Mark Bashore

The East Lansing City Council is down one member after Wednesday's unexpected resignation of first-term member Don Power.

Lansing Public School students return to class on September 4 and many will be looking at significant changes.  A system-wide reorganization plan alters how students are grouped together in an effort to boost academic performance in the face of low test scores and declining enrollment.

A Lansing-area state legislator is urging federal environmental officials to get tough with the coal-fired SS Badger.

A new presidential order is giving many young, undocumented immigrants in mid-Michigan a shot at legal temporary employment.

The "DACA" program, or "‘Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals," took effect Wednesday. The Obama Administration order applies to young undocumented immigrants who arrived here before the age of 16.

Ramiro Estrada arrived in Lansing as a 12-year old.  He would like a job to continue his college education in nursing.        

Last summer, Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. threw his support behind a proposal to reform Michigan’s foreclosure practices.  The measure is an effort to join 23 other states by enacting “judicial” foreclosure in Michigan. 

Under the approach, a judge is assigned to personally review the details of all home foreclosures.  Advocates say that exposes an often bewildering process to more scrutiny and reduces cases of wrongful foreclosure.

A review team has selected a development plan for Lansing's so-called Red Cedar Renaissance project.

An environmental group says Michigan's economy would get a boost if it relied more on renewable energy sources.

A new program is offering talented college grads the chance to learn entrepreneurialism on the front lines. It also aims to help perk up job creation in some of America’s most economically challenged cities, including Detroit.

Lansing Community College is launching a $67-million renovation that will update and expand dozens of classrooms and social spaces.  School officials--who call the project “transformative”—say the changes will improve the overall student experience at the school.

LCC President Brent Knight claims renovations to science classrooms will make them one of the best undergraduate learning environments in the country.           

All seven members of Delhi Township’s Board of Trustees are up for re-election this fall.  And in next Tuesday’s primary, voters have some pretty clear choices.

Only three days remain before DeWitt gymnast Jordyn Wieber begins her much-anticipated medal quest at the 2012 Olympics.

Long before her daughter’s Olympic potential was clear, Rita Wieber wanted to write a book to help guide other gymnastics parents with what she learned. That part of the Wiebers’ journey can be explored in the new book, “Gym Mom:  Surviving Your Daughter's Gymnastics Career.”

A Clare man has become the first mid-Michigan recipient of what's being called a "bionic" ankle.

A unique mid-Michigan business is succeeding in keeping it loose at work.  Baker Drive Train in Haslett has carved out a profitable niche in the motorcycle business with cutting edge transmissions it designs and sells all over the world.  WKAR’s Mark Bashore reports on a married couple who left their buttoned-down GM jobs to embrace the rowdier culture of high performance motorcycles. 

There’s energy on the shop floor to start the workday at Baker Drive Train.  A little ‘liquid metal’ with your caffeine of choice is just the ticket for clearing out the morning cobwebs.

Six months ago, political newcomer Jody Washington became Lansing’s First Ward representative on the city council.  She ran to address serious challenges like the city’s burgeoning, long-term pension and health care deficit. Washington calls her brief tenure a 'roller coaster' and admits being disappointed.  WKAR’s Mark Bashore sat down with her to explore why.

For the second time, Ingham County officials have intervened in the public auction of a Meridian Township home they say has been wrongfully foreclosed.

First term Lansing City Council member Jody Washington has upbraided Mayor Virg Bernero, alleging he referred to her as "Eric Hewitt in drag."

2012 is already unfolding as a year that many Michigan crop growers would like to forget. The state’s warmest March ever led to the destruction of almost all of its apples and tart cherries--a combined loss in the hundreds of millions of dollars. As summer settles in, a prolonged dry spell has thousands of mid- and south-Michigan corn growers praying for rain.

The National Weather Service says Lansing set a record Friday for its highest temperature ever officially recorded.

Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon says she expects to announce a strategy for the school's much anticipated F-RIB project in two to three weeks.

A ruling last week by the U.S. Supreme Court has confusing repercussions for a recent court decision in Lansing.  The high court ruled that laws like Michigan’s that sometimes mandate life sentences for juveniles found guilty of serious crimes are unconstitutional.

In January, a jury found 15-year old Charles Lewis Junior of Lansing guilty of accomplice to murder, a felony. WKAR’ Mark Bashore spoke with Ingham County Judge George Economy to clarify how the ruling impacts Lewis’ sentence.