LOCAL AND BREAKING NEWS

MSU mass shooting victim improving in hospital, family says

The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety, or DPPS, released preliminary investigation findings that detail a timeline of the Monday, Feb. 13 mass shooting on campus. The shooting left three students dead and five students critically injured. 

Family creates GoFundMe for hospitalized MSU shooting victim

Hospitality business junior Guadalupe Huapilla-Perez has been identified as one hospitalized victim of Monday's mass shooting in a GoFundMe set up by her family.

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Her sister, Selena Huapilla-Perez, created the GoFundMe to raise money for hospital costs and compounding expenses. According to the page, Huapilla-Perez's family, who are migrant workers, are traveling to Michigan from their home in Florida to be with her.

Names of two victims of MSU shooting released

Police have confirmed the identity of two of the victims of the Monday night mass shooting on Michigan State University's campus. The shooting left three people dead and five people in critical condition. 

MSU mass shooting suspect identified; leaders share updates, resources

“Our Spartan hearts are broken,” Interim President Teresa Woodruff said. “We're grieving, as a community, we're grieving together. We struggle to comprehend. We lost families, friends, classmates and our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.”

MSUPD updates community about shooting on MSU's campus; suspect confirmed dead

The suspect in a mass shooting on Michigan State University's campus that has left three dead and multiple injured is dead, MSUPD interim deputy chief Chris Rozman confirmed at 12:38 a.m. at a press briefing.

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The suspect is a 43-year-old male and is not affiliated in any way with MSU. Investigators and officers are still working to determine his identity. Police are still working to identify the victims of the shooting.

MSU unveils new learning space for Department of African American and African Studies

The AAAS department will now find a 8,400-square-foot home on the second floor of North Kedzie Hall. The academic space will include wellness and social rooms, a dance studio and more. 

MSU Broad college dean resigns after mandatory reporting failure

On Friday, Sanjay Gupta resigned from his position as Dean of Michigan State University’s Broad School of Business. He held this position for seven years before concerns regarding his failure to adhere to the University's mandatory reporting policy prompted his resignation.

Whitmer to veto budgets that fund services limiting abortion

When Governor Gretchen Whitmer signs Michigan's 2023 budget bill into law on Wednesday, she will have cut more than $21 million dollars in funding to programs that serve as abortion alternatives.

Biden, Whitmer push for federal action to protect abortion rights following Roe v. Wade

On Friday morning, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that aims to protect abortion rights. 

The executive action comes two weeks week after the Supreme Court voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that gave women constitutional abortion rights. 

Abortion rights in Michigan: Everything you need to know

As the aftermaths of the overturn ripple across the nation, people are left to relearn what abortion accessibility looks like in their state. Michigan is left in a unique position, as recent lawsuits have changed the state’s fate following the overturn.

Unconditional Love Fund collects donations for LGBTQIA2S+ students in need

June 1 marked the beginning of Pride Month, a 30-day-long celebration of the history, accomplishments and unity of LGBTQIA2S+ individuals. However, it can be a difficult time for people that don’t have support from their family or peers—especially college students, who are just beginning to find their footing.

FBI arrests Michigan GOP candidate for governor for charges related to Jan 6. riot

Kelley’s presence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was shared popularly on social media, garnering both support and pushback for his candidacy for Michigan governor. Video footage captured his attempt to excite the crowd on the Capitol steps, as he yelled, “Come on, let's go! This is it! This is, this is war baby!” 

Planned Parenthood of Michigan launches gender-affirming hormone therapy in Lansing

“We are stepping out and stepping up to more explicitly acknowledge that and meet the needs of our trans and non-binary community members by offering gender-affirming care,” Crissman said. “And by working hard to intentionally and explicitly make all of our care more gender-affirming, and ensure all of our services meet the needs of the trans and non-binary community.”

How students can qualify for free internet under new Biden initiative

On Monday, May 10, President Biden announced the implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP. The program will provide free and reduced-cost internet to qualifying Americans. 

Free comic book by CCS graduate, MSU professor illustrates Michigan’s first Pride event

Nearly 50 years ago, Michigan’s first LGBTQ+ pride event was held in Detroit. Christopher Street Detroit ‘72 was a week of events that commemorated the Stonewall Riots of 1969. 

College for Creative Studies graduate Isabel Clare Paul and LGBTQ studies professor Tim Retzloff collaborated to create a free comic book that highlights this celebration. 

ASMSU tables female, nonbinary gym spaces bill

A bill that outlined a plan for female and nonbinary gym spaces in MSU recreational facilities has been tabled by the ASMSU academic committee. It can be reintroduced to ASMSU committees once changes are made. 

MSU mass shooting victim improving in hospital, family says

One of the eight victims of the Feb. 13 Michigan State University shooting is improving in the hospital, but additional surgeries will be required, according to an update posted by family members. 

Remembering MSU students Brian Fraser, Alexandria Verner and Arielle Anderson

Alexandria Verner, from Clawson, was a junior studying biology. 

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Arielle Anderson, a junior at MSU, was from Grosse Pointe. She graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School. 

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Brian Fraser, from Grosse Pointe, was a sophomore studying business. 

State, local, university leaders speak to MSU, East Lansing community after mass shooting on campus

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-07) praised law enforcement's response to the "deeply complex" issues unfolding on campus on Monday night. Young people were calling in tips constantly and the environment was "unbelievably difficult to navigate," Slotkin said at a Tuesday morning press conference.

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"As the representative of Oxford, Michigan, I cannot believe that I'm here again during this 15 months later," Slotkin said. "And I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference to talk about our children being killed in their schools.”

Deceased suspect in MSU mass shooting identified as 43-year-old male; no MSU affiliation

The suspect was not affiliated with Michigan State University. Police do not yet know the motive for his actions on campus, Rozman said.

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​"We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight," Rozman said.

One confirmed dead in Knob Hill Apartment fire, community rallies with relief for families

Meridian Township and East Lansing Fire Departments responded to a second fire at Knob Hill Apartments in Okemos on Thursday morning. During recovery efforts, one person was found deceased, according to Meridian Township Fire Chief Michael Hamel.

Slotkin nods to MSU students, bipartisanship after congressional race victory

Rep. Elissa Slotkin gave a “special shout out” to students who waited in an hourslong line at Brody Hall to vote on Tuesday night. This turnout, she said, was the fruition of the same-day registration and voting measures that were on the ballot in 2018. 

Judge rules that county prosecutors cannot enforce Michigan's abortion ban

On Friday, an Oakland County judge ruled that Michigan county prosecutors cannot enforce the state's 1931 abortion ban while courts consider the lawsuit brought forth by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The suit seeks to overturn the ban, ruling it unconstitutional.

Michigan abortion rights ballot initiative gathered a record-breaking 750k signatures

In January, the Reproductive Freedom for All, or RFFA, launched a petition for a ballot initiative that aims to add abortion rights and protections to the Michigan constitution.

On Monday, the RFFA turned in 753,759 signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State – far surpassing the 425,059 valid signatures that were needed in order to qualify for the Nov. 8, 2022, ballot. The RFFA collected the most signatures in Michigan's history for a ballot initiative.

MSU Health Care Pharmacy now offers COVID-19 treatments

Michigan State University's Health Care Pharmacy will now offer two COVID-19 treatments to MSU students, MSU Health Care Clinic patients and residents of the mid-Michigan area.

The two treatments are oral medications — Paxlovid made by Pfizer and Lageviro made by Merck and Ridgeback Therapuetics.

Lansing area students, lawmakers, advocates react to Roe v. Wade overturn

Reactions from local students, lawmakers, anti-abortion and abortion-rights groups on Friday all contribute to the polarized nature of the issue of abortion rights.

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“I'm f------ mad,” criminal justice senior Hannah Kindree said. “The fact that everything that is put in place to help people like me, the fact that it can go away at such an alarming speed really, genuinely terrifies me.”

Detroit Apple Developer Academy celebrates first graduating class

Apple Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Vice President Lisa Jackson spoke at the ceremony. She said the graduating class has proved that technology can be a powerful force for social change.

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“Everything we learn here, all the connections that we make will build out into the world,” Jackson said. “Creating opportunity, building community, inspiring innovation, wash, rinse, repeat, do it over and over again, together ... you built tools that empower people to make the world more equitable.”

Abortion-rights advocates interrupt House session with protest, one taken into custody

The protest was the first abortion-rights event protester Becky Kress has ever attended. She said she didn’t know that she would ever have to come out and fight for what she believes is her right: the ability to control her body.

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“It's my first time being out here,” Kress said. “Here we are today, having to protest something that shouldn't even be in discussion.”

Michigan Court of Claims suspends enforcement of abortion ban

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher has suspended the enforcement of MCL 750.14, Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban. This injunction does not overturn the ban but temporarily bars its enforcement should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling protecting a woman's right to an abortion. 

Two friends paint The Rock in honor of Adreian Payne

On Tuesday, May 10, two friends met at the Rock on Farm Lane to paint it in honor of the late Adreian Payne, a former MSU basketball star.

Payne died on Monday morning after being shot. 

Anonymous YikYak app makes return, students and faculty worry about its influence

In 2015, an MSU student made national news when he made an anonymous post on an app that said, “I’m gonna (gun symbol) the school at 12:15 p.m. today.” He was arrested within 45 minutes of making the post, which later led to felony terrorism charges.

The post was on YikYak — a social media app that allows people to post anonymously and view all discussion threads posted within a five-mile radius of the user. The app was shut down for threats of violence and harassment in 2017, disappearing from the app store for nearly four years before it became available for download again in 2021. 

'It's mainly a male-dominated space': MSU student advocates for female, non-binary gym spaces

ASMSU General Assembly Representative and English junior Ella Woehlke is writing a bill that will outline a plan to add a workout space for female-identifying and non-binary students in MSU’s recreational facilities. 

Woehlke said that if everything goes as planned, the bill should be introduced to the academic committee early next week.