Today’s weather forecast is predicting cloudy with a high of 71 degrees and a low of 60 degrees. For the weekend, it looks like it will be mid to high 60’s with windy showers on Saturday and partly cloudy skies for Sunday. Enjoy the weekend!

East Lansing police oversight commission looks to better understand its role

The East Lansing Police Independent Oversight Commission held a community input series at a meeting Wednesday. The commission took comments about their scope, role and duties, with the goal of increasing the East Lansing Police Department’s accountability and strengthening the community’s trust in the police.

The commission asked the public questions related to accountability, transparency, community and trust.

Participants in the input series did not provide a full name.

One community member said the commission ought to have a clear and defined set of powers.

Commission chairperson Erick Williams said that holding the police accountable, as a commission, is difficult.

“One thing that is frustrating to me is how there is so little oversight of the police and how little power local organizations and agencies like us have,” Williams said.

A non-East Lansing resident said she now has anxiety whenever she parks in the Meijer parking lot on Lake Lansing Road due to the shooting of DeAnthony VanAtten that took place there in April, emphasizing the release of body-camera footage related to the shooting.

“I want to know that the police using their weapons are doing so according not to their emotional status in the moment and not out of fear, but they are making a rational decision about when to pull a firearm,” the community member said.

The Oversight Commission will meet again on Dec. 7 at the Hannah Community Center.

A week from Election Day, Liz Cheney comes to East Lansing to stump for Slotkin

U.S Rep. Liz Cheney and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin both admitted onstage at East Lansing High School Tuesday night that two years ago, doing a joint campaign event would have seemed ridiculous.

A public figure like Cheney, the third-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, to travel across the country to campaign for Slotkin, a liberal, pro-choice congresswoman running against a conservative military veteran, turned the heads of many Michigan voters this week. Approximately 600 people crowded into the gym at ELHS for what Slotkin’s campaign called an “evening of bipartisanship.”

The visit from Cheney comes at a critical time for Slotkin’s campaign. A week out from Election Day, Slotkin is most recently polling six points ahead of her Republican challenger, Tom Barrett.

Slotkin said Cheney approached her in the last week of voting in the House in September and asked if she could support Slotkin’s campaign in any way. Slotkin also said she was asked several times if campaigning with Cheney could be potentially detrimental to her campaign, but said that she was confident in her decision to hold the event.

The major theme of the event was bipartisanship in a post Jan. 6, 2021 America. Both representatives spoke at length about their experiences during the Capital riot and how it brought them together.

Both representatives spoke about how Jan. 6 changed their views on bipartisanship. Cheney said that for the first time in her career, she feels compelled to look beyond Republican candidates.

Cheney also encouraged voters from across the political spectrum to cast their ballots for Slotkin on Nov. 8.

“The chips are down for us,” Cheney said. “This is our time of testing. Not a single one of us in this room and not a single one of us across this country can be a bystander.”

Stanley tells MSU community his last day is Friday

MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. released an email stating his last day as president will be today. Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Teresa Woodruff will step in as interim president on Nov. 5.

“Thanks to the commitment of our dedicated community of students, faculty, academic staff, support staff and alums, we safely navigated through the COVID‑19 pandemic, grew enrollment in a difficult environment, rose in national and international rankings, set fundraising records and developed three strategic plans that will serve as blueprints for the future,” Stanley said in the email. “And together, we put the goal of having a safe, welcoming, diverse and inclusive campus foremost, creating a firm foundation for continued excellence at MSU.”

Stanley wrote that he is confident in Woodruff’s work and will be available to her and university leaders in the transition to MSU’s next president.

“Thank you, students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends, for the opportunity to be your president,” Stanley wrote in the email. “The positive impact that MSU has on our region, state, country and the entire world is truly remarkable, and you have my deepest admiration for the work you do every day to make that happen.”

Based on original reporting by Wajeeha Kamal, Lily Guiney and Ashley Zhou.

To end our last episode of the week, here are a few announcements!

Here is the MSU Athletic line-up for the weekend…

Today

• Women’s tennis will kick off their Green and White Duals from 4-6 at the MSU Indoor Tennish Facility which will also go all the way through Sunday.
• Volleyball will go against Purdue at 6 P.M. at the Breslin Center
• Hockey will play Wisconsin at 7 P.M. at Munn Ice Arena.

Tomorrow 

• Wrestling will do their Michigan State Opener at 9:30 A.M. at Jenison Field House.
• Volleyball will play again against Ohio State at 7 P.M.
• Hockey will go against Wisconsin again at 6 P.M.