant Ingham County Public Defender Stephen Milks 10 days to get Marcus Lee Hayes examined after an attorney said he has serious concerns about his client’s mental competency ahead of a Dec. 9 trial on murder and mutilation charges, the Lansing State Journal reported. Milks told Stokes that he believes there’s a potential for manipulation and that Hayes hasn’t been honest about some things. Hayes and his brother, Leonard Felton III, are accused of killing and dismembering Zaccary Marquise Taylor, 25, of Battle Creek in Lansing in May 2024. Officials allege that Taylor was strangled in an apartment on Georgetown Boulevard in Lansing and dismembered in a basement on W. Malcom X Street.
The Ingham County Board of Commissioners plans to consider a resolution on Wednesday that would approve providing $25,000 from its contingency fund to county food banks to help offset the impact on residents from the loss of SNAP funding. The resolution also said the county’s controller’s office and health department would work to identify food banks that would receive the funding.
A collective of Lansing-area churches, food pantries and nonprofit organizations will host a food drive at Central United Methodist Church on Friday, Nov. 21, as part of the Silver Bells in the City celebration. Volunteers will be at the church to collect food and other donations from 1-9 p.m. Friday, and from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday. “Families have been hungry for a while, and the uncertainty in Washington is making it worse,” Susan Grettenberger, a congregational leader at the church, told WLNS News. “No matter how and when the politicians resolve their differences, help is needed now.”
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor city officials activated a Code Blue plan Sunday evening in response to an unusual early November temperature drop. The Code Blue remained in effect for about 36 hours and has since been lifted; it will be back on the coldest days this winter. The designation allows additional hours and, when possible, temporarily increased capacity at local shelters. The Lansing Board of Water & Light does not do electric shutoffs due to non-payment when the city declares a Code Red or Code Blue status.
Potter Park Zoo officials held a ribbon-cutting Thursday for a new $6.5 million, 6,000-square-foot Animal Health Facility, dedicated to animal care and education. The Potter Park Zoological Society began the process of securing public and private funding just over four years ago and broke ground in May 2024. The facility includes dedicated surgery and treatment areas, a laboratory, a necropsy area, and an animal holding area, as well as cameras and lights above operating and treatment tables so veterinary students and the public can view procedures.
Lansing resident Joanne Galloway has urged residents to attend a Wednesday (Nov. 12) meeting of the Lansing City Council’s Committee on Development and Planning, as part of a campaign to protect mature trees at Fenner Nature Center from a Consumers Energy natural gas line project. Consumers Energy wants to remove 24 trees within a 15-foot easement for a project to install a 12-inch natural gas line near the Mt. Hope entrances to Fenner and Evergreen Cemetery, beginning next May. City Council President Ryan Kost said the 24 trees marked are smaller and not of historic significance, but acknowledged there are others very close by, and the committee has asked city attorneys to put in an agreement with Consumers that any changes or modifications—such as clearing historic trees—would require Council’s review…