Category: Local & State

The City of Lansing Expungement Clinic and Community Resource Fair Offers a Fresh Start

Local & State, Top News

By Deborah M. Walker

 

LANSING, MICHIGAN —   Ryan James sat in his truck patiently waiting for the City of Lansing Expungement Clinic and Community Resource Fair to begin. James said he went to the fair to have a felony conviction from 1999 expunged from his record. Having the felony on his record has hindered his employment opportunities and made it difficult to find work, James confessed. While trying to get his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), James discovered his felony was still a major barrier to obtaining a well-paying job.

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Ross on Real Estate: What to consider before deciding to buy a home

Feature Stories, Local & State

By Ross H. Yednock

In an article in the March – April, 2021 edition of the National Association of Realtors starts out “Homeownership is the largest single contributor to intergenerational wealth for American families. But it has not been accessible to all Americans on equal terms.” In a nutshell, that is why I became a real estate agent. I want to change that and help anyone who seeks a clean, safe and affordable place to call home achieve that for them and their family.

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REDISTRICTING: What is it? Why it matters?

Featured, Local & State, Top News

By Hayg Oshagan
Director of New MI Media
Wayne State University Professor

LANSING, MI — What is it? Every 10 years, every state redraws all of its district election maps. For MI, that’s 110 MI House district maps, 38 MI Senate district maps, and 13 U.S. Congressional district maps. Once these are drawn, you elect your MI House, MI Senate and U.S. Congressional representatives based on which district you live in. If more of us who share a culture or history live in the same district,

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Author Dara Mayhoe: From A Hard Life, To “A Wonderful Change”

Featured, Front Page Stories, Local & State

Dara Mayhoe wrote a book about her life and encourages other to do the same.

​LANSING, MI — Dara Mayhoe’s book “A Wonderful Change” dives into her life that started in poverty and despair. She thought that it would be an opportunity for redemption and healing. Now in its third printing, she said that there is still work to be done but she was unaware of how many people’s lives it would touch.

It is hard to believe that a now mild mannered Mayhoe has lived through some of the most difficult circumstances that one could go through.

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Lighting Up Lansing – One Smile at a Time 20-9

Featured, Front Page Stories, Local & State, Top News

Former Lansing resident, Nathaniel Jontèè Dèyshann Risper resides in Tampa, Florida with his husband, Antonio Corso.

Risper is a 2009 Everett High School alumni. After he graduated he went to Lansing Community College where he studied theatre, dance and education. He is the co-founder and Creative Director of Modern Theatrical and owner of Boho ECCD. In 2010 he moved to Florida to work for Disney. Risper said that being a performer at Disney was one of the most memorable opportunities of his life.

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Stephen Alexander: Family Man, Firearms Expert, Latin Dance Instructor and More

Featured, Front Page Stories, Local & State

Stephen Alexander participating in a solo skydive jump for
Father’s Day at Tecumseh Skydive in 2015.

Courtesy photo

LANSING, MI — Stephen Alexander is a man of many talents. He is a husband, father, an expert certified firearms instructor, an award winning Latin dance instructor, ex-Marine, community leader and activist.

Alexander says, “My upbringing taught me what not to do but provided few Black role models of what I aspired to be. My father taught me what not to do as a father myself.”

He was raised in Chicago,

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Grand Rapids Public Museum Announces Rare Discovery within its Collections

Featured, Local & State, Top News

Black and white, photographic magic lantern slides depicting the Tuskegee Institute at the turn of the 20th century were
discovered in the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Collection.

Courtesy photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today a rare discovery made within its Collections — 69 black and white, photographic magic lantern slides depicting the Tuskegee Institute at the turn of the 20th century. The Tuskegee Institute, now referred to as Tuskegee University,

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Lighting Up Lansing – One Smile at a Time 20-7

Featured, Front Page Stories, Local & State, Top News

Richada B. and her daughter, Aleigha H., who is in the 7th grade, love spending one on one time together!

Sometimes it is a trip to the nail shop to be pampered, shopping or even traveling together. They often get in the kitchen and make baked goods such as chocolate covered strawberries, cakes, chocolate dipped pretzels, and cookies together! Baking is one of Aleigha’s favorite things to do and Mom enjoys being the taste tester.

Congratulations to Aleigha for her participation on her school’s basketball team.

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Couple Celebrates 70 Years of Marriage

Featured, Front Page Stories, Local & State, Top News

Left to right: Bernice Embry enjoyed picking sunflowers with her granddaughter, Tamara Jones Bills, and her husband, Ulysses Embry, at Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns, MI.

Courtesy photo

LANSING, MI — Ulysses Embry and Bernice McClurkin, were united in holy matrimony on Saturday, March 17,1951, in Talladega, Alabama.

One day Ulysses was visiting his cousin Cora, who was married to Bernice’s sister’s brother-in-law. Well, Bernice just happened to be visiting her sister who lived across the hall.

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The Vaccination Dilemma

Featured, Local & State, Top News

By Landis Lain

To vax or not to vax. That is the question. I struggle with the answer. Everybody has a different opinion. I do not trust the government of he who shall not be named. The science is so abrupt. I wear my mask every time I go out. I am terrified.

Because as a teenager, my daddy suffered from polio and Guillain-Barre syndrome, my parents were determined that we children be vaccinated. I suffered no childhood diseases beyond a cold,

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