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  • The IBM building in downtown Lansing is primarily for government and corporate sales, not a research and development office like the one proposed for MSU's campus.
  • Once again: wow.
  • edited August 2010
    I got an email press release today about the JazzFest this weekend. Anybody going? I should be there.
    Lansing, MI (August 2, 2010) – The 16th annual Lansing JazzFest (held August 6-7) will offer attendees an educational experience, thanks to the MICA Stage’s performers and instructors.

    The Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art (MICA) is a non-profit organization acting as a catalyst for quality arts programming, historic renovation and community development. Educational opportunities in the arts are the focus of the MICA Stage.

    Opening the stage Friday is the Jazz Percussion Clinic, featuring Dave Zerbe on percussion, Ed Fedewa on bass and Arlene McDaniels on piano. Zerbe started playing the drums when he was two years old and hasn’t stopped since. This director of percussion studies and bands has taught at Alma College since 1988.

    “I wanted to teach because I had the desire to pass on what I have learned and help to spread a different philosophy of percussion instrument playing,” Zerbe says.

    Also on Friday night is the Saxophone Workshop with Andrew Bishop. Bishop is an active composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist in highly diversified musical idioms. He holds five degrees in music and has received over 20 commissions from professional organizations and universities, in addition to numerous residencies, recognitions and awards from well-known national organizations.

    Closing out the night Friday is The Michigan Trombone Project. Comprised of some of the finest trombone players in Michigan, along with a solid rhythm section, the Michigan Trombone Project delivers a new level of excellence in jazz trombone performance. The Michigan Trombone Project is the creation of Carl Poposki.

    First thing Saturday, the Children’s Ballet Theatre takes the stage. For 30 years, CBT has thrilled mid-Michigan audiences with the talent and exuberance of its young dancers, ages 8 to 18. Under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory George, these dancers participate in creating their own choreography and exploring the inner artist. This diversity will be reflected in their performance at the JazzFest, where the CBT dancers will present an eclectic mélange of classical and contemporary ballet.

    Following them is Happendance, a cultural treasure in the Lansing area and Michigan’s longest-running professional modern dance company. The dancers, age 12 to 18, are selected by audition and commit to pre-professional training and rehearsal in a variety of dance styles.

    The Trumpet Showcase with Derrick Gardner, Etienne Charles and Mike Sailors will feature these three extraordinary jazz trumpet masters, each of whom will also be performing on the main stage line-up with their respective bands.

    For something fresh and new, don’t miss the Jazz Guitar Clinic with Elden Kelly. A guitarist, singer and songwriter, he entrances audiences with a style composed of diverse elements that speak about something fresh, relevant, urgent and new in today’s world.

    Jazz incorporates some of the most creative improvisational solo performances by musicians who are truly artistic masters. A solid rhythm section provides the heartbeat from which jazz performers explore their musical artistry and express themselves. The Rhythm Section Workshop will highlight the inner workings of laying down the groove, taking place on the MICA stage Saturday.

    Closing the stage out on Saturday will be a Singer/Songwriter Workshop with Tracy Kash Thomas. Thomas, an award-winning performer and composer, will discuss songwriting concepts and tools she uses in her unique brand of songwriting. She will answer questions such as, “How does one write a song? Where do the ideas come from? Where do you start?”

    For all of this and much more, join Old Town in celebrating the 2010 Lansing JazzFest!

    The Lansing JazzFest is a free community music festival, attracting attendees from across the city, state, and region. It is produced annually by the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art (MICA) and Old Town Business and Art Development Association (OTBADA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to quality arts programming, the preservation of historic buildings and economic development. JazzFest is still accepting volunteers. See www.jazzlansing.com or call 517-371-4600 for more information.
  • Jazz music isn't really my thing, so I probably won't go. Is there an admission fee or anything?
  • It's a free concert, but I'm pretty sure you will have to pay to enter the beer tent.
  • RE: sprawl- I have not seen an example of" good" sprawl, especally when it is not driven by a large increase in population. Generally it is bad for the environment, bad for cities, and expensive for almost everyone in the long run! Someone show me good sprawl!
  • I just thought this was an interesting development-related story: The World's Most Advanced Building Material Is... Wood

    I'd like to see a building like this around here. Anything that's cheaper, greener and can draw positive attention seems like a win all around.
  • You all hear about what has gone down at the Life O'Reily mobile home park on the far, far southside of the city? I bet many people didn't even realize this place was in the City of Lansing thinking it was in Holt/Delhi, but it's actually the edge of the southern city limits. Anyway, according to the city, this is a worse displacement and relocation than when Lansing took in 56 folks displaced by Katrina.

    Apparently, mobile home units aren't regulated nearly as well as other types of housing, which kept the city from doing much, and obviously, the blame lies on the slumlord who owns this thing. In a perfect world, Lansing wouldn't even allow any new trailer parks (that's if zoning doesn't already) so they wouldn't have to deal with this. What the owner allowed to happen down there is a disgrace. These poor people were forced to live around human waste above ground and all other sorts of nastiness. It makes me wish the Lansing Housing Commission had a bit more robust inventory to deal with things like this; at least public housing gives a sense of a bit more permanance.
  • Yup, and if I remember right the city limits stop at the west and south edge of the trailer park.

    I've taken deliveries there and I have to say, it's horrible. The roads are hardly roads and the trailers themselves are about the worst that I've seen. I hope they find another use for the site, I don't see much chance of the place improving under its current owner.
  • edited March 2014
    I'd just clear the land and give it to the neighboring golf course, to be honest. There just isn't any real infrastructure there to justify much beyond open space along that narrow stretch of Washington. I'd always wondered when and why that land to Willoughby was annexed? Was it annexed before I-96 was brought through to facilitate the construction of the freeway? And, if it was annexed after the construction of the freeway, it seems even more strange.

    It's not like they ended up developing the land as if it were in the city, rather, it looks like the rest of Holt/Delhi, which is why quite a few people I know don't even realize it's part of the city. In fact, I think there's another mobile home park just northeast of the corner of Cedar and Willoughby. I knew someone that lived on Willoughby (Lansing-side), and I think she even told me that they were zoned to Holt schools.
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