Council finally approves ordinance

Tuesday's city council meeting began like most other council meetings at 7 p.m. That same meeting did not come to a conclusion until early Wednesday morning around 12:30 a.m. after council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance that would rezone property at the intersection of Coolidge and Lake Lansing.

During the meeting, the council held a public hearing to allow residents of the area to come forward and share the feelings about the proposed ordinance and join in a debate that has been ongoing for months.

Before the council voted to approve the ordinance, the land was classified as a B-4 location otherwise known as a restricted office business district. Rezoning to land to become a B-5 location would allow for the development of retail and sales businesses.

Montain, who is the owner of Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe, which is near the proposed rezoning area, said he strongly favored the ordinance because it would convenience to the community and be beneficial as a whole.

"What are we trying to preserve by keeping a vacant, run-down office building there instead of redeveloping the area," Montain said during the public hearing.

However, East Lansing resident Milton Price, who lives directly across the street form the proposed new development voiced his opposition to rezoning the land during the meeting.

"Rezoning that land meand giving developers full control over what happens to that land," Price said. "I don't want that and I don't think it's right because it takes away our rights as citizens."

Many other residents have also been extremely passionate and vocal in their opposition.

Click here to view a comprehensive map of the area in question.

Intersection of Coolidge and Lake Lansing Road - picture courtesy of lansingonline.com

E.L. City Council Meeting Preview

On Tuesday night the East Lansing City Council is planning to hold a public hearing regarding the rezoning of property on Lake Lansing Road. The rezoning of the land will allow for the construction of retail sales businesses as opposed to restricted office businesses which is what it currently is.

In technical terms, rezoning the property would change the land from B4 to B5 allowing varying businesses and retailers to occupy the space.

However, many in the surrounding neighborhood have voiced concern over the rezoning proposal citing the potential businesses would be a "nuisance." Thus the need for a public hearing in order to allow the Council to hear all sides in order to come to a final conclusion.

Also during the meeting, Council is expected to discuss the approval of bylaws for the previously established Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority, set for public hearing on December 21 to amended Brownfield Plan #10 for the Avondale Square (Virginia Avenue) Project and introduce an ordinance to create standards to allow Alternative Energy Generation Systems in the City of East Lansing.

You can read the full agenda for Tuesday's meeting here.
Follow the Twitter feed for up to the minute updates on happenings and developments during Tuesday's meeting

Silver Bells in the City

The cold and the wind Friday night couldn't keep people away from downtown Lansing. The streets were packed with hundreds of thousands of people who gathered to take part in the 26th annual Silver Bells in the City.

Friday night marked my first time down to the event and I was shocked at the number of people who showed up.  I wasn't the only one though. Lansing resident and first year Cooley Law School student Christina McCoy shared a similar sentiment.

"Don’t take this the wrong way but I didn’t even know Lansing had this many people." she said.

No offense taken Christina.

The event featured a parade of lights with 67 floats in total and included everything from marching bands, horse drawn carriages and even a CATA bus covered in lights.

Eaton Rapids couple, Edward and Diane Monroe said the Silver Bells in the City event has became a favorite tradition of theirs.

"It's the start (of the holidays), all we need is snow now...14 foot," Edward said with a laugh.

"I think we’ve come out every year for quite awhile now, it wouldn’t be Christmas without it."

The night culminated with the much-anticipated lighting of the official state Christmas tree that sits in front of the state Capitol building.

Check out a map of all the hot spots at the event.

Christmas in Lansing

The city of Lansing officially kicked off the holiday season with the 26th annual Silver Bells in the City celebration on Friday.

The event included the lighting of the official state Christmas tree, an electric light parade, Disney roadshow concert and fireworks over the capitol building.

This year's Christmas tree was donated by a couple from the Upper Peninsula and measured some 65 feet tall.

Last year, the event drew an estimated 150,000 people and this year the city anticipated even higher attendance, said Joni Rainbolt, one of the event coordinators with Motion Marketing & Media.

Rainbolt said that more than $100,000 is needed annually to produce the event, which is made possible by hundreds of sponsors.

Click here to check out a map of all the hot spots for the event.

Picture courtesy of Silver Bells in the City and Downtown Lansing Inc.

There's more to the story in Old Town

When I originally set out to explore Old Town for the first time on Saturday, I left with the intentions of covering a single event, The Art of Giving.

It had taken me no more than half an hour being in the tiny town within a city to realize that this place had a much bigger story to tell.

Kathy Holcomb, the owner of Absolute Gallery and one of the coordinators of The Art of Giving event, was a pioneer in her own right. Her gallery opened little more than seven years ago during the earlier stages of Old Towns' revitalization. Since the opening of her gallery, Holcomb has made it a mission of hers to get the word out to others about the town, especially to younger people and students.

"People are amazed to find how much talent we have in this town and they're becomming very supportive of trying to buy locally now," Holcomb said. "This is really just a great way to showcase the arts and culture of an area."

Walking from store to store and talking with the various gallery owners, the personal connections many of them share with Old Town quickly became evident.

For many, like Karen Massoglia the owner of By the Riverside and the other coordinator of the event, Old Town represented a place where artists could come and live and work together in a secure community.

"It is a very intimate community and we all know each other and watch out for each other," Massoglia said.

After talking with all of the store owners, I came away with the impression that Old Town was a place that people could come and spend the day to escape the hustle-and-bustle of life. You don't necessarily even have to come to buy something but rather just come to enjoy the company of others in the stores and restaurants.

Old Town represents a bygone era and offers a peaceful oasis in the middle of a bustling city.

The Art of Giving in Old Town

This weekend marked the kick-off to what has become an annual event in the past few years.
The Art of Giving, which marks the unofficial start to the holiday season, offers a great opportunity for people to explore Lansing's oldest neighborhood, Old Town.

I spent the afternoon exploring Old Town for the first time and came away extremely impressed. More over, I couldn't believe that I had never even heard of this place until just a few days ago.

In any case, the two main coordinators of the Art of Giving event, Kathy Holcomb (Absolute Gallery) and Karen Massoglia (By the Riverside), were extremely passionate about the Old Town district and were extremely welcoming and eager to share their love for the arts and how it played a role in revitalizing the Old Town community.

The Art of Giving is essentially a way to bring people down to a relaxed, low-pressure enviornment where they can find unique gifts that they normally would not have been able to find at the typical store, said Kathy Holcomb of Absolute Gallery.

Obama on 60 Minutes: What to take away

The 60 Minutes interview with the President showed just how much of a difference two years can really make.

One of the most impactful statements President Obama made during the interview with Steve Kroft was his admission that Washington had indeed changed him. In a bit of political irony, Obama acknowledged that the Republicans, in this election, ran on a nearly identical platform the President himself ran on just two years ago: that of change and being anti-Washington.

Obama responded with this:

"That's one of the dangers of assuming power. And you know, when you're campaigning, you, I think you're liberated to say things without thinking about, "Okay, how am I gonna actually practically implement this." 

 Kroft, during the interview, threw out an interesting statistic to the President regarding the Tea Party saying that "according to the exit polls, four out of ten voters on Tuesday said they supported the movement." When asked what his take was on the rising Tea Party movement, Obama had this to say:

"It'll be interesting to see how it evolves. We have a long tradition in this country of a desire for limited government, of the suspicion of the federal government. Of the concern that government spends too much money. You know, I mean, that's as American as apple pie. But you're still confronted with a fact that the vast majority of the federal budget are things that people really think are important. "

Overall, Obama says he is still committed to working with all sides in Washington to move the country forward. When asked if he would be willing to govern from the middle, much like Bill Clinton had to do during his presidency, the President said this:

  "What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna reach out to Republicans and I'm gonna say, "What can we work on together?"

"But, I'm gonna keep on trying."

You can read CBS's abbreviated wrap-up of both parts of the interview here.
You can also follow the links below to read about what some of the pundits thought of the President's interview.
The Huffington Post
The Christian Science Monitor
The Atlantic

Below is Part 1 of the 2 part interview.