Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • A3

WEDNESDAY 02.01.17 LANSING STATE JOURNAL LSJ.COM LOCAL STATE 3A EDITOR: AL WILSON, 377-1154 Police seek suspect in Lansing video store robbery Police were searching for a man who staged a holdup at a south Lansing video store Monday evening. The armed robbery happened about 6:24 p.m. at the Family Video on South Cedar Street, south of Mt. Hope Avenue. The suspect displayed a long gun and received an undisclosed amount of cash, Lansing police Sgt.

Jason Spoelma said. The suspect ran westbound from the store. The suspect was described as a slim black man, about 5-feet, 9-inches tall who appeared to be in his late 20s, the sergeant said. Anyone with information is asked to call Lansing police at 483-4600. East Lansing delays opening of ice rink at Valley Court Park EAST LANSING Keep those figure skates on standby.

The pop-up ice rink in downtown East Lansing be ready to open on Wednesday as scheduled. East Lansing officials said the rink needs more time to fully freeze. They could not provide an estimate about when the ice will be ready but said updates will be posted at www.downtownel.com. Once it opens, the free ice rink at Valley Court Park will be open from noon to 9 p.m. daily through the end of February, weather permitting.

Users must bring their own skates. Lansing District Court to be closed Thursday, Friday 54A District Court will be closed for most normal business matters on Thursday and Friday for annual case inventory and training. While the court office will be closed on those two days, in-custody arraignments will continue and payments will be accepted at the drop box on the sixth floor of City Hall, court officials said in a news release. The office will reopen on Monday morning. IN BRIEF LANSING The newest member of the panel that regulates state workers is questioning whether Michigan state government needs both unions and a Civil Service Commission.

Jase Bolger, the former Republican state House speaker named to the commission last month by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, said he brings no preconceived notions to the panel which oversees the 49,000 employees. He does, however, come with a goal of reform and will bring to the job a number of questions sure to make state employee unions and their supporters nervous. want to learn more about the histo- ry of why we have both civil service and union representation, why that was put into Bolger, 45, said during an interview with the State Journal last week. every one of us hears stories about rules that are in place that either hinder somebody from getting ahead or excelling at their job, or from the ability to address those who are not He added: do come in with questions, rather than reforms in Such questions are sure to make union officials nervous because Bolger led the state House when Michigan became a right-to-work state, allowing employees covered by collective bargaining contracts to opt out of their union without BOLGER: DO WE NEED UNIONS? JULIA LANSING STATE JOURNAL Jase Bolger, a new commissioner on the Michigan Civil Service Commission, poses for a portrait on Jan.

24at the Capitol Commons Center in downtown Lansing. Meet Jase Bolger NAME: Jase Bolger AGE: 45 PARTY: Republican LIVES IN: Grand Rapids (formerly Marshall) OCCUPATION: Founder and president, Tusker Strategies EXPERIENCE: State representative, 20082014, speaker of the state House 2011-2014; Calhoun County Commissioner, 2005-2008; past president and CEO of Summit Credit Services Inc. EDUCATION: Charlotte High School, 1989 graduate; degree, Western Michigan University, 1994. FAMILY: Married, two grown children New civil service panel member asks why state has unions and commission JUSTIN A. HINKLEY LANSING STATE JOURNAL LANSING A surprise move Monday night at City Hall appears to put Lansing astep closer to sanctuary city status.

Near the end of the City Council meeting, the eight-member body and Mayor Virg administration agreed to draft a resolution that could be voted on in two weeks. The decision came after At-Large Council Member Kathie Dunbarmade a motion near the end of general meeting to vote on the matter that night. Council but decided it will review anew resolution and possibly vote on it at its Feb. 13 Committee of the Whole meeting. Dunbarsaid she care if a sanctuary city designation for Lansing means President Donald administration could take away the up to $6.5 million in federal funding the city gets annually.

As supporters of sanctuary cities looked on in the crowd, Dunbar stressed the importance of protecting immigrants and refugees. care about that 6 million bucks because I think (Trump) is going to do Dunbarsaid of possible revocation. decision, with back from the administration, came a few hours after City Attorney Jim Smiertkasaid it would Lansing closer to sanctuary city status KEN LANSING STATE JOURNAL Supporters of a resolution to declare Lansing asanctuary city marched outside Lansing City Hall on Monday night. The City Council has not acted on a sanctuary city resolution. Council agrees to draft resolution for a vote ERIC LACY AND KEN PALMER LANSING STATE JOURNAL EAST LANSING Dr.

Mae Jemison, the first black woman to travel in space, will visit Michigan State University on Wednesday. appearance is part of the 17th annual month-long Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey lecture series. She is the first of three speakers invited to speak at MSU by the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The lecture will begin at 5 p.m. in Big Ten Rooms AB at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.

Jemison is a doctor, a dancer and a chemical engineer. In September of 1992, as a science mission specialist aboard the Shuttle Endeavour, Jemison became the first black woman to enter space. In completing her first space flight, Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space. She left NASA in 1993. Today she is an advocate for STEM education, addressing health care disparities and advancing technology to serve humanity.

lecture series goes back to when the dean of the College of Osteopathic Jacobs, said we should do something recognizing the contributions of African Americans to primarily health, but all areas of American culture and said Dr. William G. Anderson, namesake of the series. he contacted a couple of his senior staff people, primarily Sandy Kilbourn, and said, can we do to recognize Kilbourn, executive director for External Programs in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, contacted Anderson, he recalled. An activist, they knew he had worked with Dr.

Martin Luther King the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and members of those organizations. Kilbourn asked, kind of program can we put together that will let the current generation hear and see and touch and feel and interact with those people who were actively Anderson said. who read about, but the real What started out as being a College of Osteopathic Medicine program, soon received more support and became a university program. That extended to receiving support from churches and other organizations in the greater Lansing community.

The program has brought in many renowned speakers and activists including Dick Gregory, Juanita Jones Abernathy the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Julian Bond, Harry Belafonte, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Cornell West.

have brought to campus many of the now living activists, those who First black female astronaut aspeaker Jemison to take part in MSU lecture series VICKKI DOZIER LANSING STATE JOURNAL Mae Jemison.