Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 7

Lansing State Journal X)C A LcOTATE Saturday Al Wilson News and Information Editor 377-1154 E-mail: mttroS lsj.com March 15, 2008 www.lsj.com Expert: Slit may target news access ft JF Hearing postponed on Lansing police case to stop release of personnel files State FOIA law supports the city's decision to release the information because there is a public interest in making it known, said Dawn Hertz, general counsel to the Michigan Press Association. What's next A hearing about a lawsuit seeking to bar the city of Lansing from releasing police officers' personnel files was postponed on Friday. No new date has been set. disclosing the personnel records of any Lansing police officers, saying, in part, that revealing sensitive information could place officers in danger. Ellis was involved in the motel shooting last year that left a man dead; a special prosecutor determined that his actions were justified.

The City Pulse, a weekly publication, filed a FOIA request for Ellis' personnel file in February, and the city supplied a redacted version of the file. State FOIA law supports the city's decision to release the information because there is a public interest in making it known, Kevin Grasha Lansing State Journal A lawsuit seeking to bar the city of Lansing from disclosing the personnel records of its police officers may be a push for new press restrictions, a media expert said Friday. Dawn Hertz, general counsel to the Michigan Press Association, said the lawsuit filed by Officer Scott Ellis and the Fraternal Order of Police in Lansing may be an attempt to generate legislation that would limit the information that can be obtained about police officers through -the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. "They are looking to shut down access," Hertz said. A hearing about the matter before Ingham County Circuit Judge James Giddings was postponed Friday.

No new date was set. The lawsuit, filed this week, asks Giddings to bar the city from said Hertz. "It's absolutely in the city's right to disclose it," Hertz said. FOIA laws regulate access to information from government and public entities. Tom Krug, executive director of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said: "We're pursuing (the lawsuit) because we feel some personal re cords should be protected." Krug would not comment further.

The suit initially named the City Pulse as a co-defendant. The newspaper has been dropped from the lawsuit. The suit asks that the documents and any copies be returned SEESUITPage3B I IN BRIEF Strictly on the Record Judges: Murder trial was fed case Appeals court says jurisdiction correct in mothers killing David Ecgert Hearings in homicide postponed Preliminary hearings Friday for the two men charged with murder in connection with the death of a Lansing man on March 1 were postponed until March 28. Darius James Jackson, 23, of Lansing, and Maurice Edward Clouse, 21, of Lansing Township are accused of killing Justin Earl Week, 23 of Lansing, on the 1800 block of Donora Street near Mt. Hope Avenue.

Prosecutors and both defense attorneys agreed they were not ready for a preliminary hearing, as new evidence is still being gathered. Lansing police arrested Jackson on March 6 near Interstate 496 and Walnut Street on the city's west side. Clouse was arrested March 4 at a north Lansing apartment complex. About 80 people tried to attend the hearings, but more than half had to remain outside the courtroom, which has a listed capacity of 36 people. Clouse 's mother, Barbara Clouse, sat in the front row during the hearings, tearing up when her son entered the courtroom.

Motorcyclist seriously injured EATON RAPIDS A motorcyclist was seriously injured Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle collision at Royston Road and Spicerville Highway. A pickup was traveling southbound on Royston and Spicerville Highway and collided with the motorcycle at 4:20 p.m., Eaton County sheriffs deputies said. The motorcyclist, whom police declined to identify, is in serious condition at Sparrow Hospital, police said. The driver of the pickup suffered minor injuries, police said, and the passenger was not hurt. The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet, police said.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident. Farm Lane project to begin in March EAST LANSING The $37 million construction project that will add two railroad underpasses along Farm Lane on Michigan State University's campus is scheduled to begin in earnest later this month, but there Associated Press A divided U.S. appeals court ruled Friday the federal government had jurisdiction to prosecute a Michigan murder case in which the defendant was given the death penalty in 2002. Marvin Gabrion II, 54, had argued he should have been tried in state court, where the death penalty is not allowed. His lawyer said he will petition to the Supreme Court if the full 6th U.S.

Circuit Court of Ap peals in Cin I ONLINE Read the opinion: www.ca6iBcourts. govopinions ROAD is still no official word on when sections of Farm Lane and Service Road will close. Kari Arend, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of cinnati does riot hear an appeaL Fe a 1 prosecutors charged Ga-brion with murder on federal property because WORK BECKY SHINKAansing State Journal March is Reading Month: Immaculate Heart of Mary School second-graders (from upper left, clockwise) Regina Vicini, Katarina Centeno, Isabella Centeno and Larisa, Herdus listen Friday afternoon to Liz Boyd as she reads "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in their class. Boyd, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's press secretary, was a "celebrity reader" at the school.

Governor's press secretary a 'celebrity' the body of Rachel 19-year-old Timmerman was found in 1997 Derek Wallbank Lansing State Journal just within the Manistee National Forest 70 miles north of Grand Rapids. Her 11-month-old daughter has not been found. Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Gabrion killed the single mother be- See CASEPage2B EXTRA COVERAGE ATLSJ.COM Photo Gallery For more photos from the event, go to www.lsj.com. Transportation, said project leaders are "in the process of getting our contractor on board." Initially, the project will close Farm Lane between Mt. Hope and Trowbridge roads, along with the intersection of Farm Lane and Service Road.

This summer, the closed portion of Farm Lane will be extended up to Wilson Road. Those roads will remain closed to cars and pedestrians through summer 2009. Freeway ramps to close temporarily Street lighting repairs by the Lansing Board of Water Light will close several ramps on Interstate 496 this weekend. Westbound 1-496 entrance and exit ramps at Pennsylvania will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

today. Crews will close the entrance and exit ramps of WalnutPine, Grand Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Home show to test toys for lead EAST LANSING The 12th Annual Lansing Home Garden Show will offer free toy testing for lead from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Michigan State University Agricultural Pavilion. Presented by the Michigan Department of Community Health's Healthy Homes, the testing gives parents the opportunity to learn the safety of their children's toys. Parents can test for lead in jewelry, dishes and ceramic.

Results will be given back immediately. From staff reports Liz Boyd, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's press secretary, is accustomed to tough questions from the Capitol press corps. But one of the toughest questions she had to face recently came from a group of second-graders. "They asked me how old I was," she said with a laugh.

"And I had to tell them!" Second-grade classes at Immaculate Heart of Mary School have a track record of asking tough questions. Last year, the group asked a local clergyman, "Why can't women be priests?" Boyd was one of the "celebrity readers" at the school Friday, one of many guest readers to visit area classrooms this month. March is recognized in many schools as Reading Month. Boyd read two books, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and "The Legend of Sleeping Bear." Boyd said the decision to read to students was easy, adding that reading is crucial to a good education. "(Reading) takes you places where you haven't been, it helps you learn, it can entertain and it causes you tp think," she said.

Contact Derek WaUbank at 267-1301 or dwallbanklsj.com. cx I Taking a peek at the pictures: Immaculate Heart of Mary second-grader Cynthia Wrzesinski inches up next to Liz Boyd as she reads the class a book. I MORE INSIDE Associated Press file photo Victim: Rachel Timmerman and daughter Shannon are shown in a family photo, date unknown, copied at the Newaygo County Prosecutor's Office in White Cloud. I OUR TOWNS: A list of news and events around mid-Michigan Page 3B Just watching a fight brings trouble for Lansing student John Schneider jschneidlsj.com 3771175" discipline seriously and hopes that all families understand the serious consequences that even watching a fight can result in." Blackwell was not persuaded. "I understand there are problems with fights at school, and after," she wrote.

"But punishing kids who were not involved isn't going to solve the problem. In this case, some students will not be allowed to go to school for three days because they were in the area of a fight. How is this fair?" What do you think? Call John Schneider at 377-1175, send a fax to 377-1298 or e-mail jschneidlsj.com. Include your name, phone number, city, town or township. LS CLOGS Deck the halls Can shamrocks coexist peacefully with Santa Clauses? With enough Guinness, all things are possible.

Check out my blog at www.lsj.com schneiderblog cipal Pamela Diggs assured Serkaian that students are well aware of this policy. "She delivers frequent messages to students building-wide over the intercom and in small group meetings that even watching a fight could result in a suspension," Serkaian wrote. He added: "The Lansing School District takes student When you were 15, walking home from school, could you have walked past a fight in progress without stopping to watch? Me, neither. Which would make both of us troublemakers in today's world. In Lansing, you don't have to participate in a fight to get yourself in trouble; you merely have to observe it.

Even when the fight isn't on school property. This week I got an e-mail from Bryn Blackwell of Lansing, whose son, Dominik Zambon, is a 15-year-old freshman at Eastern High School. The subject of Blackwell's e-mail: "Where does the schoolyard end?" The reason she wondered school record isn't spotless. And the line between a passer-by and a spectator is, of course, a fine one. But the end of a school day is a blurry affair.

"Have you ever been on the corner of Michigan and Pennsylvania after school lets out?" Blackwell asked. "There are hundreds of kids in that area waiting for the bus, walking past, etc. How can you subject them to suspension because they SAW a fight?" In the end, with Blackwell's intervention, Dominik got a warning, instead of a suspension. But the mother's question remained: Can school officials take disciplinary action against students who are not on school property, doing nothing but standing around with their eyes open? Disorderly conduct Yes, said Lansing schools spokesman Steve Serkaian, adding that the district's Student Code of Conduct "speaks very clearly to this kind of incident." Serkaian quoted the code in an e-mail to me: "Any student 'en route to or from school' who is observed watching offenses for which students will be disciplined (such as fighting) is subject to appropriate Attendance at a fight, Serkaian added, could be considered "disorderly conduct." Eastern High School Prin- was that Dominik had been threatened with suspension from school after being observed, by a teacher and a security guard, in the vicinity of a fight between a couple of classmates that broke out near the Rite Aid at Michigan and Pennsylvania avenues, more than a block from the school. A fine line Now, Blackwell fully acknowledged that her son's.