Central Michigan University Medical School Saginaw campus site prep underway

Environmental site preparation for the new Central Michigan University Medical campuses near Covenant HealthCare and St. Mary's of Michigan Hospital has begun, says Saginaw Development Director Odail Thorns. He said the city often conducts soil testing and remediation, required prior to construction by the Environmental Protection Agency, to prep property for development. Saginaw-based AKT Peerless, working with funds provided through a $1 million EPA grant, is conducting soil tests at two sites.

Read the full story here!

CMU wrestling program nets MAC awards for Tom Borrelli, Ben Bennett

Central Michigan University wrestling coach Tom Borrelli was named the Mid-American Conference coach of the Year for the 12th time, while CMU junior Ben Bennett earned the MAC Wrestler of the Year award. The awards were selected  by the conference's six wrestling coaches. Borrelli led CMU to its 11th consecutive MAC title, using three true freshmen and six wrestlers appearing in their first conference tournament. It was CMU's 14th conference tourney title in the last 15 years.

Read the full story here!

Supreme Court to hear Mt. Pleasant medical marijuana dispensary case

It didn’t come as a surprise to Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick that the Michigan Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving a Mt. Pleasant medical marijuana dispensary. Supreme Court justices announced Wednesday that they will decide whether people who legally use medical marijuana can sell it to others with cards. The court said it will review a major appeals court decision from last year that overturned an Isabella County judge’s ruling about the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled patient-to-patient sales of medical marijuana to be illegal, overturning Isabella County Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain’s December 2010 ruling that such sales were legal.

Read the full story here!

Dave Heeke: CMU athletics looks to increase visibility

Central Michigan University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics strives to be a point of “Chippewa” pride for the University and the Mt. Pleasant community. Our aspirational statement of expectation and purpose has been for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff to create and maintain a “Championship Culture.” Being champions goes far beyond winning titles on the field of competition. Our Championship Culture is built on the core values of pride, integrity, opportunity, a commitment to team, and win with character. This culture envelopes everything we do in the classroom, in competition, in the community, and on campus. All 16 NCAA Division I sport programs that comprise Intercollegiate Athletics focus on academic success as a top priority.

Read the full story here!

Hall of Fame Coach Retires From Women's Basketball

Four years was the time span that assistant women's basketball coach Kathy McGee promised head coach Sue Guevara when she came out of retirement in 2007 to join Guevara's coaching staff. Five years later, McGee is stepping away from coaching, as she has announced her departure from the Central Michigan basketball program at the end of April. "This decision has not been easy," said McGee. "I am leaving a great program that has a bright future ahead of it. I will definitely be leaving a part of me with it and the kids."

Read the full story here!

Greeks start neighborhood cleaning partnership to beautify town, improve outreach

Greek life at Central Michigan University established a “Greeks Clean up the Streets” program designed to beautify the community and improve relations between Greek students and Mount Pleasant residents. Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother Jon Reusch, a Macomb senior, and Jeff Pickler, code enforcement officer for the city of Mount Pleasant, were responsible for setting up the group. Reusch said the main idea of the program is “to improve the image and increase positive awareness of what Greek life can do by providing a service for the community of Mount Pleasant.” Jeff Pickler, who has worked as the city’s code enforcement officer for more than 14 years, said “This isn’t a one-time litter pick-up. This is going to be an ongoing relationship with students and the community, and we’re very excited about it.”

Read the full story here!

Mid-Michigan GM dealers plan upgrades

Mid-Michigan General Motors dealers are gearing up for substantial improvements to their facilities, mandated by the manufacturer to improve the experience of customers who are shopping for GM vehicles. Union Township planners OK’d improvements to the Graff Chevrolet dealership on Pickard Road, and Mt. Pleasant planners are scheduled to look at plans for similar improvements at the Shaheen Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealership on Mission Street later this month. “We’ve renovated three of the Graff stores already,” said Craig Stefanko, president of DCC Construction of Davison, the general contractor for the Graff project. He described a new front for the dealerships made of architectural composite metal panels. The Chevrolet stores are blue, accented with silver.

Read the full story here!

Mt. Pleasant’s Mike Pung gets a longer contract

Mt. Pleasant’s school board extended the contract for its superintendent, but he won’t get a raise. Superintendent Mike Pung told board members not to consider raising his pay during a recent evaluation, according to board members. “There are so many other needs,” Pung said. The school board voted 7-0 to extend Pung’s contract to June 30, 2015. Pung had been the long-time principal of the Mt. Pleasant Area Technical Center, then took over as principal of Mt. Pleasant High School when the previous principal resigned suddenly. Pung was named superintendent of schools last May.

Read the full story here!

Central Michigan International Film Festival to showcase 17 films in Mt. Pleasant

 

Movie fans love to sit back and watch a good film. They will have plenty to choose from this year at the annual Central Michigan International Film Festival in Mt. Pleasant. The festival runs March 28 to April 1, with a total of 17 films shown at several locations in Mt. Pleasant. It is presented by the CMU School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts and the CMU Film Society.Most of the films will be shown twice, giving movie-goers some options as to when to see them. A highlight this year is the premiere of the documentary “Horse and Rider: A Journey Towards Freedom,” a film that tells the story of two survivors of the child sex trade in India. CMU graduate Rodney Green was assistant director for the film, which was shot in India in 2011.

Read the full story here!

Ryan Longstreth ends Northwood threat as Central Michigan University holds on for close win

Central Michigan (9-12) was only able to plate runs in one inning Tuesday against Northwood, but four in the bottom of the first were enough to capture a 4-3 win for the Chippewas. Beaverton’s Ryan Longstreth came on in relief for CMU and no-hit the Timberwolves over two innings to end the Northwood threat. Longstreth had two strikeouts, while former Essexville Garber standout Randon Henika pinch hit for CMU and registered a walk. Jake Oard (Beaverton) and Tyler Beatty (Clare) combined to go 0-for-5 for Northwood, which suffered its second loss of the season and moves to 9-2 overall.

Read the full story here!

Rock band Fun. featuring CMU alumnus student hits super-stardom

The rock band, Fun., featuring Central Michigan University alumnus Andrew Dost, continues to have success after the band’s single “We Are Young,” which has reached and stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Dost, who graduated from Central Michigan in 2005 with a degree in advertising, got his start as a musician by joining Mount Pleasant band Anathallo in 2004. “That was my first real experience touring and writing,” he said. With Dost as a member of Anathallo, the band played many U.S. tours, played in Europe and Japan and even at the Coachella Valley Arts and Music festival in 2007. With Anathallo, he played many shows in the Mount Pleasant area.

Read the full story here!

Trey Zeigler granted release from CMU, report says Michigan basketball may be in the mix

Trey Zeigler was once an extremely hot basketball prospect in the state of Michigan. And it appears he will be once again. Zeigler, a former Mount Pleasant High School standout and four-star prospect, was granted a transfer request by Central Michigan on Tuesday, and is now free to look elsewhere. And at least one scouting service, www.alleyesonuhoops.com, reported via Twitter that the Michigan basketball program was among the schools the 6-foot-5 guard has heard from. The site also listed Michigan State, Duke, UCLA and Pittsburgh as schools possibly interested in Zeigler. Zeigler himself tweeted Tuesday that he has plans to take a visit to Duke this weekend.

Read the full story here!

Zeigler’s firing was needed

His voice cracked, and then he paused for a moment. “People have opinions, I respect that,” Central Michigan athletics director Dave Heeke said Wednesday. “But bottom line: it’s about our student-athletes and it’s about the people that try to work together to make this thing work.  It’s hard when you got to let somebody go.” Deep down, he may not have wanted to do it. But one week after another early exit from the Mid-American Conference tournament, Heeke pulled the trigger and fired men’s basketball head coach Ernie Zeigler. He may not have wanted to do it, realizing the chain-reaction player exodus it would create — including the likely departure of Ernie’s son and CMU poster boy Trey.

Read the fulls tory here!

Recruiting: Grand Blanc linebacker Luke MacLean high on Central Michigan

Grand Blanc (Mich.) linebacker Luke MacLean has offers from Buffalo, Central Michigan and Cincinnati. He is also drawing serious interest from schools in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, along with Notre Dame. MacLean, who checks in at 6-foot-3 and 233 pounds, runs a 4.85 40-yard dash and is being recruited to play linebacker and defensive end. The Chippewas are looking at him as a defensive end. The Grand Blanc native says that the most important things to him in a program and a school are the education, the coaching staff and the environment. The Chippewa coaching staff is one of the things that he likes most about CMU. “I like the coaching staff,” said MacLean. “Coach (Dan Enos) is a very good coach and I like how he goes about things. Also, the closeness to home is nice, along with the city itself.”

Read the full story here!

Man arrested after train shooting incident

 A 21-year-old Clare County man was arrested Wednesday in connection with gunshots being fired at a moving train last week.
The man, who lives in Harrison and whose name is not being released until he is charged, was arrested by state troopers and Clare County Sheriff’s deputies at a friend’s house, where he confessed to firinig a .22 caliber rifle several times at a train traveling through Surrey Township March 8, state police Sgt. Joshua Lator said Thursday.
He was taken to the Clare County Jail for felonious assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of methamphetamines, possession of analogues and possession of marijuana.

Read the full story here

Central Michigan fires coach Ernie Zeigler

Central Michigan has fired basketball coach Ernie Zeigler with two years left on his contract.
Athletic director Dave Heeke announced the move Wednesday. The buyout will cost the school $368,437
Zeigler was 75-111 over six seasons. He was given a new, four-year contract two years ago when he was just about to sign his son, Trey, to a scholarship to play for the Chippewas. Central Michigan was 11-21 this season and 10-21 last year.
Trey Zeigler has averaged 16 points a game over two seasons, leading the team in scoring each year. The 6-foot-5 guard has two years of eligibility.

Read the full story here

City Commission approves $5,000 removal of Bellows Street mini-circle

 Mount Pleasant residents will see a mini-circle-free Bellows Street in the approaching weeks, just two years after the circle was originally installed to slow down traffic.
City commissioners first expressed interest in removing what was called a “much hated piece of property” last October and instructed city staff to employ an engineering advising firm to study the effectiveness of the circle.
The circle was constructed in 2010 at a cost of about $75,000, according to previously published reports. However, when it was first tested, it was found not to be accessible for ladder trucks, costing the city an extra $2,500 in adjustments.
At a commission meeting last month, representatives from Orchard Hiltz & McCliment, Inc., recommended alternative ways to guide traffic on Bellows with a potential three-phase plan — the first phase including removal of the mini-circle and installation of a speed table.

Read the full story here

Man claims he was kidnapped at casino, robbed at gunpoint

Bay City-based Michigan State Police troopers are investigating after a man was allegedly abducted and robbed last month.

Authorities said a 33-year-old man from Lake, MI, was kidnapped and placed in the trunk of a vehicle in the early morning hours of Feb. 16.

The man told police that he was gambling at Soaring Eagle Casino in Isabella County and voluntarily left with two unidentified black men.

The victim told police the three proceeded east on M-20 near Midland. The man told police he was later assaulted with a handgun, knocked unconscious and robbed.

State troopers have released photos from surveillance cameras and some video clips in the hopes that someone can identify the two unidentified men or the vehicle. 

Read the full story here

CMU awarded $800,000 grant

Central Michigan University has been awarded an $800,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation. The grant, designed to recognize exemplary projects undertaken by a university, completes the CMU Education and Human Services building's fundraising goal of $7.5 million.
Interim dean Kathy Koch says she couldn't be more excited in achieving the milestone. Koch says the grant helps to provide a more solid education for the students in CMU's education and human services' programs.
Koch believes the $50 million LEED-certified building provides a more "intimate environment" for faculty and students to work in together, which helps students become more invested in what they are learning.

Read the full story here!

Mich. Senate Hopeful Fights Nondiscrimination Law

Michigan right-wing activist and U.S. Senate hopeful Gary Glenn is fighting efforts to pass an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in the city of Mount Pleasant, as he did in the town of Holland previously. Mount Pleasant’s Morning Sun newspaper reports that Glenn, president of the American Family Association’s Michigan branch, emailed all Mount Pleasant city commissioners, stating, “We urge you not to adopt such a discriminatory ordinance, which has proven in other jurisdictions to be used to violate the civil and religious free speech rights of both individuals and cherished community organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Catholic Charities, and the Salvation Army, and which also poses a threat to the privacy rights of women and children in public restrooms and other public facilities.”

Read the full story here!

CMU men's basketball rally falls short in season-ending 75-72 loss to Toledo

Former Mount Pleasant High School star Trey Zeigler became Central Michigan's first sophomore to score 1,000 points but it came in a season-ending 75-72 loss Wednesday to Toledo in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Chippewas (11-21) never led but erased a double-digit deficit late in the game to come within one on several occasions. The Rockets (18-15) were up 66-55 when a full-court press and baskets on four consecutive possessions sparked the Chippewas to a 9-0 run over the next two minutes.

Read the full story here!

Olive Named MAC Sixth Player of the Year

Junior Jalisa Olive was named Mid-American Conference Sixth Player of the Year while four other Central Michigan women's basketball players earned All-MAC honors, as voted on by the league's coaches and team media representatives, the league office announced on Tuesday. Sophomore Taylor Johnson and freshman Crystal Bradford both gathered honorable mention all-conference honors. Bradford, Jas'Mine Bracey and Jessica Green were three of the five members on the MAC All-Freshman Team. CMU has now captured the Sixth Player of the Year award for two straight seasons, while it has had seven all-freshman team honorees in the last four seasons. The All-MAC honorees give the Maroon and Gold 11 in the past four seasons.

Read the full story here!

Mount Pleasant solider injured in Afghanistan

An explosion in Afghanistan Sunday wounded five Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers, including one from Mount Pleasant according to a published report. An explosive thrown at the soldiers’ post in the Kunduz Province injured Specialist Michael McNichol of Mount Pleasant. McNichol and others wounded are part of the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment based out of Flint. Those injured were transported to medical facilities at Bagram Airfield for treatment, according to WZZM 13 News. Others injured were: Private 1st Class Jon Brancheau of Wyoming, Specialist Justin Skaggs of Grand Rapids, Jeremiah Eberly of Charlotte and Ed Fuentesbueno of Arizona.

Read the full story here!

3 CMU students to present at International Criminal Court conference

Three Central Michigan University students will present this week about child soldiers at the International Criminal Court conference. Grand Rapids senior Caitlin Cheevers, Mount Pleasant junior Erica Maylee and Clinton senior Randi Shaffer will educate students from across the globe about the criminal acts of engaging children for war at the International Criminal Court Student Network in The Hague, the Netherlands. The student network is holding a historical international conference on March 8 and 9 focusing on the Thomas Lubanga Dyilo trial, the first trial to be heard by the International Criminal Court. Dyilo was arrested in 2006 for enlisting children under the age of 15 to participate in hostile activities — a war crime.

Read the full story here!

Mount Pleasant Police apprehend vandalism suspects

The suspects in a Mount Pleasant vandalism case were apprehended the same day police requested help from the public. Tuesday, Mount Pleasant Police officers were dispatched to calls of a red or maroon Ford Taurus containing three black males and two black females who were shooting at vehicle windows with an Airsoft gun, a media release states. A total of 11 vehicles were damaged. Wednesday, officers received several calls from the public with more information about the incidents, as well as reports that the suspects were shooting at people as well as vehicles.

Read the full story here!

American Family Association opposes anti-discrimination law

For four months, the Mt. Pleasant Area Diversity Group has been lobbying for Mt. Pleasant to adopt an anti-discrimination ordinance. While the MPAGD has plenty of support, some do not agree that such an ordinance should be adopted. “You are currently considering a proposed ordinance that would establish special ‘protected class’ status in the city of Mt. Pleasant on the basis of homosexual behavior (sexual orientation) and cross-dressing (gender identity),” Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, wrote in an email to every city commissioner.

Read the full story here!

Michigan woman charged with leaving child, 4, alone to go on drinking binge

A Mecosta County woman accused of leaving her 4-year-old son alone for two days while she was on a drinking binge has been charged with child abuse. The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant reports county Prosecutor Peter Jaklevic has authorized a fourth-degree child abuse charge against the 41-year-old woman. WZZM-TV says she was arrested on Wednesday at her Morton Township home. The Associated Press isn't naming the woman to avoid identifying the girl. State police investigators say the woman was likely drunk for 48 hours. They say when police went into the home, they found food scraps, spoiled food and garbage on the floor.

Read the full story here!